Passport Wrangling

It is good that the Immigration Department will be giving a refund for restricted passports that cannot be used after 30th June 2006.

At the rate of RM2.50 for each month up to the expiry date, at least consumers will be able to recover a few ringgit in these days of rising costs.

But wait a minute. Why have they imposed these restrictions to the refund?
You are only entitled to a refund if:

1. You do not possess an international passport
2. Your restricted passport has at least two blank pages

It appears that some fuzzy logic is at work here.
Why should one be deprived of a refund if you have an international passport? After all, the possession of both passports is perfectly legal.
Also if you have even half a page left, your document should still be usable and legal up to the expiry date. After all there is no stipulated condition in the passport that one must use up the restricted passport to suit the Immigration Office?

I suggest a more equitable refund scheme would be the following:

1. Allow all restricted passport holders to claim the refund in the form of a passport credit that can be used within 5 years of surrender.
2. Your restricted passport is considered used if there is no space left for two more chops or half a page.

By allowing the early redemption, the international passport applications will be staggered from now to end June 2006 and all those who have the restricted passport will receive a fair deal.

photo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/British-passport-inside-front-cover.jpg