Immigration Sees Hike in Passport Application as Countries Open for Tourism

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Malang Immigration Office in East Java recorded a significant increase in the applications for passports as Indonesia’s COVID-19 trend is slowing down and a number of countries reopen borders for international tourists. The number of passport applications even exceeded the daily quota.

“The hike has occurred since three weeks to one month ago. We have a quota of 100 applications per day,” said the Malang Immigration Office Head Ramdhani on Tuesday, Nov 16.

The regional immigration office set a daily quota of 25 passport applications, 25 applications from the Lippo Plaza Batu Passport Service Unit (ULP), and 50 other applications from the Malang City and Malang Regency areas. The number of applications recently doubled the daily quota.

“Our quota is 25 passport applications per day, it has increased to approximately 50 requests per day,” said Ramdhani.

Based on the immigration office data, the passports were mostly requested for tourism purposes reaching 69 percent, followed by umrah or minor hajj at 13 percent, study at nine percent, formal work at six percent, migrant works at two percent, and medical purposes abroad at one percent.

Due to the high demand for passport applications, the Malang Immigration Office planned to increase the quota by 10-25 passports per day. “We are coordinating with the central government to ask for additional quotas, but we are still waiting for approval,” Ramdhani said.

Read: Tangerang Immigration Office Reveals Violations Committed By Foreigners

ANTARA