Indonesia ponders fees for visas on arrival
Indonesia ponders fees for visas on arrival
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said on Thursday that the government was considering
charging fees for the issuing of visas upon arrival for tourists
from 47 countries, which have long enjoyed the visa-free facility
granted by Indonesia.
He said the scheme was being discussed with the office of the
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs
pending a cabinet decision.
"I think I need to explain the scheme to the public since many
media organizations have wrongly reported the message," Yusril
said, while quoting an Oct. 28 article in the Sydney Morning
Herald daily entitled "Angry Indonesia hits tourists with tax".
He also cited an article in the Bali Post, which wrote that
the policy only targeted Australians who had plans to visit
Indonesia.
He said the government did not have the intention of taxing
foreign visitors to Indonesia.
"What we are doing is reviewing the visa-free policy for a
two-month visit which has been applied to 47 countries," Yusril
said.
He said Indonesians had been receiving unfair treatment as
they had to pay for their visas, while the citizens of the 47
countries could enter Indonesia for free.
He cited visa applications to the Australian Embassy, where
Indonesians have to pay Rp 400,000 for their visas and wait for a
week to find out whether their applications have been accepted or
not.
If their applications were rejected, the money would not be
refunded by the embassy, he said.
The minister said that with the new policy, Australians and
citizens from other countries could simply come directly with
their passports without having to secure a visa from any
Indonesian government representative office.
"They can get their visa on arrival," he said.
Yusril stressed, however, that Indonesia would maintain the
visa-free policy for Turkey, Hong Kong and all the member
countries of ASEAN since Indonesia had reciprocal agreements with
these countries. (01)