Singapore woman overstays visa by 10 years: Police

JAKARTA (JP): Police have handed over a 42-year-old woman, believed to be Singaporean, to the Immigration Office for overstaying her Indonesian visa by about 10 years, police said yesterday.

Head of the City Police's Control of Foreigners unit Lt. Col. Irwan Syamsuar said police seized one Indonesian passport and several local identity cards giving the suspect different identities.

The woman was identified as Noraini Binti Kamis.

"Based on the evidence available, she has overstayed her visa since 1986," Irwan said.

Irwan said Noraini was questioned after her ex-husband, Indonesian lawyer Mustafa Djuang Harahap, 67, tipped off police.

"We didn't arrest her, nor did we detain her thanks to her cooperation," Irwan said.

Harahap and Noraini divorced in Oct. 1991 after 16 years of marriage. Their only son, Iswanyudi Djuang Harahap, was born in The Hague in 1977 and died here last year.

Irwan said Harahap reported his wife to police during the divorce and police found irregularities in Noraini's documents, he said.

Harahap told police Noraini's Singaporean passport number was 0058668 D and expired on June 29, 1978, while her KIM-S (temporary entry card) from the Indonesian immigration department expired on May 14, 1986.

Noraini had two Indonesian passports issued by the South Jakarta Immigration Office bearing different identities, Harahap said.

The first passport, number A 003526 with the Sept. 10, 1977 expiry date, was issued bearing the name Nuraini Djuang Anne. The second passport, with a May 24, 1994 expiry date, was issued bearing the name Nuraini Djuang Harahap, Harahap said.

Irwan said police wanted the Immigration Office to probe the report.

He said police sent Noraini and the dossier and available evidence to the Immigration Office's Control and Supervision unit Friday.

"She had told us she would be accompanied by a lawyer, but the lawyer had not yet appeared until we turned her into the Immigration Office," Irwan said.

During police questioning Noraini said she was an Indonesian citizen born in Medan, North Sumatra, and that her parents, Kamaludin Lubis, 60, and Habsah Yusof Tobing, 78, lived in Kampung Batak on Jalan Yunus, Singapore.

She said she got the Singaporean passport from someone so her son could go to the Jakarta International School.

Noraini said she had often used her Indonesian passport for overseas trips. (bsr)