Antara, Jakarta – In response to long queues caused by immigration service disruptions due to a nationwide outage at the National Data Center (PDN) server since Thursday, 100 additional personnel have been deployed at immigration checkpoints (TPI) at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
"Currently, the crossing systems at airports and seaports are not operating normally. To address this situation, we have added personnel at the immigration checkpoints. All inspection counters in the international arrival terminals are now fully staffed, and we will be adding extra counters," said Silmy Karim, Director General of Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, while inspecting the queues and service systems at Terminal 3 International, Soekarno-Hatta Airport, on Friday evening.
He added that the queue situation at Soekarno-Hatta Airport's immigration is more manageable compared to the previous day. To help manage the queues, a special Hajj line has also been opened in the arrival area.
For now, immigration checks are being conducted manually. Officers are stamping passports with the arrival date, time, flight number, and officer initials, and documenting these details. For foreign nationals, visa numbers and the duration of stay are also recorded. "To prevent passengers on the watchlist from passing through, the passenger analysis unit system is operational, using cameras at each immigration counter to verify if someone is on the watchlist," Silmy continued.
Immigration has also provided an additional waiting area with 100 seats for both Indonesian citizens and foreign nationals, located outside the immigration inspection area to reduce congestion during peak hours. Passengers can access free bottled water in this waiting area.
"System issues are still being addressed by the Communication and Information Technology Ministry's team. Immigration is taking steps to optimize services until the system returns to normal," he said.
He clarified that resolving the disruption falls outside the authority of the Immigration Directorate, as the server is managed by the Communication Ministry.
Passport services have resumed at several immigration offices, albeit limited. According to K.A. Halim, Head of Immigration Information at the Law and Human Rights Ministry's South Sumatra Regional Office in Palembang, during the recovery phase, passport services are currently restricted to biometric data capture, interviews, and applicant photo-taking. Printing of passports awaits the complete restoration of the data check system.
For foreign nationals, officers at the Palembang and Muara Enim Immigration Offices can assist up to the biometric stage, with final processing pending system normalization.
Halim advised the public to postpone non-urgent immigration document processing during the PDN disruption recovery period. He emphasized the importance of monitoring progress to ensure services return to normal operations.