Thousands caught in immigration bottleneck

Queue at the Shah Alam office is getting longer by the day and foreign workers are being deliberately forced to wait their turn

PETALING JAYA: Foreign workers are crying foul over the inefficiency of the immigration office at Shah Alam, with thousands queuing daily the past week to renew working permits.

M Yuganeshwaran, a manager of a local business, said that there are only 250 numbers up for grab daily and this morning there are already more than 1,000 people waiting in queue.

“I was here at 6.50am and my number was already around 200,” he said, adding that he got lucky this time around as the situation had been the same for the past three days.

Yuganeshwaran also said employers and workers continued to queue up to get their numbers early and get their papers processed within the official 7.30am to 5.30pm deadline.

Yuganeshwaran said he brought his five workers to the office this morning to renew their work permits under the government’s 6P amnesty initiative launched in mid-2012.

“Ever since the government introduced the 6P programme, thousands made a beeline to register themselves.

“They [government offices] clearly weren’t prepared for the influx of workers,” he said, citing that most workers’ visa and working permit were up for renewal this month.

Only three counters being managed

When asked why only 250 numbers were allocated each day, Yuganeshwaran said: “They probably want to end their day by 5.30pm.

“If they gave out more numbers, they [officers] won’t be to able go home early. There are 20 counters to process applications, and only six are allocated to handle foreigners,” he said.

Yuganeshwaran added that of the six counters, only three were being managed daily for the past week.

He said he was appalled at the lackadaisical attitude of the immigration officers, and anticipated this scenario to go on for about six months if nothing is done.

“There are a million-plus foreign workers and if they can’t even manage 250 people a day… imagine the time they would take to accommodate everyone,” he added.

The office does not process working permits and visa renewals during the weekend.