How to renew your Malaysia Passport via KIPPAS

Here’s the summary:

Before you go

1. Make a photocopy of your I/C, front and back, on the same side
2. Take passport sized photo – that is, dark cloths, blue background, visible ear lobes etc.
3. Get a pen (blue or black)

To Bring

1. Old passport – chip based
2. MyKAD I/C – chip based
3. Photocopy of I/C
4. One passport sized photo
5. RM300 in RM50 or RM100 denominations for 5 year renewals (or RM100 for 2 years)
6. The Pen

The Process

Go to one of the KIPPAS centers, e.g. Pusat Bandar Damansara (there are 4 machines there, you can also try other Klang Valley areas such as Subang Airport, Wangsa Maju, Penang). The kiosks are said to be open from 8:30am to 3:45pm, Mondays to Fridays, although it’s normal to see it open at 7:30am. Some like PBD are open Saturdays and Sundays as well.

Take an envelope in the same office and write your Name, I/C and contact number on the envelope. Join the queue if there’s one. Fold and put the photocopied I/C in the envelope along with One passport photo. Don’t seal.

At the Kiosk, insert your passport and I/C. All the instructions will be on screen. The main impediment at this stage will be mostly about the machine, e.g. it can’t read your passport, it can’t read your I/C, it can’t read your finger print. Seek help, don’t just try over and over again. Try another machine might also help.

If all goes well, you’ll confirm your details, select your height (you can grow taller by 2 cm max), feed the machine with the appropriate amount of money, insert your old passport into the envelope and slide it into the bin. Finally, collect a receipt that acknowledges that you’ve submitted the passport.

Wait 2 hours.

Go to the collection counter (for PBD it’s upstairs, sometimes counter 16, sometimes 17) to take a queue number to collect your passport. That’s it!

For official information about Malaysian Passports, see IMI website.

Here’re the details. Keep it coming in the comments!

KIPPAS stands for “KIosk Pembaharuan PASport”, not a fan (kipas).

KIPPAS is only for Renewals! Prerequisite for using KIPPAS:

• Chip Based Passport (thicker last page)
• No change in details (some allowances in height seems to be allowed)
• Chip Based I/C MyKAD
• 18 years old Malaysian

You’ll be getting new Biometric Passports. On the front cover, there’s the Biometric logo printed (see yellow circle in picture). Although Malaysia is the earliest country to have biometric passports, the original one wasn’t compliant to an international standard (see the wikipedia article for more info), but the latest ones are compliant.

The renewals are now standardized at 48 pages (looks like 32 and 64 is history). For 2 years it’s RM100, for 5 years it’s RM300. Students get to renew at half price (show proof).

You have up to 3 months to collect your new passport. So, even if it’s a 2 hour service, you can go there another time with your receipt. During peak season (like yesterday, which moi kena stuck queuing for TWO hours just to reach the machine) it’s not possible to have your passport done during the same day, the officers on duty will advise you to collect the passport the next day. Moreover, the machines fail rather frequently according to various anecdotes on the Internet. If it fails, there’s still a manual process (get form, fill up form etc.)

Some tips for Pusat Bandar Damansara:

– Park at the open space car park to be easy. It’s RM6 for first 2 hours, RM3 per hour subsequently. For cheaper car park, park into the building (closest possible to building I, I for Immigresen), but you have to go down 2 levels to the visitor car park at level 3, 4 or 5, as most lots are reserved. Rates are RM2.50 for first hour and RM1.20 for subsequent hour.

– If you forgot to bring one of the above, there are plenty of services to help you, but do “shop” around as the most convenient one isn’t exactly the chepeast. 4 photos is RM12 but if you just walk upstairs the machine only charges RM8. Same goes to photocopying of I/C. Pen costs RM1.50 each!

– Passport covers are sold at RM2 at the collection counter.

Final observation: The passport renewal process is probably one of the best documented government procedure on BLOGs. I’m sending this in for social media monitoring to see if there are any other observation.

Public Announcement: When you get your passport, especially if you’re not on vacation but on long term overseas stay, please plan to travel back to be a responsible citizen during elections to vote!