Letter: New immigration rule?

It appears there is a new rule that has been passed by the immigration office to take fingerprints and photographs of foreign visitors, who arrive in Jakarta effective from April 11.

We can see a long-standing visitor queue and we can see their exhaustion as they take stand for two clearances: One at the “ visa on arrival” counter and the second at the immigration desk.

We know this rule has been passed to increase security levels but it could be managed better.

This rule is applicable for all the foreign passport holders including those who is having work permits in Indonesia known as KITAS or KIMS holders as well.

We usually take the line provided for “Indonesian passport holders”. Our passport was issued from Jakarta but still we are Indian Passport holders. But as we are residents of Indonesia, we always consider ourselves as “Indonesian”.

In addition, we have a work visa in Indonesia.

On April 11, my wife and I returned from Singapore. We stood in a line for “Indonesian passports” but we were sent to the foreigner passport line simply because we hold Indian passports.

We waited for 30 minutes and finally I was cleared without any photographic or fingerprint session.

My wife checked with the immigration officer why we needed to stand in the “foreigner passport line when there was no fingerprint or photographic session”. The immigration officer said they were not required for KIMS holders but there was still some confusion whether other passport holders who have work permits in Indonesia could pass through the Indonesian line.  

We sincerely understand the point.

Could the immigration office give clear instructions to the officers stating this rule applies to only foreign visitors who do not have work permits in Indonesia so that foreign workers who have work permits (KITAS /KIMS) in Indonesia can pass through the Indonesian line instead of the foreigners line so that they can be cleared quickly.

Those foreigners who work in Indonesia and have work permits, the fingerprint records are already available with the immigration division as it is taken at the time of renewal of the work visa every year.
 
Padasala
Jakarta