Jakarta. The Indonesian immigration office recently held a coordination meeting with the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Los Angeles to discuss issues related to immigration, consular services, and the protection of Indonesian citizens abroad.

According to the immigration office's director general Silmy Karim, these three issues are pivotal to facilitating Indonesian citizens abroad to access easy, fast, and secure services and protection through digital transformation.

Optimization of public services at Indonesian representative offices is carried out without ignoring the principle of prudence, especially in the issuance of passports, Silmy said. 

"So [for the issuance of passports abroad], in addition to formal requirements, there is also a requirement to have a residence permit. This is to prevent Indonesian citizens from staying abroad illegally," he said. 

Silmy also urged the immigration office to be innovative. One of the office's flagship innovations is the evisa.imigrasi.go.idp platform which offers a seamless experience for foreigners to apply for Indonesian visas.

Visa applications can be done anywhere, supported by the ease of paying for visas using credit cards. Previously, visa payments were made manually through agents/guarantors.

The online immigration service is the first government service that can use credit cards. A total of 1,346,893 transactions have been recorded since the regulation regarding online payments with cards came into force in January 2023.

"[The platform] e-visa is in line with the SPBE (Electronic-Based Government System) program. It's very convenient and can be done anywhere," Silmy said. 

The immigration office also proposed to add six immigration attaches abroad. The addition should be prioritized in countries with the highest number of Indonesian citizen crossings, both for the purpose of settling and for short visits. Cambodia is one of the countries considered urgent to immediately have an attache and immigration technical staff. In addition to still being included in the ASEAN region, it is known that there are almost 120,000 Indonesian citizens living and working in Cambodia.

Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly praised the immigration directorate general for using digital technology.

"Improvements must be made continuously, but if we don't start, we won't know where to fix them. We must have the courage to start breakthroughs," Yasonna said.

State Apparatus Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas also said that digitalization in public services should not only be limited to apps but also leadership.

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