The wealth of natural resources, especially as a producer of plantation commodities traded on the world market, made the territory of Indonesia which was mostly controlled by the Dutch East Indies to attract various foreign countries to participate in developing the plantation commodity trading business. In order to regulate the flow of foreign arrivals to the Dutch East Indies, the colonial government in 1913 established the office of the Secretary of the Immigration Commission and because its duties and functions continued to grow, in 1921 the office of the secretary of the immigration commission was changed to immigratie dients (immigration services).

The immigration service during the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indies was under Director Yustisi, whose organizational structure saw the formation of committees such as visa applications and other necessary divisions. Corps ambtenaar immigratie expanded. Experienced and highly educated personnel are employed at the centre. Not a few of them are consignments from the Netherlands (uitgezonden krachten). All key immigration office positions are in the hands of Dutch officials.

The immigration policy set by the Dutch East Indies government was open-door politics (opendeur politiek). Through this policy, the Dutch East Indies government opened the widest possible way for foreigners to enter, live, and become citizens of the Dutch East Indies. The main purpose of implementing the "open door" immigration policy was to obtain allies and investors from various countries in order to develop exports of plantation commodities in the Dutch East Indies region. In addition, the presence of foreigners can also be used to jointly exploit and suppress the indigenous population.

Although it continues to grow (adding immigration offices in various regions), the organizational structure of the Dutch East Indies government immigration service is relatively simple. This is thought to be related to the relatively small amount of traffic arriving and departing from and/or out of the country at that time. There were only 3 (three) areas of immigration handled during the Dutch East Indies administration, namely: (a) the field of permits for entry and stay of people; (b) the area of ​​residence of foreigners; and (c) the field of citizenship. To regulate these three fields, the government regulations used are Toelatings Besluit (1916); Toelatings Ordonnantie (1917); and Regelings Passport (1918).

The era of colonialization of the Dutch East Indies began to end together with the entry of Japan into Indonesian territory in 1942. However, during the Japanese occupation there were almost no fundamental changes in immigration regulations. In other words, during the Japanese occupation, the Dutch East Indies immigration law product was still used. The existence of the importance of immigration regulations reached its momentum when Indonesia proclaimed its independence on August 17, 1945.

There are 4 (four) important events after the proclamation of independence of the Republic of Indonesia related to immigration, namely: (1) Repatriation of APWI and Japanese soldiers; in this event it was marked by the transport of ex APWI and disarmament and transportation of Japanese soldiers in Central Java in particular, on the island of Java and Indonesia generally, which was handled by the Japanese Stamps Oeroesan Committee (POPDA); (2) Barter activities, purchase of weapons and airplanes; during the Independence Revolution the fighters often traveled abroad, for example entering Singapore and Malaysia, still without passports; (3) Diplomacy Struggle; beginning with the holding of the Inter Asian Conference in New Delhi. On this occasion the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally succeeded in issuing a "Certificate deemed as a passport" as the first document of interstate travel after independence for the legitimate Indonesian government mission at the conference. The Indonesian delegation led by H. Agus Salim joined in introducing the Indonesian government's "Diplomatic Passport" to the international world; and (4) Immigration in Aceh; Aceh as the only Indonesian territory which the Dutch never occupied, since 1945 has established an immigration office in five cities and continues to operate during the independence revolution. The establishment of an immigration office in Aceh since 1945 was by Amirudin. The event was quite important at this time, the Immigration Bureau which had been under the Ministry of Justice from the beginning, had once changed to become under the authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition, to overcome the legal vacuum, the immigration laws and regulations of the products of the Dutch East Indies government must be revoked and replaced with legal products that are in line with the spirit of independence. During the independence revolution there were two Dutch Indies legal products related to immigration, which were revoked, namely (a) Toelatings Besluit (1916) was changed to Determination of Entry Permits (PIM) included in State Gazette Number 330 of 1949, and (b) Toelatings Ordonnantie ( 1917) was changed to an Entry Permit Ordinance (OIM) in the State Gazette Number 331 of 1949. During the independence revolution the immigration institution still used the organizational structure and work procedures of the Immigration Service (Immigratie Dients) inherited from the Indies.

The era of the Republic of Indonesia United is the culmination of a long history of the journey of the establishment of immigration institutions in Indonesia. In this era, the immigration service of the Dutch East Indies product was handed over to the Indonesian government on 26 January 1950. The organizational structure and work procedures as well as several Dutch Indies government legal products related to immigration were still used as long as they did not conflict with the interests of the Indonesian nation. The head of the Immigration Office was held for the first time by an indigenous son, namely Mr. H. Adiwinata. The organizational structure of the immigration office continues the immigratie structure of old dients, while the composition of the immigration office is still simple and is in the coordination of the Minister of Justice, both operational-tactical, administrative and organizational.

At the beginning of 1950, as a newly independent nation and still in a state of turbulence, of course the facilities and infrastructure to support the immigration office at that time were still very limited and simple. The difficulty that is felt to be very basic is that there are still very few indigenous sons who understand the duties and functions of immigration. For this reason, as part of the transition period, the immigration office still uses Dutch employees. Of the 459 people who work in the immigration office throughout Indonesia, 160 are Dutch. The legislation used as the basis for the immigration office of RIS is still inherited from the Dutch Indies Government, namely: (a) Indische Staatsregeling, (b) Toelatings Besluit, (c) Toelatings Ordonnantie.

