Govt to mull visa-on-arrival expansion

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.