Apart from the Urban Transformation Center (UTC), there will be a total of 20 passport issuing offices which will be open every day, starting tomorrow. This is done to reduce congestion at the immigration counters.

Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Minister of Home Affairs, said that new passport printing machines will be installed in offices frequented by visitors.

Other than normal applications, the Kuala Lumpur Airport (KLIA) passport office will also function as a Passport Issuing Office for urgent and emergency cases.

He said in a statement via his official Facebook that there will be improvements in the online appointment system which Malaysians will be given the date and time of the appointment along with the queue number.

On top of that, he also addressed the issue of long queues of foreign tourists at KLIA and explained that it was caused by the simultaneous arrival of around 20 to 26 planes in a time interval of 5 to 10 minutes during peak hours. Not to mention, the checking procedures may also take a while as it is a protocol to allow those who meet the requirements of the Social Visit Pass are only allowed to enter the country. 

Hence why in regard to overcoming this issue, there will be several immediate steps that will be taken by the government which include: 

1. A study to expand the use of automatic gates to visitors from 10 low-risk countries is carried out immediately.

2. The creation of two Quick Response Team (QRT) groups that will start operating on 01 February 2023 to help the officers at the counter during peak hours.