Post pandemic passport renewal

A lot has happened since the last passport renewal, mostly the pandemic. Only managed to use the passport once since borders reopened, so that's a couple years wasted. 

Anyway, they've announced that everyone else that's not young, old, disabled, etc, would have to renew their passports online which started last year, which kicked off everyone's grumbling.

One of the requirements was having to upload a fresh passport picture according the specified dimensions, which a lot of people have also tried to bypass by using apps instead of getting it done at a shop. (If you have the patience to fiddle around with that, then by all means; I just did mine at the photo shop in Atria, which has a lot of good reviews, and the turnaround is pretty fast - all done in under half an hour, and they even email the soft copy for uploading)

Once that was done, I went online, uploaded the picture, paid (can pay with card, yay), and then you wait.

I've read online that you could go and collect after 3 working days (probably less), so I went back to Jalan Duta. It was still as crowded and noisy as ever, and there were still a lot of kids (and their parents) getting their passports despite it being a school day.

Went upstairs, and after waiting like a dumbass for a few minutes in the small room, I went over to the big room for a queue number. Told the lady behind the counter that I had renewed online last week, but no update. Upon checking, turns out it was already approved few days earlier (so calendar days, not working days?), so I got a queue number from her, gave her my old passport and hard copy receipt, and went back to the small room I was in for my turn. I think it was at least a half hour wait before it was my turn to collect. (Killed the wait time playing the games on the shopping platform apps)

Wasn't long before I hit the most annoying roadblock: the biometric verification. This is when I was finally able to pull out the JPN chip content letter to let us both off the hook. And I had another hard copy for her records. Signed on it, got both old and new passports back and fucked off for lunch. It was so noisy in there we (or me) can hardly hear her behind the plexiglass.

PS. Was advised by the counter person to make plenty of copies of said letter for the airport, but I dunno if non-local airports are gonna accept it, so ya... 

Pros

• Can now pay by card or online banking
• No need to line up for renewal, just wait for collection

Cons

• Can't get it on same day (?) 

Renewing the driver's license

When I last renewed my driver's license in 2013, it was mere months before gahmen announced that the expiry date would be your birthday (so that people won't forget to renew), and also the more myKad looking license. Yes, I was carrying the old school, laminated driver's license this whole time. 

Because I had some free time/procrastinating at work, I decided to try to renew my driver's license at the post office a little early (few weeks?) in case I couldn't do it next month. Because the expiration date is not the same as my actual birth date, they couldn't do it for me there and was told to go to JPJ to sort it out. 

At least it's not a drive down to Padang Jawa cos the one in PJ New Town is still around, so off I went. And parking was still free there. 

Took a queue number in Block A, only to be told to go to the next block over for license renewals.  It was hot as balls there - the ceiling fans weren't on despite the running aircons, which made it stuffier than it had to be. 

When it got to my turn, the guy also realised that my birthday is not in April and I had to spend 80 cents photocopying both IC and driver's license at the onsite photocopy service and shlepped it back to him. Then he took my IC, driver's license (both real and photocopy) for some officer in the back room to set things straight. 

Some minutes later, I was called back to the counter and it was RM180 instead of RM150 (for 5 years renewal). When asked why, it was to account for the extra 10 months or so between April 2024 and January 2025, which for them might as well be a whole year. At this point I was both hot and annoyed, so I just paid the extra RM30. Then I side stepped over to the printing counter with the receipt. I was asked if I wanted the IC pic or the old license pic. I went with the IC pic only cos it looked slightly better. More minutes went by before I finally collected my new driver's license and was out of there. I was there about 40, 45 minutes? And it was after 3 p.m., so YMMV. 

At least I don't have to worry about this until 2025. 

TL;DR - if for some reason or another you're still carrying have the old school laminated driver's license and the expiry date on there is NOT your birth date, skip the post office and go straight to your nearest JPJ/RTD. 

