Govt to revamp visa policy again

Govt to revamp visa policy again

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Following massive protests from the local tourist industry, the
Indonesian government says it is considering granting 23
countries, including the United States, Japan and Australia, with
a visa-on-arrival facility.

The facility is part of a new visa policy that will take
effect on Dec. 1.

The new policy will also exempt citizens of 10 countries or
territories -- that have already granted Indonesians with visa-
free entries -- from having to apply for a visa for visiting
Indonesia, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said.

Nationals from countries other than the two above categories
are required to apply for a visa through conventional procedures.

"At the next Cabinet meeting, President Megawati will decide
which countries (of the 23 countries) will be given the visa-on-
arrival facility," Yusril told reporters at a press conference at
the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs.

During the press conference, Yusril was flanked by
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono.

The new policy, which was initially scheduled to take effect
this October, excludes visitors from 10 countries, mostly in
Southeast Asia. They are nationals from Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao,
Chile, Morocco and Peru.

Regarding the controversial amount of fees for the visa-on-
arrival facility, Yusril said that the government would determine
the amount at the next Cabinet meeting.

The amount of fees has been a source of controversy after the
government, through its Presidential Decree No. 18/2003 dated on
March 31 this year, stipulates that visitors must pay US$30 for a
visa when entering Indonesia.

The visa fee has triggered massive protests, especially in
Bali last month, where thousands of local tourism players staged
a street rally protesting the policy. They said the policy would
badly hurt domestic tourism industries who had yet to recover
from the Bali bombings and the JW Marriott Hotel bombing in
Jakarta.

The number of arrivals nationwide in the first four months of
this year dropped by almost 20 percent compared with a year
earlier.

Yusril said that the granting of the facility was also based
on reciprocity and mutual benefit principles.

"The visa-on-arrival policy is not given to countries that do
not grant Indonesian citizens the same conditions with the
policy," said Yusril.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists a foreign country
contributes to Indonesia is another consideration behind the
government's decision to grant or not to grant the visa-on-
arrival facility.

The new visa policy replaced Presidential Decree No. 15/1983,
which granted free visas to nationals of 48 countries. It also
reduced the length of stay, from 60 days to 30 days. Only after
strong protests from domestic tourist industry that the
government agreed to loosen the policy and agreed to grant a
visa-on-arrival facility to the 23 countries.

In Tuesday's meeting, State Minister of Tourism I Gde Ardika
suggested that the length of stay for tourists be extended to 45
days. The government has yet to respond to his proposal.

The visa-on-arrival facility will be available at seven
airports, including the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in
Jakarta and Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra and several
seaports, including Tanjung Priok in Jakarta and Belawan, North
Sumatra.

Countries short-listed for visa-on-arrival facility

1. The United States
2. The United Kingdom
3. South Africa
4. Argentina
5. Brazil
6. Denmark
7. United Arab Emirates
8. Finland
9. Hungary
10. Australia
11. Italy
12. Japan
13. Germany
14. Canada
15. South Korea
16. Norway
17. France
18. Poland
19. Spain
20. Russia
21. Switzerland
22. New Zealand
23. Taiwan