Frustration among foreign students and universities is likely to continue due to delays in returning passports.

Travel plans are now being put on hold and safety concerns are soaring for foreign students who have reported experiencing difficulty retrieving passports sent for processing back from Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) and the Immigration Department.

EMGS which was set up to efficiently process foreign student visas, says they are not to blame for the current situation of the passports.

Last June, EMGS planned to station an immigration team in its office by September to help speed up visa applications of foreign students. That, however, has not been implemented, according to EMGS representative Rajvinder Singh Dhaliwal.

"We have set timelines and clear procedures in place to ensure a smooth and timely issuance of approvals and passes to applicants. EMGS has been working towards Immigration offices being station in EMGS premises to make this process quicker."