Jakarta – The Directorate General (Ditjen) of Immigration recorded the issuance of 1,595,096 passport books or an average of 13,292 passports issued every day during the first quarter of 2023.
Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim said the number had increased by 38 percent compared to the average daily issuance of passports before the pandemic. In 2019, the number of passports issued every day, both inside and outside Indonesia, was only 9,630 passports.
“I see a very significant increase in passport applications. The economy is improving, people miss traveling. Umrah, Hajj, college, work, tourism, and so on. I think that is one of the reasons why the Immigration Office is crowded with applicants,” Silmy said through his written statement, Friday (5/19/2023).
According to Silmy, the economy that began to improve after the COVID-19 pandemic was marked as one of the factors causing this increase in numbers. Not only that, the trend could be an indicator of the growing development of Indonesian society.
“Passport ownership allows holders to travel across countries, even across continents. The increase in the number of passport issuances shows people’s interest in seeing the world and being more advanced,” he said.
Currently, the Directorate General of Immigration focuses on improving and enhancing immigration services, including passport services. Efforts made include improving and refining the M-passport application; accelerating passport services; and weekend passport services presented by immigration work units.
Passport services on weekends, he said. targeting people who do not have time to apply for a passport on ordinary days. This innovation includes applications for ordinary passports, replacements, and acceleration of one-day passports. This facility can be found in several shopping centers in DKI Jakarta and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Silmy targets that by the end of 2023 electronic passports will be served at Immigration Offices throughout Indonesia.
“We are working on improving and refining immigration services to guarantee service certainty for the people of Indonesia. By the end of 2023, we hope that electronic passport applications can be served at all Immigration Offices,” he said. (InfoPublik/Photo: ANTARA)