In a relatively short period of time, the immigration office in the era of the Republic of Indonesia has issued 3 (three) legal products, namely (a) Decree of the Minister of Justice RIS Number JZ / 239/12 dated 12 July 1950 which regulates the reporting of passengers to customs leaders if landing at a port that has not been officially designated as a landing port, (b) RIS Emergency Law Number 40 of 1950 concerning Republic of Indonesia Travel Letters, and (c) RIS Emergency Law Number 42 of 1950 concerning Immigration Fees (State Gazette of the Year 1950 Number 84, Supplement to State Gazette Number 77).

The crucial period in the era of the Republic of Indonesia continued in the Parliamentary Era of Democracy, one of which was related to the end of the employment contract of Dutch descent at the end of 1952. The end of their employment contract was an important issue because at that time the Indonesian government was moving rapidly to develop the immigration office. In the period 1950-1960 the immigration office tried to open immigration offices and branch offices, as well as the appointment of new landing ports.

In the decade of immigration, precisely on January 26, 1960, the immigration office succeeded in developing its organization with the establishment of the Immigration Bureau Headquarters in Jakarta, 26 regional immigration offices, 3 immigration offices, 1 immigration inspectorate office and 7 overseas immigration posts. In the field of immigration human resources (HR), in January 1960 the total number of immigration office staff had increased to 1256, all of them Indonesian children, including administrative officials and immigration technical officials.

In the field of immigration regulation, starting from this period the Indonesian government had the freedom to change the policy of the policy opendeur of colonial immigration to be a selective policy. Selective policy is based on protecting national interests and emphasizes the principle of providing greater protection to Indonesian citizens. The approach used and implemented simultaneously includes the prosperity approach and security approach. Some immigration arrangements include: (1) immigration traffic arrangements; i.e. inspection of immigration documents of passengers and crew of ships from abroad carried out on board during shipping ships, (2) regulation in the field of population of foreigners, with the enactment of Emergency Law Number 9 of 1955 concerning Population of Foreigners (State Gazette of 1955 Number 33, Additional State Gazette Number 812), (3) Regulations in the field of supervision of foreigners, with the enactment of Emergency Law Number 9 of 1953 concerning Supervision of Foreigners (State Gazette of 1953 Number 64, Supplement to State Gazette Number 463), (4 ) Regulations concerning criminal offenses / criminal acts / criminal acts in the field of immigration, with the enactment of the Emergency Law Number 8 of 1955 concerning Immigration Crime (State Gazette of 1955 Number 28, Supplement to State Gazette Number 807), (5) Arrangements in the field of citizenship, in this period important product legislation concerning citizenship is passed, namely Law Number 2 Tah for 1958 concerning the Agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and the People's Republic of China Concerning the Citizenship Questions (State Gazette of 1958 Number), (6), and Law Number 62 of 1958 concerning the Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia (State Gazette of 1958 Number 113, Supplement to the State Gazette Number 1647), (7) Problems with Chinese citizenship, (8) Implementation of Foreigner Registration (POA).

In addition, in this era, legal products related to immigration also gradually began to be addressed, such as visas, passports and travel documents between countries, handling immigration crime, foreign registration, and citizenship. One of the important legal products issued during the era of Parliamentary Democracy was the replacement of the Passport Regelings (1918) into Law No. 14 of 1959 concerning the Republic of Indonesia Travel Letters (State Gazette of 1959 Number 56, Supplement to the State Gazette Number 1799).

The era of the New Order government was the longest since Indonesia's independence. This long period of government contributed greatly to the stabilization of immigration institutions, although in its implementation there were several changes to the parent organization. Relatively high political stability and economic growth during the New Order era encouraged immigration institutions in Indonesia to develop and be professional in serving the community. In this era there were several changes to the organization of the cabinet and the division of tasks of the department, which in turn brought changes to the organization of immigration ranks. On November 3, 1966 a policy was set out on the Department's Organizational Structure and Task Division, which changed the institution of the Immigration Directorate as one of the main implementers of the Ministry of Justice to become the Directorate General of Immigration led by the Director General of Immigration. Even this change continues with the construction of physical facilities within the vast Directorate General of Immigration. The construction of office buildings, official homes, immigration posts and detention centers is carried out year after year. In the field of HR and career development, a system of placement and career guidance for zigzag employees recruited by the Directorate General of Immigration, not fixed in one post, is continued. Career guidance systems in the field of immigration also continue to be refined while still promoting the principles of professionalism and justice.

Increasing workload and the need for data accuracy, prompted the Directorate General of Immigration to immediately implement a computerized system in the field of immigration. In early 1978 a computerized system was established at the Directorate General of Immigration, while the use of computers in the immigration information system began on 1 January 1979.

