PUTRAJAYA: Malaysian immigration passes and visas have gotten security upgrades and are now almost impossible to forge.
Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said the documents now contained bicoloured Intaglio printing as its main security feature, apart from a multi-coloured background and serial numbers.
“With these features, we are confident that with certain codes, we have the best security approach possible. Of course, we can’t give a 100 per cent guarantee, but with these new features, we can safely say that it will be very difficult indeed for anyone to forge,” he told reporters after the launching of the Narrowcasting Media and new visa passes.
Mustafar said the new passes would come into use either next month or in December as there were still about 70,000 of the old versions available.
“The old visas and passes are still valid and can be used until they expire. This year alone, we have issued almost 300,000 visas and passes,” he said.
Mustafar reminded the public that Malaysian immigration documents could only be issued by the Immigration Department.
“Do not blame the department if you pay a third party for documents and you get yourself into trouble. We will not compromise with anyone, whether the person who received the ‘documents’ or the people who forged them,” he said.
On the Narrowcasting Media initiative, Mustafar said information about the department’s activities and standard operating procedure would be more interactively passed on to the public via television screens.
“The first phase began last month with the installation of 400 televisions at department premises and airports. This will be followed by the second phase, where 420 televisions will be placed at urban transformation centres and other premises.”
Asked to comment on operations against illegal immigrants, Mustafar said the department had so far carried out more than 11,000 raids, checking some 140,000 people and detaining 35,000 foreigners.