In a statement, immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said the postponement was to ensure optimum service delivery and customer experience with the new passports.

“Malaysians can still renew their passports as usual. They will remain valid until their expiry date,” he said in a statement.

Last week, Zakaria said the new passport featured 94 security elements and would be rolled out in stages from June 1 before full nationwide issuance by July. The current Malaysian passport has 49 security features.

Zakaria said the initial phase would involve the immigration headquarters in Putrajaya, the Kuala Lumpur passport office in Jalan Duta, the Wangsa Maju urban transformation centre, and the Shah Alam immigration office.

The new version of passports is expected to provide greater security while being harder to forge. The improvements include enhanced holograms, ultraviolet printing, hidden visual elements, and other specialised anti-forgery features.