The Best New ID Document award went to the Immigration Department of Malaysia for the latest generation of the Malaysia Pass (MAL Pass) label. The Malaysia Pass is used by the Immigration Department to document permission for foreign nationals to enter and reside in Malaysia under a range of categories, including short-term professional and long-term social visit passes.

Percetakan Keselamatan Nasional Sdn Bhd (PKN) has produced Malaysia Pass labels since 2011, with a series of incremental upgrades over more than a decade to maintain the security and integrity of the document.

In the 2024 upgrade, PKN and the Immigration Department introduced a new KINEGRAM ZERO.ZERO® patch from Kurz / OVD Kinegram (OVDK) as the primary optical security device on the label. This unique metallisation approach enables fine-line kinetic motifs that are easy for inspectors to recognise but extremely difficult to copy using conventional holographic foil processes.

On the MAL Pass label, the new patch combines metallised and transparent elements to deliver strong optically variable and kinetic effects across the surface of the device, supporting rapid visual authentication and enhancing resistance to tampering, label lifting and reuse.

The design is compatible with machine-assisted examination, supporting integration into automated or semi-automated border control and immigration workflows. By upgrading the optical security layer while maintaining compatibility with existing issuance processes, the project demonstrates how a widely used immigration label can be significantly strengthened without disrupting front-line operations.

Taken together, the 2025 Japanese Passport and Malaysia’s upgraded Malaysia Pass label show how issuers in Asia are using polycarbonate substrates, centralised personalisation, online service delivery and advanced DOVID technology to improve travel and immigration documents.