RECENTLY, my family and I drove to Johor Baru from Singapore.
My 10-year-old daughter nearly ran into problems with the Malaysian immigration authorities as her passport was not endorsed properly by the officer who had served my family.
We did not check to ensure that our passports had been stamped properly, as it appeared to us that the officer had endorsed all our passports.
We learnt that the Malaysian immigration authorities have implemented a new procedure at the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex.
Previously, the immigration endorsement merely stated the date of entry and said the passport holder could remain in West Malaysia for 30 days from the date of entry in one stamp.
However, the endorsement stamp used now shows the entry date and indicates that the passport holder may remain in West Malaysia till a certain date, which is indicated by a separate stamp.
Thus, immigration officers are required to make four stamps - two on an embarkation card, and two in a passport.
My daughter's passport was stamped only with an exit date, and no entry date was indicated.
Fortunately, her embarkation card bore the necessary stamps.
On our way back, the immigration officer initially refused to let us through, but relented after we argued that the missing stamp was due to an omission by the immigration officer on our way into Malaysia.
The officer then wrote the entry date in my daughter's passport and asked us to check our passports carefully in future.
We learnt a valuable lesson, and will be sure to check our passports thoroughly before leaving the immigration counter on future trips.