Passport Renewal, Kompleks KDN Jalan Duta (2018 Edition)

Gave it a go last week when it was still the mid year school holidays (against my better judgment). Was given a choice to either wait out the madness that day or come back the next week when it's no longer school holidays. Seems fair enough, so I left. 

I had heard that afternoons were relatively peaceful, so I decided to give that a go for this renewal. I also remembered that they were also closed for lunch, so I didn't rush. I had an early lunch and got there at about 1.50 p.m. and found sweet parking on the grounds. 

Yup, people waiting in line for the afternoon session.
Dunno how long the first people in line were waiting for.

The lights finally came on a little after 2 p.m. and they were calling out for people with young kids, senior citizens, OKU, etc, before letting the rest of us in. Thankfully, there weren't too many of those. 

I suppose the good thing about this time was that since the last renewal, passport renewal now costs RM200. Because it was after lunch, most of the counters were up and running so numbers were going quickly and it wasn't that long before it was my turn.

Will I finally experience the miracle of the one hour passport? (It hasn't happened for me in the last 10 years). I was about to find out.

Finally it was my turn, gave the lady old passport and IC, did the biometrics (always a pain), took the picture (she was nice enough to let me go a couple more times), signed off on it, was told to wait for my queue number to be called to pay. Just wear something dark; even if your head is covered. Had to hold back a snigger when I saw a young lady wear the provided black tudung over her own light coloured one for her picture. 

There was only ONE payment counter open, and she was doing batches of 2, 3 people at a time. I was told that the payment cut off was 4 p.m.? Any later, you can't get your passport on the day itself. Apparently the one hour starts from the time you paid, not so much when you walk in. So I took in an iced Neslo at the cafeteria/Kayu Nasi Kandar outlet downstairs (there's also a Gloria Jean's Coffee, but that expensive AF) and was back after half an hour. I knew things were heating up when I saw the ladies return with a fresh batch of passports. With the receipt and IC, I got a shiny new passport as well as my cancelled previous one after about 10 minutes? 

All in all, it took about 2 hours from start to finish. Waiting for the actual passport was probably less than an hour. The final picture was erm, fine, I suppose. But it was still black and white/monochrome so if something happens to you, you could use it as a funeral pic.

Oklah, can say I got a new passport in one hour... more or less.

Shiny new passport - Collected!

Drove back to the Jalan Duta immigration office on Monday morning. Found parking pretty quickly along the same stretch as last time - yay!

Back to the passport department to get another wait number (just show them your receipt) specially to collect. The guy ahead of me looked (and dressed) like the Malay Ryan Gosling in the movie, Drive, which I guessed was his intent. Was a little dismayed at first when I saw (on the slip) that my number was 3101 and that they were currently serving number 3002. Then I realised that it was in the 3080-range and I was a little happier. Giggled like a crazy person when Ryan Gosling Melayu finally got up to collect his passport. I can't explain it.

Only two out of the 6 counters were open for collection, so I thought I was going to be in for a long wait. My number was finally called and all I had to do was verify with my right thumb, check the details inside, and sign both the form (that you received it) and in the passport itself (which you might want to practice the signature beforehand if you don't). I had already accepted my ugly ass mugshot in there and hope that I look better than that when I travel. The whole process probably took 30 minutes, tops.

At least for RM300, you now get a 48 page (great, more empty pages than the previous 32 for yours truly never to fill up in 5 years) passport filled with all these security features to prevent tampering and forgery (speaking of forgery, who in their right mind would pay so much for a black market Malaysian passport when it's easier to travel with a US/UK/Australian/Singaporean passport?) like the laminated, hologram-laden detail page, ghost imaging, etc.

Only good news out of this whole thing was that my 5 month balance was added on to the new passport. (They carry forward/add on remaining months if you have about 6 months or less left on your current/old passport and opted for the 5-year passport). 

Does anyone still have their old, voided passports? I still have mine, even my first passport as a tot (still goofy looking, even then)! I was looking through them and was amazed at the evolution of the Malaysian passport.

I swear - this will be my last post about passports (until next time)...!

