KUALA LUMPUR: The perennial problem of long lines at Immigration Department counters does not seem to have been resolved despite the online appointment registration system now being employed.
The online system was touted as being the answer to the problem and on paper, at least, it looked like it could be just that.
However, the New Straits Times has received countless complaints that the lines at Immigration passport renewal counters were still as long as they used to be.
The NST went to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department headquarters at the Jalan Duta Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) and found the line there to be snaking around the entire floor where the passport renewal counters were located.
Those spoken to complained about encountering issues with Immigration's online passport renewal process, forcing them to walk into the department itself, causing the long queues.
A passport applicant who only wanted to be known as Mahfuz, said it was his second day trying to get his passport renewed.
He had initially gone to the Sentul UTC on Tuesday, but upon reaching the centre he found out that the number for the ticket queues had run out.
Mahfuz went to the Jalan Duta Immigration office at 10am today but to his dismay, the same thing had happened.
However, he managed to secure a position in the 2pm queue.
"(On Tuesday), I went to the Sentul UTC hoping that by arriving a little later in the morning there would be less congestion, but the ticket numbers for the queue had ran out.
"So today, I made my way here hoping for a morning slot but it ran out too. I was lucky to hear that there was a 2pm queue slot," he added.
He said the online process for his passport renewal always encountered problems and it was his sole reason for opting for a walk-in at the Immigration office.
"This online problem has been persisting for quite a while... I have given up already. If the online process is not smooth, why bother implementing it in the first place," Mahfuz lamented.
Jenny Khoo, 52, said she was at the Immigration office again today as there was a problem when she tried to make an appointment on the online system to renew her passport.
"I actually came here (on Tuesday) to inquire about the issue I faced on the online system for renewing my passport, but I couldn't renew my passport here successfully as the queue tickets were finished."
Khoo said she had been waiting since 8am, but the queue was very long and by 10am the tickets had all been taken.
"I needed to queue for the second session at 2pm again as I was too late to get the queue tickets despite being here at 8am.
"By the time it was my turn, the queue numbers ran out for the morning session," she said.
Another applicant, Ke Ying, 18, said she walked in extra early at 5am as she was afraid that the queue tickets would run out and she would need to come in again the next day.
"Basically, you have to come super early before the door opens to queue, or else you'll have to wait for another day and it takes the whole day to finish applying for the passport," she said.
The NST saw a notice which stated that the queue tickets had finished for the morning as only limited amounts were issued.
A sprawling queue of more than 100 applicants was also seen building up an hour before the 2pm session. Many of the applicants were elderly, wheelchair bound and mothers with small babies.
As the 2pm session neared, crowds grew restless after several queue cutters tried to squeeze their way into the line.
According to reports in April, the department said there was congestion at its counters as the demand for passports had skyrocketed and had taken appropriate measures to cope.
The New Straits Times has reached out to the Immigration Department for a response on the matter.