Govt to mull visa-on-arrival expansion

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tourism and culture minister Jero Wacik has asked the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to review the country's visa-on-arrival policy so more countries can enjoy the facility, a Cabinet member says.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Alawuddin said on Wednesday he would raise the issue for discussion.

"We will bring the issue to a ministerial meeting on political, legal and security affairs in the near future," Hamid said at his office on Wednesday.

Currently, citizens from 22 countries enjoy visa on arrival, which was introduced on Feb. 1, 2004. The countries are the United States, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Finland, UK, Italy, Canada, Norway, Japan, Germany, Poland, South Korea, France, Switzerland, New Zealand and Taiwan.

Visa on arrival is available at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali, and Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java. It is also available at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya and Benoa Port in Bali.

The policy was part of the government's decision to revoke the visa-free facility for 48 countries. It later gave the visa-free facility to 12 countries on the basis of reciprocity.

The tourism and culture ministry has reportedly asked that several additional countries, including Egypt, be included on the list for visa on arrival.

"We will analyze the commercial potential and security aspects of each country," said Hamid.

Immigration chief Iman Santoso said the addition of countries eligible for visa on arrival would be aimed at improving the country's tourist industry.

"If the number of tourists from a certain country is large, why wouldn't we consider giving them the visa-on-arrival facility? It would be meant to improve our tourist industry," he said.

The imposition of the visa-on-arrival policy sparked controversy, particularly among tourism businesspeople who said it would prevent tourists from visiting the country.

Antara reported on Wednesday that during a meeting of the Bali Chamber of Commerce recently, some tourism businesspeople urged the government to cancel the policy and reintroduce the visa-free policy to encourage more tourists to visit the country.

Citizens of countries eligible for visa on arrival must pay US$10 for a 15-day visa or $25 for a 30-day visa.

Former justice and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said earlier this year the visa-on-arrival policy would boost state revenue from visa fees.

He said foreign tourists would not object to paying $10 or $25 for a visa.

Bank BNI in Denpasar recorded $10.3 million in state revenue from visa on arrival fees from February to June at Denpasar's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport.

The number of foreign tourists arriving in Bali from January to June this year was 648,182, a 69 percent increase from the 283,408 foreign tourist arrivals for the same period in 2003, according to data from Bali tourism agency.