Difficulting Congregants, Ministry Of Religion Agrees To Revocation Of Umrah And Hajj Passports

Prospective Hajj Pilgrims (CJH) in Ternate City who left for the holy land in 2019. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (the Ministry of Religion) welcomes the policy of the Directorate General of Immigration which revokes the recommendation requirements for the processing of special Umrah and Hajj passports, which some consider to be difficult for the congregation. "The Immigration Office used to ask the Ministry of Religion for reasons for supervision to issue recommendations in the process of issuing special Umrah and Hajj passports. The policy of the Directorate General of Immigration is indeed quite difficult," said Ministry of Religion spokesman Anna Hasbie, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday.

According to Anna, the Ministry of Religion's recommendation requirements have been enforced since 2017 by the Directorate General of Immigration. The provision was issued by the Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights as the party authorized to issue passports. around early March 2017, said Anna, the Directorate General of Immigration wrote to the Ministry of Religion asking for additional requirements in the form of recommendations from the Ministry of Religion in the process of obtaining passports for Umrah pilgrims and special Hajj.

Through Circular Number B-7001/DJ.I/Hk.00.5/03/2017 concerning the Addition of Recommendation Requirements for Heads of Offices of the Regency/City Ministry of Religion for Applicants for Special Umrah/Hajj Passports, the Directorate General of Immigration asked the Ministry of Religion to inform the District/City Ministry of Religion about the existence of these additional requirements so that they can follow up. "The circular of the Directorate General of Immigration is then informed to the District/City Ministry of Religion to be followed up. After it has been revoked, later special Umrah and Hajj pilgrims will no longer need to ask for recommendations from the Ministry of Religion. We support the Directorate General of Immigration no longer making it difficult for pilgrims," he said.

Previously, the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Immigration revoked a letter of recommendation from the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) as one of the requirements for application for Hajj and Umrah passports. "We no longer apply for recommendations from the Ministry of Religion or the head of the regional Religious Office for passport applicants for Umrah," said Director General (Dirjen) of Immigration Silmy Karim.

Silmy emphasized that passports are the right of every citizen and the Directorate General of Immigration is obliged to provide convenience for the public to get a passport.

"People who want to worship only have to ask for recommendations? We make it easier, we immediately give them. So passports are the rights of citizens, that's the principle, so we have to give them easily," he said. The requirements for a letter of recommendation in the passport application may not be considered difficult for some people, but for people who live far from big cities, the requirements for a letter of recommendation from the religious office can be a fairly troublesome requirement.