Passport applicant numbers on the rise

Passport applicant numbers on the rise

JAKARTA (JP): The number of passport applicants in Jakarta has
increased by 10 percent over the past few days on account of the
forthcoming Idul Fitri and Chinese New Year holidays, an
immigration official said yesterday.

Coordinator of the Jakarta immigration offices Moh. Iman
Santoso said that on normal days, about 200 people apply for
passports.

Many of them plan to holiday in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan
and other Asian countries, he said.

Iman said the surge in the number of passport applicants was
particularly noticeable at the Central and West Jakarta
immigration offices. The daily number of applicants is expected
to peak today.

The number of Indonesians traveling overseas has increased
over the past three years from 879,396 in 1994, to 920,000 in
1995 and to over 1 million in 1996 while returning Indonesians
comprised 866,135 in 1994, 995,505 in 1995 and 1.1 million in
1996, Iman said.

The number of foreigners denied entry to Indonesia through
Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was 480 in 1995
and rose to 546 as of November 1996.

They were barred because they either lacked a visa or
passport; had a passport that had either expired, was damaged,
full, forged, false or valid for less than six months; or did not
possess a return ticket. (01)