Pangkalpinang Immigration Requires Accommodation Owners to Report Foreign Nationals' Presence

The Pangkalpinang Class I TPI Immigration Office, in Bangka Belitung Province, requires owners and managers of accommodations to report the presence of foreign nationals (WNA) staying there to facilitate the monitoring of foreign activities. “We will take firm action against owners or managers of accommodations who do not report the presence of WNA,” said the Head of the Pangkalpinang Class I TPI Immigration Office, Ahmad Khumaidi, in Pangkalpinang on Sunday. He explained that this obligation is regulated under Article 72 of Law No. 6 of 2011 on Immigration, which requires owners or managers of accommodations to provide data on foreign persons staying there. “We ask owners or managers of accommodations to report the presence of WNA through the APOA application,” he stated. In this monitoring effort, the Pangkalpinang Immigration Office collaborates with the Population and Civil Registration Service as well as the Civil Service Police Unit in Pangkalpinang City, Bangka Regency, Central Bangka, West Bangka, and South Bangka. He added that up to the first quarter of this year, 42 WNA with residence permits are registered at the Pangkalpinang Immigration Office. However, this number does not include WNA who enter through international airports and ports in other areas, such as Jakarta, Bali, and Batam, before heading to Bangka Island. “To determine the number of WNA entering through those domestic routes heavily depends on reports from accommodation owners,” he said.