Related articles

• Passport Renewal at Kompleks KDN

Passport Renewal at Kompleks KDN

So much for renewing the old passport in PJ: I drove my butt down to the swanky Immigration office in Kompleks KDN off Jalan Duta (which used to be at PBD) yesterday morning. It really was not too far from Publika. 

Lucked out and found (FREE) parking on the grounds pretty quickly, not too far from the building entrance. Got directed to the first floor by the ladies at the front desk.

Swanky foyer

In case you didn't know where to go. But they didn't have these from the escalator, so...

Here we go.

Found the passport application department quickly enough and quickly got myself a number.

One number counter open

Sat down and waited for my number. There were about 8 application counters open, so the numbers were rolling pretty quickly. It wasn't too long before my number was called. Handed over the old passport, IC and two copies of the white mug shot. Once she checked my address (and other stuff) and thumbprints verified, she gave me the other portion of the wait number and told to wait for my number to be called to pay. The wait to pay took longer as only two payment counters were open at the time. I think most people pay the RM300 so that they would only have to deal with it after 5 years instead of 2 with the RM100 passport.

Collection side

Counters for certain groups of people (pregnant ladies, mothers with young children, elderly...)

I give the ladies behind those counters props for what they have to deal with since things have to be done manually until who knows when (all this since the election - coincidence?). So much for passport in one hour, pbft - have to go back to collect on Monday.

Plus: Free on-site parking, adequate seats for people (if you so want to), decent air conditioning.

Con: No free WiFi.

Passport renewal blues

My passport is expiring this coming September after the last 5 years of under-use. I was going to let it lapse and not renew it before, but then some things happened which would require an up-to-date passport. Like my cousin's wedding in Sydney. I know I could renew it later closer to departure, but I don't want to do that to myself. I suddenly want to travel down to Singapore to watch The Addams Family Musical that's happening in July. I also wanted to do it before the mid-year school holidays next weekend, where it's also notoriously bad.

I'm ranting on here because goodness knows people that know/knew me IRL are probably tired of my grousing/bitching/kvetching about the situation on Facebook.

When I last renewed back in the previous decade, the passport renewal kiosks were just implemented. Now there's an online renewal option: where you could do it online and then go the your selected immigration office to pick your brand new passport a few hours later. 

I don't know if it's just my bad luck, or because it's after elections or some other weird coincidence, but what the fuck: 

1. NOW you have to take your mug shots on a WHITE background, 
2. I can't do the online option (collection centres in the drop down menu are all outside the Klang Valley at the moment), and 
3. the kiosks are offline. So if I was in a bigger rush, I would have to do it manually; it's like the freaking 90s all over again.

Went to the one nearest to me this morning (Plaza Glomac) and it was like a freaking ZOO outside at 9 something on a weekday morning. Decided to cut my losses and leave. Luckily I got a copy of the form (which is now a 4 x 4 inch square at most) and a list of immigration offices in the Klang Valley so that I can now call ahead and harass them beforehand.

Passports in an hour. Pbft.

Oh, woe is me.

A MBPJ saman of a different kind

Question: Did anyone know that it is an offence when you don't put out your garbage in a garbage can while it's outside awaiting collection in PJ?

Neither did I until I saw the green citation form in the mail box (there was a patrol about right before) this morning for RM100 (shit you not) from the Jabatan Kesihatan Persekitaran (Department of Environmental Health?) for not putting the garbage in a garbage can outside the house. 

We figured there might be a discount if we settled early. So we went to MBPJ HQ on Jalan Yong Shook Lin to pay only to be told that we would have to go to the 10th Floor of MBPJ tower (which is still walking distance) to get it reduced. 

So we got there, the receptionist tells us that we would have to see the deputy director of aforementioned department (Dr Chithra) to explain. Dr Chithra was a nice, understanding lady who understood where we (by this I mean the 'rents) were coming from and decided to reduce it to RM10. Can't complain lah...

So we happily paid the city RM10 downstairs at the third floor and off we went. 

