JakartaPost-Aug 15
The Law and Human Rights Ministry and Foreign Ministry are working to solve a problem with certain Indonesian passports that has resulted in the German Embassy’s rejection of visa applicants. The passports in question lack a place for the signature of the holder, an omission that German immigration officials have objected to. Authorities are still discussing the issue with the German Embassy in Jakarta, according to a press release sent on Sunday by the Immigration Directorate General, which is under the law ministry. Seeking an interim fix, director for immigration traffic Amran Aris has instructed immigration offices to accommodate requests from passport holders to add signatures to the endorsement pages of their passports. Endorsement pages are sometimes used to display a name change through marriage or divorce. “Holders wanting to have their signatures displayed on the endorsement page of the passport can file a request either with immigration [officials] or Indonesian embassies abroad free of charge,” Amran said, citing “efficiency” as the reason for the 2019 launch of a passport without a section for the holder’s signature. Indonesians can visit 72 countries without the hassle of applying for a visa, far fewer than passport holders of neighboring Singapore who can visit 192 countries under the same conditions. Singapore ranks 2nd on the index. Indonesia shares its ranking with Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. Indonesia also ranks behind neighboring Timor Leste, which sits in 60th with visa-free access to 94 countries, and Papua New Guinea, in 67th place with access to 83 countries. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/08/14/govt-promises-to-fix-indonesian-passport-trouble.html.
