Congratulations to the Immigration Department!

I have just returned from a trip to get a new international passport from the JB office. The staff there are really working hard to meet the deadline of 31st May 2006 after which the Restricted Passport will be no longer valid for travel to Singapore.

In one of my earlier rants, I complained that holders of international passports should not be penalised for the rebate given for the Restricted Passport.

In fact I went to the department yesterday and my application was about to be processed when the officer asked me if I had a Restricted Passport.

“Yes.” I replied. “But I thought I could not get a rebate according to the newspapers.”

“Now it will be given.” She advised.

“It’s too late now. So I have to return tomorrow.”

“OK. Just come and take another number.”

Luckily I qualify for a little special treatment for those above 55 years of age. The crowd for the general public was really awesome but the officers are really working with great dedication.

I went this morning at about 9:30am and was able to get a new passport at 12:45pm. This is a major improvement compared to about 4 years ago when you could get a new passport after 3 or 4 working days.

I have only a few suggestions to improve their operations.

1. The counter for “borang” is closed during lunch time. Suggest they also get the post offices to sell these forms. The other useful thing is to post a notice advising the public the rebate is being given to ALL. At least the public can go home and not get a queue number that has to be replaced and also waste everyone’s time.

2. The section for the elderly, those with children and pregnant women is really too small and stuffy. I suggest this section be moved upstairs to where the passports are being collected.

3. The collection center should take over the vacated space on the ground floor as usually the collection time is more precise and most people will not wait the 3 hours time for processing. Less space can be allocated for this purpose.

The Passport office has made tremendous strides to improve their service and the officers deserve a word of appreciation.

Photo: http://static.flickr.com/32/57914722_448a869293_m.jpg