All that because the 'rents were afraid that the garbage can would be stolen if left outside the whole day. Sigh.

I mentioned it on FB and only one person out of four had this kind of citation before; the rest didn't know, like I did.

PS. Went to the BuySellTrade nearby afterwards and I found a wire bookstand for RM6 - take that, RM80 Moleskine ebook reader stand! 

PPS Also got sample packets of Leggo sauce as we were leaving MBPJ tower - woo hoo.

Painless passport renewal at Plaza Glomac

I just got back from the recently relocated Subang immigration office at Plaza Glomac as the old man (my dad, in case anyone's got any funny ideas) wanted to renew his passport but was misinformed by his old lady (mum) that the place was still at Terminal 2. As I have not renewed my passport in PJ for years, I thought it would be interesting to go and see what's there. And, he made me drive him there, so it's not like I had a choice.

From the Damansara toll, you pay RM1 at the Kelana Jaya toll plaza and keep left until you see the Shell station and turn left. Keep going on the road and follow the signs (which are surprisingly clear for a government department :P) and you should be there faster than a shake of a duck's tail. That's the most direct route there is.

Parking options: There's an open air carpark that is spitting distance from the immigration department that charges RM2 per hour. The other option is Plaza Glomac's own indoor parking, which is only RM1.50 per hour, the maximum being RM4 (redundant unless you work in the area), but a short walk is required from one end to the other. 

For that time of day and week, it wasn't really crowded. We were about half an hour early to to renew by kiosk (which opens at 2 p.m. for some reason), but since this is my not-so tech savvy father we're talking about, we had to do it old school and do it manually. Dad had to borrow a pen from one of the guards and I had to fill out the form for him before we could get a queue number from the guy at the information counter. Yes, he'll check to see if you've got everything ready before he'll give you a number.

After waiting for a bit (well, it's more like I wandered around while he waited for his turn), he handed his stuff over to the person at the counter and waited again for his number to be called again to pay, get a receipt and told to come back in an hour. 

I tell you, the mamak next door must get a shitload of business from the immigration customers cos the ice teas we ordered were watery like heck. No, we didn't eat, but the temptation was there. Lucky the drinks wasn't that expensive, but I'm still outraged that my teh o ais limau was so damn diluted. And even after we took a short walk around the place (really desolate), the hour still wasn't up, so we decided to go collect anyway and it was ready! I tell you, the old man was amazed at how fast and painless everything was... a tad overdressed (in his coat), but fast. I just think that he got the senior citizen treatment :P

This is the place to go if you're a PJ denizen. Here's the address:

Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia (Cawangan Subang),
Blok A, Plaza Glomac, Jalan SS7/19, Kelana Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Renewing the Malaysian Passport - the Photo Essay

[This is my rough guide / bitch rant on renewing your Malaysian chip based passport at the Damansara immigration office - if anyone found this remotely useful, please let me know in the comments - thanks]

Dragged myself out of bed at 6.45 a.m.... well, 7 a.m., but I can assure you that it's waay earlier than my usual wake up time. Dropped Gran off and was on my way by 7.30 a.m. Thankfully there wasn't a traffic JAM going there so I was there before 8 a.m. Back on my old stomping grounds again, six years since I last renewed. Heard that there's the passport renewal kiosks available, so I thought I try that and blog/bitch about it...

The KiPPas (Kiosk Pembaharuan Pasport) room.... notice the uber long line out the door...

I can tell you that it's MUDAH and CEPAT, but EFEKTIF... not so much.

4 machines, very long lines - damn stuffy inside because the A/C wasn't working, FAN also don't have... Ironic, right - no KIPAS in the KiPPas room? Don't worry if you were as clueless as I was - there's a few officers standing by, ready to help. (This one was taken after I was done - for illustration purposes)

They should update this stupid thing properly instead of cancelling stuff out with marker pen.

