KUALA LUMPUR – An apparent six-day disruption at the Jalan Duta immigration office here saw customers running circles in vain attempts to get their passports at other offices, while others kept returning day after day only to be greeted with “system down”.
Yesterday, passport operations at Jalan Duta were back online, but those who spoke to Scoop vented their frustration at the lack of clear information, causing them to waste time travelling and waiting.
Part of the problem, however, appears to be the fact that the department’s notifications of system disruptions through its social media channels do not reach their intended audience.
A corporate employee who wanted to be known as Agnes said she resorted to going to the immigration office at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in a desperate move to collect her passport or apply for another one after being denied entry to the Jalan Duta office on Wednesday.
However, the KLIA immigration officers said their hands were tied, as Agnes had selected the Jalan Duta branch as her collection point. They also said they did not have the authority to cancel her application, as per her request.
Agnes said the officers at the KLIA branch were courteous but slammed the Immigration Department’s online passport application system, which she said was getting worse besides being tedious.
“My one complaint is the ridiculous system. If such incidents happen, is there no solution to overcome this?” she said, adding that she had to travel overseas urgently for work.
“I’m sure everything is algorithm-based now. Why aren’t there automatic approvals or rejections, so we know what the problem is (with our passports)? Don’t tell me you (the immigration) are using officers to review thousands of applications.”
She also said she was kept in the dark on the status of her application throughout the system disruption at Jalan Duta, which, according to others interviewed, began on Friday.
Agnes said the department should be more proactive in posting announcements on such disruptions on its website instead of leaving customers to rely on social media updates.
In a post on Facebook on the morning of January 8, the department announced the closure of its foreign workers division at its Jalan Duta branch on that day itself due to system maintenance works.
The same evening, it announced the closure of its visa, passes and permits division for the next day, January 9, for the same reason.
However, on the morning of January 10, the visa division remained closed due to system problems, according to another post by the department.
The same evening, the department announced that all systems were operable and the divisions closed earlier were back in operation again.
Even earlier, on January 3, the department announced a complete shutdown at its Jalan Duta branch on January 6 for maintenance works.
The problem with these announcements, however, is that applicants who need the information are not receiving them and would only know about the disruptions if they visited the department’s Facebook page.
This was clear from the case of Richard, another applicant, who told Scoop at the Jalan Duta branch yesterday that it was his fourth time coming here since the day of the complete shutdown on Saturday.
“Today is our fourth time..(the system) on Saturday was totally off, they stopped halfway on Sunday, and on Wednesday it was also down.
“I am used to it because we are dealing with a government department. As compared to our previous experiences, (the system) is getting worse.
“It was better about five years ago,” said Richard, who arrived at 8.30am.
While acknowledging that the officers were trying their best to help applicants, he said he still could not help but wonder why “systems down” plagued the Immigration Department so often.
Another applicant, an employer who asked to be known as Nurul, said she experienced the system disruption at the foreign worker division since Friday (January 5) when she tried to process paperwork for her foreign employee who needed to leave Malaysia urgently due to health reasons.
“I came here last Friday, but the officers requested that I reschedule for Monday due to a system disruption. On Monday, they requested I postpone it again,” said Nurul when met yesterday. She managed to complete the processes required for her worker to leave the country.
“I could see that the officers are also stressed because of the disruption, as they want to do their jobs efficiently as well,” Nurul said.
Agnes, the corporate employee who finally managed to collect her passport from the Jalan Duta branch yesterday, slammed the way the Immigration Department communicated with taxpayers.
“I checked the immigration’s website, and no announcements were shared. It was then (after being denied entry at the Jalan Duta branch) that my friend shared the office’s Facebook post about the disruption.
“They should share the announcements at all outlets, not just on certain platforms.” – January 12, 2024