Passport blunder shows serious failure in planning and testing, says MP

Malaysian MP Lim Lip Eng has criticised the immigration department for a passport issuance error that has left overseas travellers encountering issues during check-in. The department temporarily halted issuing passports with a validity period exceeding 10 years following complaints from passengers. Kepong MP Lim said the issue reflects a serious failure in planning and testing, urging the government not to dismiss the problem as a mere technical issue.

The immigration director-general, Zakaria Shaaban, explained that the problem stemmed from confusion with airlines regarding the requirement of at least six months' validity remaining for travel. While the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) confirmed there were no issues with passports having a validity of over 10 years, the immigration department temporarily decided to issue passports with a maximum validity of 10 years while it addressed the matter with ICAO and airlines.

Lim noted that the immigration department had issued 26,000 new passports exceeding 10 years of validity due to carrying over unused validity from previous passports. The blunder, he said, caused financial losses for the country and called for an immediate independent audit to determine the policy's proposers, testers, and approvers, as well as the full cost of replacing affected passports.