The checklist - if you can't read the addendum, it says, "ONE PHOTOCOPY OF IC (BOTH SIDES)" - which I didn't know and had to pay RM0.40 for it (WTF - I could've saved that money if I KNEW ABOUT IT and could've made my own copy). Don't worry, there are plenty of people who could help you with your passport renewal needs.

You need one of THESE (which are available there, no big deal) - fill it up details on the outside and it's for your old passport, photo and the photocopy IC.

Easily understood enough, no? You have to like how "2 JAM" is red, bold and in quotation marks.

The kiosk in use - (this guy asked me if I was gonna blog about it when we were first outside; I told him maybe, look what happened now).

The top of the KiPPas - kinda looks like an ATM, no? This is the top half.

The bottom half - the part which seperates this kiosk from the run of the mill ATM: passport chip reader, MyKad slot and thumbprint reader.

It got to my turn and JUST MY LUCK - the stupid machine CRASHED on me just as I was done feeding in the money. The officer had to take out the money storage inside the machine and returned me my money and I HAD TO LINE UP ALL OVER AGAIN. WTF. Didn't help that they're ACTUALLY Windows XP running on ASUS hardware. FUCK.

So I got my receipt...

Went upstairs to see where I needed to be at later...

Killed most of the 2 hours at McDonalds with OJ and a hash brown, and went back up again....

Supposed to be this area lah - Counters 16 and 17.

I don't know if I could just go ahead and tried to get a number first, so I tried. Got snapped at by this rude young Malay woman (so much for being nice during Ramadhan - I hope her puasa today doesn't count) who told me to wait another 10 minutes (to the time stated on the receipt). I'm already pretty grumpy from the heat and stuffiness (and menses) and now I have to deal with grumpy civil servants. Damnit.

ANYWAY - turns out I was a "KIVcase" BECAUSE I didn't include a RECENT photo (they didn't say must have recent photo mah, they just say they needed A PASSPORT SIZED PICTURE) so I had to get that done ASAP or they won't process it (so I was rudely told by this Malay guy behind Counter 15). Decided to go with the photo booth right outside the area, by the stairs. I knew this was gonna come back and bite me in the ass, and it has. WTF.

Got it done in a few minutes and gave that one measly mug shot to the nice middle aged Malay woman behind the counter, who told me to sit and wait another 20 minutes. Now I know it only really takes 20 minutes - and we're stuck waiting for TWO hours BECAUSE...?!

Came back up (you didn't think I was gonna sit there and wait the 20 minutes, did you?) again 20 minutes later and I ran into another hump: they had problems capturing my thumbprints for the biometric measure and after going back and forth between both thumbs on the damn thumb reader, I finally get a reading and I was FINALLY DONE. I was home about noon-ish.

Man am I glad that I don't have to do this often.

In summary, here's what you need to use the KiPPas:

• Old passport (you need the chip based one for this to work, otherwise you're stuck with doing it manually)
  
• ONE RECENT passport sized photograph of yourself
• Money (RM300 cash)
• Photocopy of own IC (both sides)
  

BTW, parking cost me nearly RM9 for the several hours that I'm there. Gah.

Tax season

You know it's tax filing season when you see and hear the reminders everywhere to file them on time (at the end of the April). The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has been plugging the online filing (E-Filing) system for the last few years; and while my parents are not likely to ever use it in their lifetime, it comes in useful for the Generation X and Y-ers who are already handy with the Internet.

That, and when Mum starts demanding that her children hand over her their receipts for tax deductible items like books, magazines, and personal computer (in my case), on top of her own. No, I don't dare to think or put a number on how much I've spent on books and magazines over the last year (but it is quite a bit); however, I didn't pay full retail prices for most the books I've bought.

As a clueless working young Malaysian adult, I don't know how the whole income tax thing works. I don't even know how is it in Malaysia: whether it's the "everyone has to file" or there's a lower limit of gross (or net?) income as there's no Tax Filing for Dummies or anything of that sort.

As I didn't want to be accused of tax evasion, I've looked everywhere online for some indication, but nothing conclusive. After asking around, I should be glad that with my income level, I don't have to worry about filing.