TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Law and Human Rights Ministry’s directorate general of Immigration announced that it recorded a significant increase in passport applications, exceeding the numbers of applications before the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout the first quarter of 2023, the immigration office has issued 1,595,096 passports, which equals to a daily average of 13,292 passports.

The Director General pf Immigrtation Silmy Karim, said that this influx of applications is believed to be driven by improvements in the economy and people wanting to travel after being on lock down following ban imposed by the government.

“The economy has gotten better and people are traveling. [Either it's] going on Hajj pilgrimage, college overseas, working, going on vacation, and so on. I think those are the reasons the immigration office was packed by applicants,” said Silmy in a statement on Friday, May 19.

The immigration office recorded a 38 percent growth compared to the average passport issuance before the coronavirus pandemic hit. In 2019, the passports that were issued on a daily basis only amounted to 9,630 domestic and overseas applications.

Citing state news agency Antara, the directorate general of immigration is currently focusing its efforts to improve focus on improving and perfecting immigration services, including passport services. Efforts made include repairing and perfecting the M-passport application, passport expediting services, and weekend passport services provided by the immigration work unit.

ANTARA

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