PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department is finalising the extension of Malaysian passports from five years to 10, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Saifuddin said the initiative aims to provide more options for citizens who travel abroad frequently.
"A five-year passport sometimes gets filled with stamps quickly, and for those who travel often, we are giving the option of a 10-year passport.
"For that, they will have to pay more because it has more pages.
"We are fine-tuning it, and it is in the final phases. We will try to implement it soon," he said after launching the Immigration Day here today.
Neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore already issue passports with a 10-year validity period.
Saifuddin also assured that the security features of Malaysian passports would continue to be top-notch.
Currently, the Malaysian passport is ranked 11th in the Global Passport Power Rank 2024 by passportindex.org.
Saifuddin said this ranking reflected the number of countries that allowed Malaysian passport holders to enter without a visa.
"Our security features remain strong. We will reinforce and improve them," he added.
He also revealed that as of July 15, 1.45 million passports had been issued.
From Jan 1 to July 15, the movement of Malaysians, including permanent residents, in and out of the country totalled 65.5 million, while the movement of foreign nationals in Malaysia was recorded at 35 million.
The number of foreign workers in Malaysia stands at 2.36 million.