In the field of immigration legislation in the New Order period, in order to support the Government's National Development program, many immigration regulation products were made to streamline immigration services and / or to support various development sectors, including related arrangements: (1) immigration services, ( 2) completion of landing documents on 1974 pilgrimage pilgrimage aircraft, (3) completion of document checks on Jakarta-Tokyo Garuda aircraft, (4) improvement of the quality of passport printing, (5) cross-border problem management, (6) regulation of immigration facility dispensation, ( 7) the handling of illegal TKI in border areas, (8) arrangements for organizing Umrah, (9) regulation of issues of prevention and deterrence, (10) immigration arrangements in the employment sector, (11) regulation of visas in 1979, (12) problems of foreigners entering to and or stay in the territory of Indonesia illegally, (13) the elimination of exit permits for Indonesian citizens.

In this New Order period that could not be forgotten was the birth of a new Immigration Act, namely Law Number 9 of 1992 concerning Immigration (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 1992 Number 33, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3474), which was passed by the DPR on March 4, 1992. The Immigration Act was not only the result of a review of various previous laws and regulations, some of which were inherited from the Dutch East Indies Government, also united / compiled the substance of immigration legislation that was spread in various previous immigration legislation until the enactment Law Number 9 of 1992.

The birth of Law Number 9 of 1992 was followed by the enactment of Government Regulation as its implementation in: (1) Government Regulation Number 30 of 1994 concerning Procedures for the Implementation of Prevention and Discrimination (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 1994 Number 53, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3561), (2) Government Regulation Number 31 of 1994 concerning Supervision of Foreigners and Immigration Actions (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 1994 Number 54, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3562), (3) Government Regulation Number 32 of 1994 concerning Visas, Entry Permit, and Immigration Permit (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 1994 Number 55, Supplement to the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia Number 3563), and Government Regulation Number 36 of 1994 concerning Travel Documents of the Republic of Indonesia (State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia of 1994 Number 65, Supplement to the State Gazette Republic of Indonesia Number 3572).

The 1997 economic crisis ended the long period of the New Order era and entered the reform era. Aspirations that live in the community, want a strong commitment to the values ??of Human Rights (HAM), upholding law and justice, eradicating KKN, and democratization, good governance, transparency, and accountability continue to be echoed, including including the demands of accelerating regional autonomy.

Meanwhile the globalization of information makes the world unite without limits, encouraging developed countries (WTO) to make the world function as a free market starting in 2000, and prioritizing the protection and enforcement of human rights and democratization. The flow of globalization has also resulted in increasingly narrow borders of a country (bordeless countries) and has encouraged the increasing intensity of traffic between countries. This has led to various problems in various countries including Indonesia, whose geographical location is very strategic, which in turn has an effect on the lives of the Indonesian people and the field of immigration duties. In operations in the field there were found several problems involving foreigners who needed further handling. The global and domestic strategic environment is growing so fast that it demands all government bureaucracy, including immigration in Indonesia, to be responsive and responsive to these dynamics. For example, the implementation of regional economic cooperation has facilitated the travel traffic of Indonesian citizens and foreign nationals to enter or enter Indonesian territory. The surge in travel out or into the territory of Indonesia certainly requires a management system and services that are increasingly reliable and accurate. Current immigration duties are getting worse along with the increasingly widespread problem of terrorism and the escape of perpetrators of criminal offenses abroad. To overcome the dynamics of the increasingly strategic strategic environment, the field of immigration is required to anticipate various laws and regulations and increasingly sophisticated infrastructure. Keimigrasan regulations and policies must also be responsive to shifting demands for the immigration function paradigm. If previously the immigration function paradigm in implementing Law Number 9 of 1992 emphasized service efficiency to support global free market issues, but paid little attention to law enforcement functions and security functions, starting in this era must be balanced with the functions of security and law enforcement.

In dealing with domestic and foreign problems and developments, the Directorate General of Immigration in the Reform Era has carried out several work programs as follows:

a. Refinement of Legislation Regulations

The Government renewed Law Number 9 of 1992 concerning Immigration. This is based on several developments that need to be anticipated, namely: (1) Geographical location of Indonesia (complexity of problems between countries), (2) International agreements / international conventions that have an impact on the implementation of immigration functions, (3) Increased international and transnational crimes, ( 4) Arrangements concerning detainees and established deadlines have not been carried out comprehensively, (5) Systematic and universal systematic approach to immigration functions by utilizing modern information and communication technology, (6) Placement of the structure of the immigration office and immigration detention center as a technical implementation unit in under the Directorate General of Immigration, (7) Change in the citizenship system based on Law Number 12 of 2006 concerning Indonesian Citizenship, (8) State sovereignty rights in accordance with the principle of reciprocity regarding the granting of visas to foreigners, (9) Agreement in the framework harmonization and standardization of systems m and type of safeguarding travel documents internationally, (10) Immigration law enforcement has not been effective so that the criminal policy needs to include a minimum criminal offense against human smuggling, (11) Extending the subject of immigration crime so that it covers not only individuals but also corporations and guarantor of the entry of foreigners into the territory of Indonesia who violates immigration provisions, (12) Application of more severe criminal sanctions against foreigners who violate regulations in the field of immigration because so far there has not been a deterrent effect.