Malaysian passport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Malaysian passport (Malay: Pasport Malaysia) is the passport issued to citizens of Malaysia by the Immigration Department of Malaysia (Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia).

The main legislation governing the possession and production of passports or travel documents by persons entering and leaving Malaysia and related matters is the Passport Act 1966.

1 Types of Malaysian passport
2 Biometric passport
3 Identity information page
- 3.1 Naming scheme
- 3.2 Identity number
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Types of Malaysian passport

There are three types of Malaysian passport:

[edit] Regular international passport

The regular Malaysian passport is valid for five years from the date of issue, and cannot be renewed.

Malaysian passport holders are not permitted to enter Israel (likewise, Israeli passport holders are not permitted to enter Malaysia without clearance from the Ministry of Internal Security).

[edit] Hajj passport

A special passport issued to those making a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

[edit] Restricted passport

The Malaysian Restricted Passport was a travel document for restricted to travel between Malaysia and certain adjacent territories:

between Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore; or
between East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) and Brunei

Malaysia stopped issuing and renewing Restricted Passports as of 1 January 2006, and announced that they would no longer be valid for travel from 31 December.^[1]

[edit] Biometric passport

Malaysia was the first country in the world to issue biometric passports in March 1998, after a local company, IRIS Corporation, developed the technology.^[2] In December 2002, thumbprint data was added to the biometric data on the passport chip. Similar technology is used in the Malaysian identity card, MyKad.

The biometric data included on the Malaysian passport is a digital photograph of the bearer's face, and images of their two thumbprints. Malaysian immigration checkpoints were the only ones with the technology to read and authenticate the data from the RFID chip using a fingerprint scanner and facial recognition technology, but widespread adoption of ePassport technology around the world has seen the technology installed in international airports in the USA, the UK and other countries.

In addition to biometric data and the personal information stored on the information page, the chip also records the bearer's travel history of the last ten entry and exits at Malaysia border control points.

Concern about possible "cloning" of the data from the passport chip for the purposes of identity theft prompted IRIS to issue a press release in 2006, stating that the chip and data had never been successfully cloned, and that digital keys stored on each chip made such duplication and forgery impossible.^[3]

[edit] Identity information page

The Malaysian passport includes the following data:

Type ('P' for Passport)
Country code ('MYS' for Malaysia)
Passport number
Name of bearer (see below for details of the naming scheme)
Nationality ('Malaysian')
Identity number (see below for more information)
Place of birth (usually State of birth, not city or town)
Date of birth (in DD-MMM-YYYY format, such as 24-JUN-1988)
Sex ('M' or 'F')
Date of issue (in DD-MMM-YYYY format)
Date of expiry (in DD-MMM-YYYY format, five years from date of issue)
Issuing office
Height (in centimetres)

[edit] Naming scheme

Due to Malaysia's heterogeneous ethnic demographic, including substantial Chinese and Indian minorities as well as Malays, the name of the bearer on the Malaysian passport is displayed using that person's customary naming practice. Surname and given name fields are not differentiated on the passport, and this can cause difficulties or confusion in some countries as the placement of the surname is not consistent.

Chinese names: can be listed in three ways according to the individual's preference: surname first as is customary (surname first, then Chinese given names: "WONG Kim Siong"), surname between given names (non-Chinese derived name, surname, Chinese given names: "David WONG Kim Siong"), or in the Western style of surname last (David WONG)

Malay names: Generally in the format "X BIN/BINTI Y", where 'BIN' means 'son of' and 'BINTI' means 'daughter of', similar to the Arabic name system. This practice is not limited to Muslim Malays however, and can also be found in Christian indigenous Sabahans and Melanaus of Sarawak.

Ethnic Indian and Thai names: Generally in the format "X AL/AP Y" where 'AP' stands for 'anak lelaki' (Malay for 'son of') and 'AL' stands for 'anak perempuan' (Malay for 'daughter of'). 'Anak' means 'child of', and can appear in indigenous Sarawakian names ("X ANAK Y").

Western/European names: Eurasian Malaysians, or those descended from British, Portuguese or Dutch settlers, have the person's hereditary surname last ("Robert SMITH").

[edit] Identity number

The Malaysian identity number is a unique ID number allocated to each Malaysian, and the same number is used on the MyKad identity card. The number is in the following format:

YYMMDD-SS-###G

The first six digits (YYMMDD) are the date of birth of the holder, so for example 24 June 1988 would be represented as 880624.
The next two digits (SS) are the state in which the person was born from 01 (Johor) to 13 (Sarawak). See States of Malaysia for the codes for each state. The digits 14 to 16 are used for the Federal Territory areas of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya respectively. The code '71' is used for those born outside Malaysia.
The last four digits are a serial number, and the last digit (represented above by 'G') is a gender indicator: an odd number for males and an even number for females.