Passport demand soars in Bogor

BOGOR (JP): The number of passport applications here has increased significantly in the past two months, an immigration official said on Monday.

A senior official at the Bogor immigration office, Yusron, believed the increase was probably due to the government's plan to hike the tariff for processing passports by 87.5 percent to 400 percent in line with the enactment of Law No. 20/1997 on the state's non-tax income.

Bogor's immigration office issued 1,142 passports in June, 1,543 passports in July and 1,445 last month, he said.

Yusron insisted the rise in the number of people applying for passports was unrelated to a predicted mass exodus abroad amid rumored unrest during the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in November.

Processing costs for a regular 48-page passport will increase from Rp 75,000 to Rp 200,000.

It will cost Rp 340,000 to process a passport for two people or more in a family, up from only Rp 100,000 previously.

The cost of processing a 24-page passport will triple from Rp 25,000 to Rp 75,000; 24-page family passports will increase from Rp 40,000 to Rp 75,000.

Yusron said that no East Timorese natives submitted passport applications.

"Most of them (East Timorese) are staying in Jakarta. Only a few of them live here."

The government justified the rise in passport processing costs on the grounds that there was no increase in four years.

The immigration directorate general has contributed greatly to state income over the last three years due to the rising number of passport and other immigration documents processed. (21/edt)