JakartaThe Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights will announce the design and colour of the new passports on August 17. Current passports will remain valid.
“For current passport holders, their passports will remain valid even after the new design is introduced,” Alvin Gumilan, head of the travel document validation team, said on Tuesday.
Irvine added that citizens can choose to exchange their old passports for new ones, but it is not compulsory. He noted that updating passport designs is common practice and is recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
He explained that countries need to update their passport designs to keep up with technological advances and prevent document forgery. “I can’t reveal the details yet, but I’m sure that future Indonesian passports will be more sophisticated,” he said.
Currently, Indonesian passports have a light blue or turquoise cover for ordinary passports, a blue cover for official passports, and a black cover for diplomatic passports, and all feature the golden Garuda emblem.
Immigration director-general Sirmy Karim had previously announced that details of the new design would be unveiled in the capital, Nusantara (IKN), on August 17. Sirmy said the redesign was aimed at encouraging positive change.
As of January 2020, Indonesian passports allow visa-free entry to 85 countries and regions.
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