Malaysia rolls out new passport with 94 security features, 10-year option

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — The security features of the Malaysian International Passport will continue to be enhanced periodically to ensure that the travel document, currently ranked as the third most powerful passport in the world, remains secure, difficult to forge and compliant with international standards.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said that although no cases of physical forgery of Malaysian passport booklets have been detected so far, the passport’s security features must be updated regularly to prevent existing security measures from becoming known to irresponsible parties.

“A passport cannot retain the same security features for too long because the risk increases as more people become familiar with the security measures being used.

“The more frequently we update them, the better. However, producing a new passport takes considerable time because it must comply with international standards, including obtaining approval under the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO),” he told Bernama here today.

He said Malaysia last introduced a new passport design in 2016, followed by minor security enhancements in 2023.

Zakaria said the new version of the Malaysian International Passport is equipped with 94 security features, including holograms, latent images, rainbow printing, ultraviolet printing, a biometric chip and enhanced polycarbonate materials to further strengthen the document’s security.

He said most of these security features cannot be detected with the naked eye, as they require forensic equipment such as microscopes and specialised scanners.

“One obvious improvement that the public can easily see is the use of a colour photograph of the passport holder, replacing the black-and-white photograph used previously,” he said.

Zakaria added that the new passport continues to comply with ICAO specifications and standards, allowing it to be read by existing passport scanners worldwide, subject to the immigration systems, procedures and capabilities of the countries visited.

He also stressed that holders of existing passports do not need to rush to replace them, as they remain valid until their expiry dates. Only those applying for a new passport or whose passports are nearing expiry need to obtain the new version.

According to Zakaria, the first phase of the rollout of the new passport will begin tomorrow at 14 major passport issuing offices, including the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya, Jalan Duta, Melaka, Kelana Jaya, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), and several selected Urban Transformation Centres nationwide.

He said the new passport is expected to be available at all 71 Immigration offices across the country by Aug 4, before being expanded to Malaysia’s Immigration Attaché offices overseas.

Zakaria also said Malaysians now have the option of applying for a 10-year passport at a fee of RM350, in addition to the existing five-year passport priced at RM200, reducing the need for more frequent renewals.

He said the Immigration Department receives an average of 180,000 to 200,000 passport applications each month, equivalent to about 10,000 to 12,000 applications daily.

Commenting on the passport’s security record, Zakaria said fraud cases detected so far have not involved the physical forgery of passport booklets. Instead, they involved syndicates manipulating the application process to obtain genuine passports illegally.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail received their new passports from Zakaria after the Prime Minister launched the new version of the Malaysian International Passport at the Parliament lobby, which was also attended by Bandar Tun Razak MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. — Bernama