Immigration Directorate on Alert to Address Impacts of Middle East Airspace Closure
The Directorate General of Immigration has increased preparedness across all Airport Immigration Inspection Locations (TPI) following airspace closures in several Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Iran, which have direct consequences for international flight operations to and from Indonesia.
Acting Director General of Immigration Yuldi Yusman emphasised that his office is moving quickly to ensure no backlog of administrative procedures or immigration violations occurs. “The Directorate General of Immigration ensures that immigration services at airports continue to operate optimally and conducively. Our focus is to maintain smooth service delivery, orderly inspections, and procedural certainty for passengers affected by flight cancellations or diversions,” Yuldi stated on Sunday (1 March).
According to him, officers have processed cancellations of entry or departure records, both manually and through systems, for passengers and airline crew whose flights have been cancelled or diverted. This step is important to ensure transit data remains accurate and does not create administrative problems in the future.
Furthermore, immigration personnel in the field have been instructed to adjust personnel placement in international arrival and departure areas in accordance with flight dynamics. “Intensive coordination is being conducted with airport authorities, airlines, and relevant agencies to respond to changes in schedules, routes, and flight cancellations. Monitoring of flight situation developments is being carried out continuously through official channels and credible data sources,” he explained.
The Directorate General of Immigration issued Directorate General of Immigration Letter Number IMI-GR.01.01-133 dated 1 March 2026 as the basis for passenger assistance policy. Through this letter, immigration offices managing airports have been instructed to issue Temporary Stay Permits (ITKT) valid for a maximum of 30 days and extendable according to need.
Furthermore, for foreign nationals who experience overstay due to airspace closure conditions, an administrative fee rate of IDR 0.00 is applied, provided they submit a certificate or declaration from the airline or airport authority.
“We urge international passengers, particularly those on routes affected by transit through the Middle East region, to always check flight status through official airline applications and to immediately coordinate with the airline or airport officials if they require immigration assistance,” he concluded.
Previously, based on monitoring reports through Saturday (28 February) at 21:00 WIB, eight international flights at three major airports—Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, and Kualanamu International Airport—experienced cancellations or delays. As a result, a total of 2,228 passengers were affected, comprising 1,644 foreign nationals and 584 Indonesian nationals. The Directorate General of Immigration is anticipating congestion at immigration facilities.