As of 1 June 2022, UNHCR has updated its procedures for the renewal of expired documentation and new registration. Please find here answers to frequently asked questions about these processes.
Q. My UNHCR card or letter has expired or will expire soon. How do I renew it?
About two weeks before your UNHCR document expires, you will receive an SMS containing your appointment date and time.
You will receive another reminder SMS three days before the appointment date.
The appointment date will usually be the same day as the date of expiry on your document. On the appointment date, you will need to show the confirmation SMS to UNHCR staff at the UNHCR Refugee Centre before you will be allowed entry. Please come to the Centre 30 minutes before your appointment time.
Without an appointment, you will not be allowed in the Centre, as the number of appointments is fixed to ensure the health and well-being of refugees and asylum-seekers.
If you have an expired UNHCR document and you did not receive an SMS, it means that your telephone number recorded with UNHCR is no longer valid. Whenever you change your phone number/email/residential address, please update it through the Refugee Malaysia website.
Only individuals with appointments for UNHCR document renewals and carrying their expired documents with them are allowed to enter the UNHCR Refugee Centre. Please do not bring other unregistered relatives or family members with you.
Please bring your own water containers and snacks/food when you come to the UNHCR Refugee Centre with an appointment.
When you are in front of the UNHCR Refugee Centre and/or inside of the Centre, please put your rubbish in bins.
Q. How can I register as an asylum-seeker with UNHCR in Malaysia?
Due to previous COVID-19 related lockdowns, movement restrictions, and national COVID-19 SOPs, UNHCR was unable to receive individuals at the UNHCR Refugee Centre except in exceptional circumstances. As such, refugee registration interviews were mostly conducted remotely for cases requiring urgent registration based on imminent protection risks.
After the UNHCR Refugee Centre re-opened in September 2021, and at the communities’ request, UNHCR prioritized renewing some 68,000 expired documents, while also resuming a limited number of in-person registration interviews. Priority has been given to particularly vulnerable individuals. Examples of such vulnerable individuals include women at risk, children at risk, older persons at risk, persons with disabilities and serious medical conditions, and persons facing imminent risks of arrest or deportation. Please note that not all children, older persons, women, or pregnant women are considered to be vulnerable; however, if an older person has a serious medical condition requiring urgent treatment, he/she could be considered for registration.
Since the majority of documents (68,000) that expired in 2020-2021 have been renewed, UNHCR is now issuing appointments to verify individuals registered remotely and to conduct registration interviews. Registration will be prioritized for individuals who made requests in or before 2019, and/or particularly vulnerable individuals, such as women at risk, children at risk, older persons at risk, persons with disabilities, persons with serious medical conditions requiring treatment, and persons facing imminent risks of arrest or deportation. Not everyone who has applied for registration will be processed at this time. In order to ensure the health and wellbeing of refugees, registration will only be done by appointment.
Please do not come to the UNHCR Refugee Centre for new registration if you do not have an appointment. You will receive a phone call for an appointment and then an SMS confirmation if you are scheduled for a registration interview.
If you have made a registration request through the website, do not submit repeated requests for registration, as this will delay processing for you and others. Please remember to print or keep your reference number if you have applied for registration through the website.
Please wait to be contacted by UNHCR for a registration interview. There are large numbers of individuals waiting for registration, so the waiting period is long.
When you have received an appointment date to come to the UNHCR Refugee Centre for a registration interview, please bring your own water containers and snacks/food on the day of your appointment.
When you are in front of the Centre and inside the Centre, please put your rubbish in bins.
Q. Who will be prioritised for new registration?
UNHCR is currently prioritising requests made in or before 2019, and/or particularly vulnerable individuals. Examples of particularly vulnerable individuals include women at risk, children at risk, older persons at risk, persons with disabilities, persons with serious medical conditions requiring treatment, and persons facing imminent risks of arrest or deportation. Not all children, older persons, women, or pregnant women are considered vulnerable or at risk. Only if they face heightened protection risks or have additional specific needs, he/she will be considered for registration. For example, if an older person has a serious medical condition requiring urgent treatment, he/she could be considered for registration.
Q: What do I need to bring to my registration appointment?
Please bring all your direct family members and all documents relevant to your case such as passports, identity papers, marriage certificate, birth certificate, hospital documents, family census or national identity document, military service booklets and evidence of previous registration with other UNHCR and/or UNRWA Office. Also, please bring your water containers and food/snacks to the office, as there are no shops available nearby and the waiting period at the office might be longer than you expected.
Q: I am already registered, but my wife and children (below 18) are not. How do I register my wife and children?
Kindly submit a request for a family composition change via the Refugee Malaysia website. If you submit a family composition change request through the website, please ensure that you print or keep the reference number. You will be contacted by UNHCR with an appointment to add your wife and children to your file. We process such cases based on the date we receive the request and whether individuals are particularly vulnerable. Without appointments, you will not be allowed in the Centre, as the number of appointments are fixed to ensure the health and well-being of refugees.
Q: I recently had a new-born baby. How do I include the baby in my file?
Kindly submit a request for family composition change via the Refugee Malaysia website. If you submit a family composition change request through the website, please ensure that you print or keep the reference number. Please do not come to the office if you do not have an appointment. Without appointments, you will not be allowed in the Centre, as the number of appointments are fixed to ensure the health and well-being of refugees.
Q: I lost my UNHCR card. How can I get a replacement card?
Kindly submit a report on loss of document via the Refugee Malaysia website. If you submit a loss of document report through the website, please ensure that you print or keep the reference number. You will be contacted by UNHCR within one month to come to the office on a given appointment date, where you will be issued a replacement document.
Q. Do I need to pay to submit an application for registration or while seeking UNHCR assistance/ or its partners?
No. All UNHCR and its partners’ services, including registration services and UNHCR documents, are free of charge. If someone asks you to pay for UNHCR services, please report it through the Online Complaint Form (Fraud & Corruption) or email the UNHCR Risk, Integration, and Oversight Unit at mlslufrd@unhcr.org.