Govt delays implementation of new visa policy again

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has again postponed the implementation of the new policy revoking the visa-on-arrival facility extended to nationals of 48 countries, saying the President must consider opposition from tourism industry players.

The implementation of the controversial policy had earlier been delayed on Oct. 1 because its operational regulations had not yet been issued.

Ade E. Dachlan, spokesman for the Directorate General of Immigration, said on Thursday that the justice ministry was currently discussing with the tourism ministry the formulation of the implementation guidelines, particularly those concerning the pay-visa-on-arrival procedures and the fee to be charged for a visa application.

"The tourism industry wants US$20 while the justice ministry proposes $35. We're close to an agreement."

He said the justice ministry planned to adopt a simple visa-on-arrival procedure, as applied in Thailand, which only took an applicant several minutes to obtain his or her visa.

"Immigration officers just seal a special stamp on the visa-on-arrival form after visitors pay a sum of money there," Ade said.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri signed the decree on the new visa policy on March 31, which was expected to come into effect six months after signing. The government later said it would take effect on Dec. 1.

But Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra confirmed recently that the new visa regulation would not be operational on schedule.

"It will not take effect this year. Perhaps in January as the President needs time to think about it," Yusril told reporters at his office.

He said a noted senior economist, who he refused to identify, was responsible for the postponement of the policy for asking Megawati to take the opposition of the country's tourism industry players into account.

"But, I will stick to the stance," Yusril asserted, claiming that the policy was supported by other ministries, particularly the foreign affairs ministry which initiated it.

He reiterated the visa-free facility was supposed to be given on a reciprocity basis, meaning that Indonesia would only grant it to citizens of other countries that provide the same service to Indonesians.

Consequently, the government has removed citizens from some two thirds of 48 countries, including Australia and Japan, from recipients of the visa-free facility despite the fact that they have contributed a lot to the tourism industry.

Under the new policy, nationals from certain countries will be entitled to a non-extendible visa-upon-arrival at a port of entry, while those from other countries must apply for regular visas from Indonesian consulates and embassies in their home countries.

The new policy cuts the length of the free-visa-on-arrival stay from 60 days to 30 days. The new pay-visa-on-arrival would also only allow visitors to stay here for 30 days.

The decree permits short free-visa-on-arrival visits for the nationals of 11 countries, namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao, Chile, Morocco, Turkey and Peru.

Turkey was later deleted from the list because the country no longer imposed the visa-free-facility on Indonesians.

The immigration office replaced it with Vietnam, which will no longer require Indonesians to apply for visa to visit the neighboring country starting from Dec. 4.