Soekarno-Hatta Immigration Reveals Two Main Illegal Hajj Methods

These two main methods are frequently used by rogue ‘travel’ agents to deceive officials,” said Jerry Prima, Head of the Immigration Checkpoint (TPI) at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, in Tangerang on Saturday. First, he added, the tourist visa method where pilgrims pretend to travel to Southeast Asian countries such as Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) or Singapore. After transiting there, they proceed to fly to Saudi Arabia, Jeddah or Medina. Then, Jerry said, the work visa (Visa Amil Work) is often used as a pretext, but in practice, the visa is misused to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. Visa Amil Work (also known as Visa Amil) is an official work visa issued by the Saudi Arabian government for foreign nationals to work legally in the country. Holders of this visa are typically required to obtain a residence permit (iqamah) and are bound to a sponsor (kafil) for the duration of their employment contract. He explained that these methods are uncovered through strong inter-agency synergy involving the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, and the police, via the immigration passenger profiling system. “Through this system, passenger data can be identified and analysed even before they arrive at the airport for check-in,” he said. Immigration also applies the Subject of Interest (SOI) system, where individuals or prospective pilgrims previously recorded attempting illegal Hajj departures automatically trigger an alert when their passports are scanned at immigration counters this year. He added that follow-up actions from these preventions are handled according to Indonesian law through the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police (Polresta). Law enforcement authorities are currently investigating rogue travel agencies organising illegal Hajj departures. “Follow-up actions from our preventions have been handed over to the police for legal proceedings,” he said. With the completion of this year’s Hajj departure phase, Soekarno-Hatta Immigration is committed to maintaining enhanced monitoring of Hajj passenger flights to protect Indonesian citizens from illegal Hajj syndicates. “We will ensure that surveillance efforts are further strengthened to prevent future illegal Hajj cases,” he said. This year’s Hajj season saw the prevention of 89 individuals, comprising 40 men and 49 women, from departing between 18 April and 15 May 2026. He clarified that this figure is lower compared to the same period last year, which reached 721 cases. “This is clear evidence that the public is becoming more aware and fearful of using illegal channels for Hajj,” he said.