Immigration service fees set for hike

JAKARTA (JP): New fees for immigration services will take effect on Aug. 7 following a two-month delay, an official announced on Tuesday.

Immigration Director General Mudakir said the fee for a 24- page passport would increase from Rp 25,000 to Rp 50,000, while the 48-page passport fee would go up to Rp 200,000 from Rp 75,000. The fees excludes the Rp 30,000 cost of photographs and the Rp 5,000 for fingerprints.

Frequent travelers will prefer the 48-page passport, Mudakir said.

"The immigration office will increase passport security with the fee hikes. It will be more difficult to counterfeit the new passports," Mudakir said in a statement.

He said the imported components of passports contributed to the fee increases.

Mudakir also said passports were the least expensive travel document, citing the Rp 1 million exit tax for air travel.

"Other fee increases for immigration services include the issuance of visas, reentry permits, stay permits and immigration notification licenses for naturalization purpose," he said.

Foreign investors will soon have a "one-stop service" for their immigration needs, immigration office spokesman M.A. Ghani said on Monday. He, however, did not say when the service would be offered.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation said on Monday any increase in the cost of immigration services should be clarified with the public before the increases take effect.

Mudakir's statement did not clarify the immigration office's earlier announcement that it would increase by 400 percent its fee for issuing documents to stateless people. (05)