In a statement, immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh said the initiative was crucial to alleviate the congestion at the airport with the massive spike in the number of tourist arrivals.

He added that the department recorded over 30 million tourists entering the country last year, and 13 million so far this year as of May.

Ruslin said this increase in arrivals justified the need for a more efficient process to facilitate these visitors without compromising on national security.

“This initiative (allowing foreigners to use the autogates) has proven to be effective by expediting the clearance process, with the 30-minute wait time at manual counters reduced to 10 to 15 seconds through the autogates.

“This significantly reduces congestion at KLIA’s arrival hall, with 85% of foreigners cleared within 25 minutes,” he said.

Ruslin added that the department will continue to smoothen the autogate process to improve its services, saying the home ministry plans to increase the number of autogates at airports.

He was responding to complaints on social media about Malaysians having to share the autogate facility with foreigners, which purportedly made it less “special” to be a citizen.

In a post on X, a netizen claimed that immigration officers were not on hand to assist foreigners who were struggling when using the autogates, while other officers standing around were “rude and snobbish”.