KOTA KINABALU, July 12 — A new passport office located inside the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) in Sabah will be able to process and renew international passport applications in just one hour, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said today.

He added that this is the first such service inside an airport terminal building; the other passport centre in Malaysia that is closest to the airport is located outside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport complex.

“The new office will be the seventh passport application centre in Sabah, which will benefit those in neighbouring districts,” he said.

“This shows our determination to facilitate the communities in dealing with the Immigration Department by adding passport offices without additional staff,” he said.

“The new office will be the seventh passport application centre in Sabah, which will benefit those in neighbouring districts like Papar, Penampang, Putatan and Kota Kinabalu.

“This shows our determination to facilitate the communities in dealing with the Immigration Department by adding passport offices without additional staff,” he said.

The other passport centres in Sabah are in the Kota Kinabalu Immigration office, Sandakan and Lahad Datu, UTC Kota Kinabalu, UTC Tawau, and UTC Keningau.

Saifuddin Nasution said that for the time being, the passport centre will only process new international passport applications and renewals, but in time, it will expand to include restricted travel documents to Brunei, temporary travel documents, and other services.

“But you can still make an online application and collect it from here. Our system is in the process of handling this for now. Some of the customers have been very pleased that the entire process took only an hour,” he said.

The new passport office in KKIA operates five days a week from Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm. There are currently six Immigration officers on duty.

Saifuddin Nasution said that it was strategic to have this convenience at KKIA due to its increasing passenger traffic and international flights and also Malaysia Airports Berhad’s offer of the space.

He said that the Immigration Department was also adding more checking lanes at another airport with increasing traffic.

“The Tawau airport on the east coast is also seeing an increase in international flights soon so we will add another six lanes. Four are for inbound travellers while two are for outbound,” he said.

It is unclear how many immigration lanes are currently available at the Tawau airport.

Tawau is one of the gateway airports to some of Sabah’s famed islands on the east coast like Sipadan, Mabul and Timba Timba islands, and also accessible to wildlife and nature attractions like Danum Valley and Tabin Wildlife.

Saifuddin Nasution also reiterated his pride that the country’s passport ranks 12th in the world and a visa-free status across 183 countries.

“In Asia, we are fifth behind Singapore, South Korea and Japan. It is a reputable passport to hold,” he said.
 

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/07/12/sabah-gets-its-first-passport-office-inside-airport-terminal-able-to-process-applications-in-one-hour/143524