Recently, there was an incident where a Malaysian man could not renew his mother’s passport at UTC Pulau Pinang. In a now-deleted post, the man shared that an officer disallowed his mother from renewing her passport as she could not speak Bahasa Malaysia (BM).
Now, the Immigration Department of Malaysia is setting things straight.
In a statement shared to their official Twitter account, they explained that the man had later managed to renew his mother’s passport, following the incident. They went on to emphasize that officers cannot disallow anyone from renewing their passport over their inability to speak BM.
They wrote, “The department would like to inform that the customer has managed to renew the passport and collect it at UTC Pulau Pinang on April 22, 2024 (Monday).”
“The department would like to emphasize that immigration officers are not allowed to reject any applications because the customer fails to master the national language.”
KENYATAAN MEDIA
JABATAN IMIGRESEN MALAYSIAMAKLUM BALAS TERHADAP LAPORAN BERITA BERKAITAN TIDAK BOLEH PERBAHARUI PASPORT KERANA TIDAK BOLEH BERBAHASA MELAYUhttps://t.co/7JTsoeS2Eg pic.twitter.com/U8AHkF8uln
— Imigresen Malaysia (@imigresenmy) April 24, 2024
They went on to explain that immigration officers do tend to check on certain things during application processes but it has to be done in a professional manner.
“Nevertheless, we would like to clarify that, in carrying out their responsibilities, immigration officers will carry out random checks from various aspects to confirm an application. However, this review should be done professionally and prudently.”
“The department is committed to providing good service to customers and always remind all officers to treat customers according to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) set by the department,” they added.
We genuinely hope this helps to clear up any confusion in regards to the ability of speaking BM when it comes to passport renewal.
Have you ever been turned away from renewing your passport because you cannot speak BM? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
