PUTRAJAYA: The time taken to process a MyTravelPass (MTP) application has to be increased to 14 days from seven due to the high number of applications received.
Immigration director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the increasing number of business travellers followed the reopening of many more economic sectors.
The MTP was introduced by the Immigration Department on Oct 7, 2020 whereby the applications to enter and exit this country for Malaysian citizens and foreign nationals must be made through the system.
Responding to reports claiming that the MTP had caused delays in exiting and entering Malaysia, Khairul Dzaimee said enforcement of the MTP was to control movements in curbing the spread of Covid-19.
“The MTP enforcement has proven its effectiveness as up to August this year, the recorded imported positive cases of Covid-19 were less than 0.4 per cent from the total number of cases in Malaysia,” he said in a statement today.
According to him, since the MTP was introduced until last Friday (Sept 10), the Immigration Department had received 356,510 applications and out of this number, 6,697 applications were cancelled, 208,509 approved and 127,465 rejected.
“The number of applications processed during a set period is 13,000, managed by three task forces under the Immigration Department. The number has not gone down but has in fact, increased each day,” he said.
Khairul Dzaimee also advised the public to always be aware of the latest announcements and rules made by the government, as well as check on the latest related procedure and understand the set conditions in applying for the MTP before planning to travel abroad.
“Careful evaluation also has to be made to curb the spread of Covid-19 to this country,” he said, adding that the Immigration Department would continue improving the MTP system to facilitate applying for travel out and into this country by Malaysians and foreign nationals. – Bernama
