Immigration tells 80 Bali tourists to get lost

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It has only been a month since the visa on arrival (VoA) policy was introduced in February, but so far 80 foreign tourists from 13 countries have been barred from entering Bali.

Ngurah Rai Immigration Office chief I Gede Widiartha said on Friday that the bans had been imposed for various reasons.

The main reason was failure to obtain visas from the Indonesian embassies in their respective countries as required by the new policy.

They either forgot or were not informed that their countries were not among the nine countries and two territories whose citizens do not need to get visas when they arrive in Indonesia, as well as the 20 states and one territory whose citizens are permitted to obtain visas-on-arrival, Widiartha said.

These people come from, among other countries, Ireland, Austria, Spain and Sweden.

Several other persons, including a Thai tourist and a U.S. national, were turned away for various other reasons, including politics, crime and drugs, although their countries are accorded visa-on-arrival facilities (VoA) or visa-free facilities (BVKS).

Widiartha explained that during February, the number of tourists arriving in Bali via Ngurah Rai Airport was 84,348.

In more detail, 5,584 tourists used the visa-free facility, 10,591 entered using ordinary visas, 3,507 entered on three-day visas on arrival (each paying US$10, making a total of $35,070), and 64,666 tourists entered on 30-day VoAs (each paying $25, making a total of $1,616,650).

Since the introduction of the VoA policy, the Ngurah Rai Immigrations Office has collected around Rp 13.9 billion in fees.

The new VoA policy, which took effect on Feb. 1 this year, has restricted visa-free entry to tourists from only 11 countries -- instead of the previous 48.

The countries include Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Macao, China, Peru and Morocco.

The 21 nationalities that lose their visa-free status but are still able to apply for a 30-day visa on arrival include the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

The new policy also cuts the length of stay in Indonesia for short-term visitors from 60 days to only 30 days with an optional US$10 payment for three-day visit and $25 for a 30-day visit.

The affected countries are by far the largest contributors of tourists to Bali. Three of the countries -- Japan, followed by Australia and South Korea -- are the island's biggest tourist markets.