The Directorate General Of Immigration Has Started To Implement 100 Percent E-Passport Gradually

Acting Director General of Immigration Saffar M. Godam/ Photo: ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Directorate General (Directorate General of Immigration) of Immigration, Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, went to a new round of the Indonesian Immigration system by implementing 100 percent electronic passport issuance (e-passport) in stages, starting December 1, 2024.

Acting (Plt.) Director General of Immigration Saffar M. Godam explained, the issuance of the e-passor started with 13 Immigration offices that served as a pilot. Later, all Immigration offices in Indonesia will follow the implementation of the policy.

"As of December 1, 2024, all Indonesian citizens who apply for a passport at the 13 designated Immigration offices will automatically get an electronic passport. In the future, we plan to implement it to all immigration offices in Indonesia," said Godam, ANTARA, Sunday, December 1, 2024.

The list of immigration offices used as a pilot for the issuance of e-passors is 100 percent, namely the Soekarno-Hatta Immigration Office, the South Jakarta Immigration Office, the West Jakarta Immigration Office, the Medan Immigration Office, and the Batam Immigration Office.

Then, the Makassar Immigration Office, the Tangerang Immigration Office, the Surabaya Immigration Office, the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, the East Jakarta Immigration Office, the Central Jakarta Immigration Office, the North Jakarta Immigration Office, and the Tanjung Priok Immigration Office.

Godam explained that electronic passports or e-passports are travel documents equipped with electronic chips containing passport holders biometric data, such as facial photos and fingerprints.

The data is encrypted with high security technology, making it very difficult to fake. In addition, the e-passor is also equipped with other security features, such as special ink and hard-to-copy holograms.

One of the advantages of e-passports is higher security, which minimizes the risk of abuse and allows for a faster immigration process, especially in a number of countries that have adopted an automatic passport check system using chip readers.

Not only that, said Godam, e-passports have become international standards in travel documents. He said almost all countries in the world have used e-passports as legal state travel documents.

Therefore, Plt. The Director General of Immigration believes that the implementation of the issuance of 100 percent e-passports is an effort in terms of immigration to strengthen the passports of the Republic of Indonesia.

"Using a combination of the latest safety features, raw materials, and techniques according to international standards is a major concern to ensure that passports can be protected as long as they are used to perform international crossings," said Godam.