S'pore woman claims M'sia immigration officer asks for $60 for her damaged passport

A 72-year-old woman claimed she was asked by a Malaysian immigration officer to pay RM200 ($60) after her passport was found to have two damaged pages.

A photo she shared showed two pages in her passport with their bottom-left corners torn off.

Ms Li told Shin Min Daily News that she and her friends had arrived at a checkpoint in Johor Bahru in a chartered vehicle on Feb 23.

The immigration officer asked her to pay RM200 for the damaged passport but she did not have the money at the time.

"The officer communicated with the driver and asked for RM200," said Ms Li.

"But I didn't have that much money, so I asked if RM50 would suffice.

"The officer then told the driver that I had to pay at least RM100."

Ms Li paid up and the group went on its way after the officer assured her that her return trip would not be affected.

While Ms Li managed to return to Singapore safely that night and applied for a new passport the following day, she was puzzled as to how her passport was damaged.

She explained that she had checked her passport, which was issued two years ago and was due to expire in 2033, before the trip.

According to Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the fee for replacing a damaged passport is $50 for the first incident and $100 for subsequent incidents of damage. This is on top of the prevailing passport fee of $70 (for applications submitted online, by post, or deposit box) or $80 (for applications submitted over the counter at ICA Building or at the Singapore Overseas Mission).