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Indonesian passport applications soared in 2017
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An officer shows two Indonesian passports in this file photo. (Kompas.com/-)
T
he Directorate General of Immigration saw a significant increase in Indonesian passport requests for international travel. In 2017, the directorate received 3,093,000 passport applications, an increase from 3,032,000 in 2016 and 2,878,099 in 2015.
According to an official release as reported by kompas.travel on Sunday, 9.1 million Indonesians traveled abroad in 2017, a staggering jump from 8.4 million in 2016.
Read also: Riding the Soekarno-Hatta airport train: A guide
“The increase is caused by a change in societal behavior when traveling abroad,” said the head of general public relations for the directorate, Agung Sampurno.
Among the behavior changes are the increase of affordable international travel packages, the shift from hajj to umrah travels and the fact that Indonesians have more workers abroad than ever before.
In response to the rising number of passport applications, Agus outlined the steps taken by the directorate, “We are adding 10 more service passport points (ULP) besides those already available at 125 immigration offices. There are also 16 one-stop multiservice points (LTSP), three Immigration Work Units (UKK) and two Public Service Malls (MPP).”
The directorate has also added a passport quota in each immigration office to serve the public, including opening the offices on Saturdays and Sundays, starting from Dec. 2017 to Jan. 2018.
“Lastly, on Dec. 29 it ordered all immigration offices in Indonesia to complete the outstanding passport applications within two weeks,” Agus added. (asw)
