Karate squad fails to obtain visas

Karate squad fails to obtain visas

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games karate
team's plan to have an overseas stint in Tokyo is in jeopardy as
the team has so far failed to obtain visas from the Japanese
Embassy here.

"I have no idea what's going on but we have tried to fulfill
all the requirements needed by the embassy. Apparently, there are
always new requirements demanded making it virtually impossible
for us to get the visas," karate team manager Tono Soe'oed told
reporters on Monday.

"Subsequently, we have had to postpone our trip's schedule
including airline tickets and hotel arrangements."

The team had been scheduled to leave last Saturday and had to
postpone its trip due to the pending visa approval by the
embassy.

National women's karatekas will compete at the Ladies Cup open
tournament from July 12 to July 14 in Tokyo while the men's
karatekas will warm up with several karate schools in the same
city.

The Indonesian Karate-Do Federation (FORKI) had planned to
send a team of 28 members including 11 men's karatekas and 8
women's karatekas. Only five of them have been granted visas so
far.

"The embassy requested a formal invitation and confirmation
letters from the organizing committee, which we had submitted.
But the visa staff rejected the letters, signed by the Japanese
Karate Federation (JKF) vice chairman, Keichi Hasumi dated June
29, saying it was not written in kanji (Japanese letters)," said
Tono.

"The rejection forced us to ask the organizing committee for
another letter written in kanji. Why didn't the staff at the
embassy ask us to provide all the necessary letters written in
kanji in the first place?"

Tono also said the embassy staff failed to inform us of all
the detailed requirements -- including a copy of the athletes'
bank accounts as well as recommendations from their work places
-- forcing FORKI to go back and forth from the embassy.

"Another problem is that the embassy requires our team
members, who are non-Jakarta passport holders, to file their
applications at the nearest consulate," he said.

"How can a karateka apply for a visa in Surabaya, for example,
if he or she is training here everyday."

Separately, the Japanese Embassy's first secretary for
information and cultural affairs, Shigeya Aoyama, told The
Jakarta Post that the embassy had never rejected issuing visas to
the team's members.

"Should they meet all the requirements, we will grant the visa
in about 48 hours. The embassy has approved about 99 percent of
the visa applications according to our records," he said by
phone.

"The embassy has also provided informative leaflets concerning
all visa requirements so that every applicant will be able to
fulfill the requirements to ensure a smooth process."

Aoyama emphasized that FORKI's case was not a visa rejection
but an application rejection.

"We haven't even started the approval process. How can we
process them if the applications are not complete?" he asked.
(nvn)