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)