News

S’pore PR With Expired M’sia Passport Stuck in JB As Her Temp Passport is Only 1-Way

2022-04-11 , 4:09 pm

If you need a reason to check your passport again to see if it’s expired, here it is.

Even for Malaysians who can enter their home country with just a special validity extension stamp, things may be a lot more complicated than they seem.

Unfortunately, for Malaysian Ivy Chin, she learned her lesson the hard way after realising that she was unable to cross the border to go back to Singapore.

Chin, who is a Singapore permanent resident (PR), explained in her Facebook post on 8 April that the validity stamp that she obtained from the Office of the High Commissioner of Malaysia did not allow her to exit Malaysia.

For those who aren’t aware, Malaysians who are abroad and have expired passports can obtain a validity extension stamp which will extend the validity of their passports by two years.

This will allow them to return to Malaysia smoothly to renew their passports.

The scheme involving the stamp was implemented last year due to the increase in the number of Malaysians who needed to renew their passports but were overseas.

Unable to Leave Malaysia Despite No Issues When Entering

After entering Malaysia as per normal last Wednesday (6 April), Chin was only told when she was about to leave the country on Friday (8 April) that she would not be able to do so.

When she reached the Johor Bahru (JB) checkpoint at around 12 am on 8 April, the officer at the checkpoint told her that the stamp was only valid for a one-way entry to Malaysia, meaning that she would not be able to leave the country and enter Singapore unless she had a valid passport.

Apparently, the officer told Chin as well that he had encountered seven other cases that were like hers.

After Chin was caught by surprise, she had no choice but to spend the night in Malaysia as she had not renewed her expired passport.

She also wrote that she would not have returned to Malaysia if she was aware of the rules regarding the validity stamp.

Limited Passport Renewal Slots

Chin also talked about her experience in trying to obtain a slot to renew her passport.

After being told that it was compulsory to book an appointment as walk-ins were no longer allowed, Chin claimed that the next available slot at a location convenient for her was in June.

The other alternative she was given was to book an appointment slot all the way in Kluang, where they had an available slot on 25 April.

However, this not only meant that she had no way of leaving Malaysia until the end of the month. It also meant that she had to make a long trip down to Kluang as well.

Apart from that, she also noted that she had trouble uploading a new photo to renew her passport online.

Obtained Help from Other Netizens

Although Chin’s choices seemed extremely limited, she managed to find another way to renew her passport.

Together with the help of her friends and other netizens that she had met in Facebook groups, Chin managed to obtain the contact of a third party online.

The third party managed to help Chin renew her passport and she even got to receive it on the same day.

Chin then ended her post by urging fellow Malaysians to either book their passport renewal appointments ahead of time.

She also offered assistance to those stuck in a similar plight as she was, stating that she would be happy to share the contact of the third party with those who needed it.

Join our Telegram channel for more entertaining and informative articles at https://t.me/goodyfeedsg or download the Goody Feed app here: https://goodyfeed.com/app/

Netizens’ Reaction

While there were some who were taken aback by the rules that they were unaware of, just like Chin, others who knew about the details of the validity stamp shared the information that they knew.

One comment mentioned that the stamp only acted as an “emergency issuance” of sorts to grant Malaysians a one-way entry into the country, and it meant that the bearer of the stamp should book an appointment to renew their passport once they are able to.

Another netizen also pointed out that the stamp usually comes with an instruction note that includes the details that Chin mentioned in her post, and told Malaysians to read the note carefully once they receive it.

According to MS News, Chin was not told by the High Commission that the stamp was only valid for a one-time, one-way entry to Malaysia. Whether or not she was given the instruction sheet mentioned by the netizen is unknown.

Several netizens also left their own queries in the comments section, stating the expiry month of their passports and asking if they would need to renew their passports as of now.

Others also enquired about the available slots for passport renewal in different regions of Malaysia, and also asked for help regarding the uploading of their passport photos.