Govt grants emergency stay to foreigners due to Middle East conflict
“According to preliminary data, we have issued 54 ITKTs,” the Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Bugie Kurniawan, informed on Tuesday.
According to him, the ITKT is valid for 30 days and is eligible for extension for another 30 days if the emergency situation persists.
Foreign nationals applying for ITKT must have a letter from the airline stating their canceled or affected flight.
They must also bring their original passport and proof of the canceled flight ticket, Kurniawan added.
He then outlined the nationalities of those applying for ITKTs are seven from the Netherlands, four from Italy, one from Lithuania, five from France, four from Ukraine, four from the United Kingdom, and four from Turkey.
Followed by one from Switzerland, two from Brazil, three from Germany, one from the United States, three from Russia, one from Slovakia, one from Austria, and four from Spain.
“We guarantee that the ITKT issuance process will be completed on the same day. We have deployed officers to handle this emergency situation. Affected foreign nationals do not need to worry about their immigration status while waiting for a new flight schedule,” Kurniawan stated.
In addition to the ITKT policy, his office is also imposing a zero-rupiah fine on foreign nationals who overstay their stay permits.
According to Immigration Law regulations, foreign nationals who overstay less than 60 days are subject to a daily fine of Rp1 million (US$57).
Given the emergency situation, his office is not imposing this fine.
To date, five foreign nationals have overstayed their permits by one day, and all five have departed Bali by purchasing new tickets to avoid transiting through the Middle East, which is affected by the airspace closures, namely Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
The Immigration also opened a help desk on the second floor of the International Departures Terminal of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport to provide information as well as collect data on affected passengers requiring immigration services.
Foreign nationals wishing to apply for an ITKT can register through the airport service desk and then process the ITKT issuance at the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office in Jimbaran, Badung District.
Data from Ngurah Rai Immigration from February 28 to March 2, a total of 4,426 foreign nationals were affected by flight cancellations.
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Translator: Dewa Ketut S W, Resinta Sulistiyandari