Touts ease the hassle of getting passports<\/p>\n
By Hera Diani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Obtaining a document such as a passport in this
\ncountry can be a major headache.<\/p>\n
Long drawn-out bureaucratic procedures, irritating officers
\nand pushy touts are among obstacles that have to be faced
\nthroughout the process.<\/p>\n
No wonder people prefer to go to a service bureau or pay
\nmiddlemen to get their passports done fast, even though it may
\ncost them more than double.<\/p>\n
Take Hery (not his real name), for example, who works at a TV
\nproduction house.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old man was assigned by his office to go to Europe
\nand was going to make a passport. But little did he know that it
\nwould cost him almost Rp 1 million to get it.<\/p>\n
"I went to Tangerang immigration office. There, a man with an
\nimmigration office badge offered me help," he told The Jakarta
\nPost recently.<\/p>\n
The man asked for Rp 600,000 (US$54.5) to get him his
\npassport, Hery said.<\/p>\n
The official fee is Rp 110,000 for a 24-page passport and Rp
\n260,000 for a 48-page passport to be completed in a week.<\/p>\n
"I didn't have much time so I said yes as long as the passport
\ncan be processed in one day," Hery said.<\/p>\n
But then the man asked for another Rp 200,000 because Hery's
\nidentity card is less than a month old.<\/p>\n
"He said that many people obtain ID cards in Tangerang to make
\nthings easier though they actually live in Jakarta," Hery said.<\/p>\n
"The next day, I met a lady who only paid Rp 500,000 with the
\nassistance of an 'insider'," he said.<\/p>\n
Scalpers can easily be found at every immigration office,
\nexcept the Central Jakarta office. Just walk inside and someone
\nwill approach and offer their services.<\/p>\n
Someone like Marzuki (not his real name), a scalper at the
\ncrowded North Jakarta immigration office, located near Tanjung
\nPriok port.<\/p>\n
Marzuki admitted to being a middleman for 10 years now.<\/p>\n
"There are many touts here. Most of them are unemployed
\nsailors. As for me, I also work at a travel agency," said the
\nman, who is in his 40s.<\/p>\n
He charged between Rp 300,000 ($27.3) to Rp 600,000 per
\npassport ($54.6), depending on the number of passport pages,
\neither 24 or 48, and how long it can be completed.<\/p>\n
"The faster you want to get it done, the more money you have
\nto pay. But it's negotiable," he said.<\/p>\n
"If all your documents are in order, let's go to my car
\noutside and arrange everything. It's now 2 p.m., your passport
\nwill be ready by 10 a.m. tomorrow," he said.<\/p>\n
If you are wary of touts you might as well go to a service
\nbureau to arrange your passport.<\/p>\n
They charge you somewhere between Rp 400,000 to Rp 750,000
\ndepending on the type of passport and how quickly you need it.<\/p>\n
The offices also provide a service where they will pick up the
\ndocuments from your house and deliver your passport. All you need
\nto do is just go to the immigration office to get your photograph
\ntaken.<\/p>\n
However, for Indonesians of Chinese descent, they need to
\ninclude their citizenship papers and pay an additional cost of Rp
\n100,000 to Rp 150,000 for the screening process.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights'
\nDirectorate General of Immigration, Mursanudin Ghani said that
\nsome of the service bureaus are indeed legalized.<\/p>\n
"The bureaus are those who have been trained by the Ministry's
\nJakarta office. You recognize them from their badge," he told The
\nJakarta Post over the phone on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
"It's a common thing in every country where people are busy
\nand don't have time to arrange this kind of thing by themselves,"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
About the price, Mursanuddin said, it is logical that the
\nbureaus earn a profit from it.<\/p>\n
"It's not that I'm justifying it, if there are complaints,
\nplease report them to us," he said.<\/p>\n
Mursanuddin, however, admitted that it is difficult to combat
\nscalpers.<\/p>\n
"We can't take measures on them because that's the authority
\nof the ministry's provincial office," he asserted.<\/p>\n
Mursanuddin said that hopefully the whole process will be
\ncomputerized so people could then just pay through a bank
\naccount.<\/p>\n
"But it costs a lot of money. We actually received a soft loan
\nof some $26 million from Spain, but the project was called off, I
\ndon't know why," he said.<\/p>\n
About the discrimination over Chinese Indonesians, Mursanuddin
\nwas reluctant to provide a justification, saying that "there are
\nsome things that can not be disclosed".<\/p>\n
"It's very easy to get a new birth certificate or an identity
\ncard. So we have to do the screening," he finally said, adding
\nthat the screening is officially free-of-charge.<\/p>\n
However, concerning the hustle and bustle in obtaining
\npassports, there are actually some people who do not mind going
\nthrough the process all by themselves.<\/p>\n
A woman at the North Jakarta immigration office was extending
\nher passport without any assistance from middlemen and the
\nprocess was swift.<\/p>\n
"My friends said that immigration officers will make the
\nprocess difficult if I don't give them money, so I gave them
\nsome. But they returned it to me," she said.<\/p>\n
Ndari, 30, also refused to use either a tout or bureau, saying
\nthat her budget was limited.<\/p>\n
"Besides that, I also want to know what it's like to arrange
\nit by myself. And it turns out to be okay," she told the Post at
\nthe East Jakarta immigration office.<\/p>\n
"Yes, I have to wait in line for three hours to get my
\nphotograph taken. But other than that, everything has gone
\nsmoothly and I got my passport on time," she added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/touts-ease-the-hassle-of-getting-passports-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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