False Documents and Passport Forgery: A Systemic Loophole or a Weakness in Oversight?

The use of false documents and passport forgery still occurs frequently in immigration practice. This phenomenon raises the question of whether the problem stems from systemic gaps in the issuance of immigration documents or from weak oversight and law enforcement.

Law Number 6 of 2011 on Immigration already provides for firm criminal sanctions. Article 119 provides punishment for foreigners who use forged immigration documents. Article 123 paragraphs (1) and (2) ensnare any person who provides false statements or uses a fictitious sponsor to obtain a passport, visa, or residence permit. In addition, Article 126 classifies passport forgery as a serious criminal offense because a passport is a state document. These provisions are reinforced by Articles 263–266 of the Criminal Code, which regulate forgery and the use of forged documents in general.

Even though the regulations are comprehensive, passport forgery continues to occur. This indicates gaps in the administrative system, such as document verification that is not yet optimal and dependence on supporting data. On the other hand, lax oversight also opens opportunities for abuse, both by applicants and by parties who exploit procedural weaknesses.

Passport forgery and the use of false documents result from a combination of systemic gaps and weak oversight. Therefore, in addition to law enforcement under the Immigration Law and the Criminal Code, the verification and oversight systems need to be strengthened so that the practice of false documents can be minimized.