Directorate General Of Immigration Issues 1.5 Million Passport Books During The First Quarter Of 2023

Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim. ANTARA/HO-Ditjen Immigration

The Directorate General (Ditjen) of Immigration recorded the issuance of 1,595,096 passport books or an average of 13,292 passports issued daily during the first quarter of 2023.

Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim said this number had increased by 38 percent compared to the average daily issuance of passports before the pandemic.

As for 2019, the number of passports issued every day, both inside and outside Indonesia, is only 9,630 passports.

I see the increase in passport applications is very significant. The economy is improving, people miss traveling. Umrah Hajj, college, work, tourism, and so on. I think this is one of the reasons the Immigration Office is crowded with applicants," said Silmy as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 19.

According to him, the economy that started to improve after the COVID-19 pandemic was marked as one of the factors causing this increase in numbers. Not only that, this trend can be an indicator of the development of the Indonesian people.

Passport ownership allows holders to travel across countries, even across continents. The increase in the number of passport is showing public interest in seeing the world and being more advanced," he said.

Currently, the Directorate General of Immigration is focusing on improving and improving immigration services, including passport services. Efforts made include improvement and improvement of the M-passor application; passport acceleration service; 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 passports in normal days. This innovation includes applications for regular passports, replacements, and the 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 the Immigration Office throughout Indonesia.

"We are working on improving and improving immigration services to ensure the certainty of services for the people of Indonesia. By the end of 2023, we hope that electronic passport applications can be served throughout the Immigration Office," he said.