Malaysian Lost Passport Application in Singapore

The day has finally come – I have successfully lost my Malaysian passport. (I have a record of losing my important documents.)

Not that it’s anything to celebrate (in fact it was such a pain to go through the applications), but I thought I would share my experience here, as well as documents to prepare, for the poor souls suffering the same fate as me to get more clarity on the process of re-applying for a new Malaysian passport.

Spoiler alert: it’s really troublesome.

1. File a police report
2. Prepare documents
3. Get an emergency certificate
4. Declare (via an oath) your lost passport in Malaysia
5. Visit a Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia
6. Collection

Note: The contents of the blog post were valid at the time of publication. The actual lost passport report process might have changed since.

1. File a police report

You need a stamped police report for to apply for the emergency certificate, which is used to travel back to Malaysia to re-apply for a new passport.

• If you have a SingPass account, you can file an e-report online at the SPF website. It’s really simple and takes less than 5 minutes.
• If you don’t, your best bet is an onsite report at a nearby police station.

Be sure to print out a copy of the police report (if you did an e-report), and then go to a nearby police station to get it stamped, as it’s needed in later steps.

2. Prepare documents

The IM.42 form was in Malay which I had to Google Translate my way through..

The High Commission of Malaysia, Singapore (HICOM) website provides information on what is needed for the lost passport application, but as the content is organized into a shared section for general passport matters and a specific one for lost passport, it’s not straightforward.

For Singapore PR (in my case), the documents you’ll need moving forward are

1. 3 copies of the police report from Step 1
2. 3 copies of photocopy of your Malaysian IC
3. Photocopy of your PR card (if applicable; if not, check the website for more details)
   1. HICOM has photocopying services, but I think they charge S$0.60 per piece or higher.
4. Two passport-sized photos of yourself
   1. HICOM has a machine to take ID photos, S$8 for 4 photos.
5. A filled lost passport declaration form (in Malay), to be signed by the commissioner for oaths later
6. A filled Form IM.42, to be printed double-sided (meaning both pages are on the same paper)
   1. Don’t sign the form yet!
   2. HICOM provides you with the form if you don’t have the right format.
7. Exact change for S$17 (fees may change).

Make sure your devices are charged, because it’s going to be a long wait.

3. Get an Emergency Certificate

Visit the High Commission of Malaysia, Singapore.

The security personnel at the guard house was kind enough to remind me of the documents I need (including the IM.42 printed double-sided, which luckily, she had extra copies of for me to fill up on the spot).

Proceed to the Immigration department (the door on the left pictured above), and approach Counter 10 for lost passport application.

Some tips:

1. I came at 8am (the opening time) and there was no queue.
2. The emergency certificate application fee is S$17.

   Be sure you have exact change, or you have to spend some time getting change from the abang working at the photocopier.

3. If you work in Singapore, it’s a good idea to let the counter officer know that you need to travel between Singapore and Malaysian during the lost passport handling process, so they can add a multiple entry permit to the Emergency Certificate.

Wait for 2-3 hours (I was told it might be longer, even across days), and you should receive a sleek maroon-colored Emergency Certificate.

It’s so pretty, I want to hold on to it.. but I digress.

You can now travel to Malaysia for a year using this document.

4. Declare (via an oath) the lost passport in Malaysia

The commissioner for oaths near the immigration HQ is the second shop above (with the Fujifilm shopfront).

Find a commissioner for oaths in Malaysia and get the previously prepared lost passport declaration form (Surat Akaun) declared. You’ll be charged a nominal fee.

I visited the one beside the Johor Immigration HQ, which opened half an hour before the opening of the HQ itself; and got help to fill in the form (as the standard of my Malay is.. well..), and was charged for the service.

5. Visit a Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia

For lost passport, the usual passport application offices wouldn’t work; it has to be the state HQ. I visited the Johor branch, which was at Taman Setia Tropika.

Photo credit: wong u @ Google Maps

Show the lost passport declaration form to the counter officer at level 1. He or she will check that you have the required documents, then give you a ticket number.

Proceed to queue and get your application processed by an officer in one of the counters. The overall process for me was pretty smooth except for the fact that I didn’t stamp my police report, which was thankfully accepted by the officer; I would advise you to not take the risk and stamp the report anyhow.

You’ll be instructed to collect your passport in 5 working days (inclusive of application date and collection date). For me I submitted my application on Sunday morning, and collected my passport on Thursday.

Your mileage may vary – according to the state of your passport (e.g. if it was stolen or lost), it may take many more days for the application to be processed.

6. Collection

Collect your passport at the same HQ you visited 5 working days later.

For collection, you’ll need to pay a fine on top of the usual passport application fee. At the time of writing, I paid RM 200 (for passport application) + RM 200 (for first time losing it).

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And that’s it! It was a really painful process rushing through the application especially in the middle of my busy work and other commitments, and on top of that, I had a flight to Japan on my collection date (really cutting it close!).

Thankfully everything worked out fine, and I sincerely hope you won’t need to go through what I did. If you’ve read till here though.. I wish you all the best and godspeed for your passport application!

Featured image credit: Youtube