Malaysian Passport Renewal (UTC Sentul)

Initially,  my plan was to renew my passport at the Plaza Glomac Kelana Jaya branch,  and upon arriving at 745am and queuing behind about 80 people or so,  I thought it was going to be a breeze. 

By 8am the office had yet to open.  Observing the queue, the office could process about 30 passports an hour. It was dark on the inside and I had no way of investigating without leaving my place in the queue. Soon,  a man behind me went and enquire and returned telling his wife they should go to the office in Jln Duta. And they left. 

After calling the 0380008000 number listed on the site,  I was informed by the boyfriend aiding me from home that the systems in KJ branch were down. Soon after, a man came and make an announcement but I could not catch what he said. In  conclusion,  I left for Putrajaya,  figuring I could get lucky. Ringing the official number to check if the quota of the day had been hit,  I received no answer. Guess the only way to find out was to go there personally.

Upon arrival,  as predicted,  they were not serving new customers anymore. A security guard at the concierge gave me a list of nearby offices that I could try.  He recommended Sentul for its longer operation hours. Side note,  the KIPPAS kiosk is not in operation here.

Ringing all three numbers listed for UTC Pudu Sentral,  all numbers were out of service. Googling the office, I found that the second Sentul address was the correct one,  and headed there.

Unfamiliar with the roads,  Google Navigation turned out to be quite reliable. There is a Chinese primary school and a Shell station on your left directly before the left turn into the road where the building is situated. Large letters spelling out ' UTC' made it harder to miss. 

There is minimal parking alongside the building and shoplots, as well as an underground parking lot which entrance is behind the building. Expect to double or triple park.

I was pretty upset by this time and thanks to the big guy in heaven, I got a legit parking spot within 10 minutes (though I did lose out on an earlier one) and the office is still serving new customers, so I wasn't turned away. It was 1130am by that time.

The immigration office is located on Level 1, at the corner of the food court.  If you park at the basement,  exit the lift and then turn left after seeing a few Rest & Go massage chairs. The office is on your left.

I did not see a KIPPAS kiosk,  and the office was packed with people.  Head to Counter 9 for a ticket,  be sure to not stand on the left which is reserved for senior citizens and mothers with children. For renewal,  be prepared with:

• Current passport
• Original IC
• 2 passport photos with white-coloured background
• Cash - RM 300 - 5 years renewal. 

Then the waiting begin. 

The whole procedure includes: 1) getting a ticket and being processed, 2) making payment and 3) awaiting to surrender your old passport. The first event is the slowest, and between the current number and mine, there was over 100 people between us. Observing the queue, the office could process about 30 passports an hour.  I estimated I had about 3 hours to go before it was my turn. 

My number was finally called at 330pm (no thanks to the hour-long lunch break), and by 4pm I had my new passport and was only too glad to be able to end this nightmare and go home.

Noteworthy lessons:

1. All the phone numbers listed were pretty useless. They go unanswered; trust me, I tried.
2. Despite being listed as "Headquarters of the Immigration Department Malaysia" the 0380008000 number was a 1 Malaysia call centre, and noone there seems to have a clue about anything related to the immigration offices.
3. There are two ATMs in the food court, one of them Maybank.
4. The office closes down completely for an hour for lunch. This causes a major delay so aim get your passport before lunch.

Headquarters of the Immigration Department Malaysia

Address:

Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia

Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

Cawangan mini UTC,Sentul

Aras 1 Pusat Transformasi Bandar,

Jalan 2/48A,Sentul Perdana,

Bandar baru Sentul,

51000 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-404000143/614/148

Fax: 03-40400103

The operation hours :

8.00 am till 10.00 pm daily except public holidays

Good luck!