Smooth process: Saifuddin observing operations at the launch of the Shaftsbury Putrajaya Passport centre. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
PUTRAJAYA: A valid passport from their home country is a requirement for Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) visa holders and applicants, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Home Minister said their MM2H status would be affected if applicants did not have a valid passport.
“A rule to obtain the MM2H visa is that the applicant’s home country passport must still be active and valid,” he said after officiating the launch of the Shaftsbury Putrajaya passport centre here.
He was responding to questions on Bangladeshi opposition leader MA Quayum’s request to reinstate his and his family’s visas following his release from detention by the Immigration Department.
While not specifically disclosing the current status of Quayum’s passport, Saifuddin Nasution said an applicant would not face any issues if their passport was still active and valid.
“In this case if a person, during the time of applying, has their passport valid and active then there is no issue. But if their passport is somehow invalidated during their duration as an MM2H visa holder, then that would affect their status,” he said.
Quayum was arrested in a joint raid by Malaysian police and Bangladeshi authorities on Jan 12, but a High Court decision on Jan 18 granted a stay of the deportation order due to a pending habeas corpus (an order releasing a person from detention) hearing on April 5.
Saifuddin Nasution had previously said the Immigration Department would comply with the court’s order.
On the suggestion to extend the validity of Malaysian passports to 10 years, he said a survey on the matter would be conducted to gather information.
“I believe that we will come to a policy decision within a reasonable amount of time following the results of the survey,” he said.
The proposal had previously been put forward by the Immigration Services Union to ease congestion at the department.
On the newly-launched Shaftsbury Putrajaya passport centre, Saifuddin Nasution said that it would cater exclusively to applicants who had applied to renew their passports online, and that it was the department’s fourth such office.
He said that in 2023, almost a million of the 3,057,825 passports issued by the Immigration Department were from online applicants.
“We must increase our target (for online renewals). Firstly, this will reduce congestion at Immigration Department offices and secondly, it will inadvertently lead to lower travel costs because applicants will just need to come once to collect,” he said.
