The New Passport

Was about to write about my passport few weeks ago when I was renewing it. I guess I was pretty occupied since last month, dunno where all my time has vaporised to (wink wink!) Anyway, what happened is that I finished all the pages on my old passport before its expiry date. Yippieee!!!

To prepare for my upcoming trip, I renewed my passport here. Usually, to make a passport, most people will hire the service of “calo” (middle-man). Calo is supposed to take care all the documents and shitty stuffs for you, and usually means speedy-service. But I am not using of any of those illegal service. So, I do it in accordance to the proper procedure.

1. Fill up the request form, along with the copy of KTP, copy of KK, birth cert, recommendation letter from your work place.  Submit it to the officer, he’ll check if those requirement are sufficient, and he’ll give you a receipt – telling you when to come for photo-taking and interview (usually take less than 5 working days) The form costs about IDR 10,000 (which includes: a folder of a form and a passport sleeve). 
2. Get your queue number, and submit the receipt that you got previously. Then they’ll ask you to pay for the passport-making fee, which is IDR 255,000. Wait for a while, and they’ll call you for interview (usually to check the copied documents against the original ones, so ensure you bring them along), and photo-taking.  Then you’ll be asked to sign some paper. And you’ll get another receipt stating when you can pick your new passport up (takes less than 5 days)
3. Submit your pick-up letter. In no time, they’ll just give the new passport to you.  If you ever need to get your old passport (for future reference), they’ll ask you to write a request form, and handed them a copy of your old passport, all of its pages.

My advice are:

• Do not use calo. Those blood-suckers are pretty much useless now. The immigration department are now equipped with queue number system, even the calo can’t skip the line anymore, nothing they can do about it. Plus, if you are using calo’s service, it’ll cost you min.IDR600,000. That’s super costly, since all they do is just get you the form, photocopied your documents, READING your queue numbers, and yet you still have to wait just like the rest of the people.  If your calo is one of the officers, you are allowed to “wait” at his/her office, breathing the full-smoke from their office, and stare at nothing. Btw, the waiting room at Padang immigration offers entertainments too. I watched Rango and Ip-Man during my queue (bits and pieces of it, of course I didn’t wait that long there)

• When you are taking the picture. PLEASE demand to see the picture RIGHT AFTER they took your picture. Anything later than that will be too late. I learned it in the hard way, here’s a transcript of my conversation during the interview:  

M: is my picture already printed in that passport? (pointing at new passport)
    H: not yet. Why?
M: Can I see my picture? I think it wasn’t very nice
    H: Here (moving his computer screen for me to see)
M: That’s awful. Can I take another picture? I don’t want that one. Please.
    H: Too late. You should have requested it when they took your pic. It’s too late now. All your data are in the system now. Bear with it for another 5 years.
M: That’s why I wanted to retake my pic. I have to use that passport for next 5 years. Pleaseeeeeee…
    H: You know, it all depends on the object. If the object is not nice, the picture won’t be nice too.  Right? (looking at me)
M: (of course I was speechless, how to argue with someone who said you don’t look nice…. Arrrghhhhhh)