Malaysian passports. Photo courtesy of the official portal of the Sarawak government
Malaysia, which possesses Southeast Asia’s second most powerful passport, will introduce a newly designed passport from June 1 featuring 94 security enhancements.
The upgraded passport will include additional security measures such as holograms, ultraviolet printing and specially designed security threads embedded in the passport stitching, according to The Star newspaper.
Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the current Malaysian passport contains 49 security features, while the upgraded version will include nearly twice as many to make it more secure and harder to counterfeit.
“While the existing passport already meets high standards, the latest version comes with significantly enhanced security specifications,” he said as quoted by New Straits Times.
The rollout will be conducted in stages, beginning June 1 at four selected branches – Immigration Headquarters in Putrajaya, the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department Office on Jalan Duta,UTC Wangsa Maju and the Shah Alam Immigration Office.
Following the initial launch, the department expects to roll out the new passport to all remaining branches nationwide by the end of July.
Malaysia’s passport jumped three places to rank sixth most powerful globally in the Henley Passport Index 2026 updated this month, marking its highest position in the 20-year history of the index.
It is now the second most powerful passport in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore’s.
Malaysian citizens enjoy visa-free access to 183 out of 227 countries and territories.
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