KUALA LUMPUR: Many folks making use of for a passport on-line ended up having to go to the Immigration Department to finish sure procedures.
They spoke of their frustration, saying the division ought to come out with a transparent checklist of directions on the dos and don’ts.
Checks by The Star on the Immigration Department’s Jalan Duta and UTC Pudu places of work revealed that not all was easy with the web utility course of, with some having to come back in particular person.
One of them, a gross sales director who wished to be referred to as Lee, 46, mentioned he travelled from Singapore simply to resume his passport.
“The instructions are unclear for online applications. Like do you take a picture first or fill your details online and then proceed to the counter? I was grateful that an officer helped me but the next person is going to have the same problem,” he mentioned.
Homemaker Alicia Hor, 39, from Kuala Lumpur was seen transferring between the varied counters.
“I have been trying to get an appointment slot online. It is tedious having to fill up certain details before you are asked to choose a slot. But when you click the slot is unavailable. One has to go back to the first page and fill everything up again!
“So I decided to try my luck by walking in, but I still do not know what to do. Then when I finally got everything done, the system was not accepting payment by credit card,” she mentioned.
Retail gross sales government Chloe Heng, 26, from Kuala Lumpur, took an opportunity by strolling in to resume her passport which lapsed through the earlier journey restrictions imposed by the federal government.
“I did not have an appointment, so I just came. I honestly don’t know what to do. I will just ask the officer what is required,” she mentioned.
Some candidates who turned up on the UTC Pudu workplace spoke of their frustrations making an attempt to resume their passports on-line.
One of them, who wished to be referred to as Lim, mentioned the web system confirmed that his fingerprint needed to be retaken because the one saved was both not within the database or now not purposeful.
“The system could not process my renewal application due to the fingerprint issue. So I made an appointment to come personally to renew my passport.
“The system also instructed me to go to Immigration directly as it could not process my application. I am not sure what is wrong with my fingerprint,” he mentioned.
Another applicant, who declined to be named, mentioned she confronted the identical downside.
“But I have always had problems when it comes to detecting fingerprints. So it could be due to that. And also, I could not upload my photo,” she added.
However, a photograph store which was aiding with on-line passport renewals didn’t face any downside, with a employee there saying that at the very least 30 to 40 functions had been profitable.
“The only problem is with fingerprints. Those facing problems must go to the Immigration office but other applications were smooth,” he mentioned.
