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Indonesia to extend passport validity to 10 years

• 30 September 2020
• Insight
• Nasional

NetizenBali.com - Indonesians will soon enjoy a decade-long validity for their passports, pending the finalization of a new immigration regulation.

Earlier this month, President Joko Widodo and Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly signed a new Government Regulation (PP) on immigration, amending the one dated in 2013. The new PP includes a new validity period for regular passports, which will be valid for 10 years since its issuance — twice as long as Indonesia’s current passport validity.

The new regulation has not come into effect as several details are still being ironed out, including the adjustment of the rate for Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP).

“For the implementation [of the PP], we’re still waiting for the Regulations of the Minister of Law and Human Rights, which will regulate the technical details later,” a spokesman from the Directorate General of Immigration Arvin Gumilang said yesterday.

An exception to the 10-year validity regulation is for children with dual citizenships, whose Indonesian passports will automatically expire when they are required to declare their choice of nationality, which, according to Indonesian law, must be made within three years after turning 18. 

Additionally, there’s an article regulating that immigration officials must issue a passport by up to four days from its application date. 

According to reports, the passport validity is being extended for efficiency reasons, as the current five-year validity usually leaves a handful of blank pages. With a ten-year validity, Indonesians will have more time to fill up their passports with immigration stamps. [Source: Coconuts.co]