More countries get visa facility

More countries get visa facility

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

In a further reversal of the previous administration's highly
restrictive visa policy, the government has extended visa-on-
arrival facilities to 14 more countries in an effort to help the
country's tourism industry.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said at a
media conference on Friday that the decision had been made after
a screening process was conducted involving an assessment of
commercial benefits and security aspects.

"There was a protracted debate about it. The tourism industry
proposed a number of countries based on frequency of visits here
by their citizens. But not all of them have been included as we
also had to consider the security aspects," he said.

Following the decision, the number of countries that have been
granted the facility now stands at 34.

The government has set a target of attracting more than six
million foreign tourists to Indonesia this year.

The government introduced the visa-on-arrival policy last year
after it revoked the visa-free facility for nationals from 48
countries. It initially extended the on-arrival facility to 12
countries, and later increased the number to 22.

But the policy had been roundly criticized by the tourism
industry, which says that it only serves to discourage foreign
tourists from coming here.

Elsewhere, Hamid said the government had also extended the
length of stay permitted on a US$10 on-arrival visa from three
days to seven.

A 30-day on-arrival visa is available to tourists at a cost of
$25.

The government also announced that from now on overseas
nationals could enter the country through Bintang Pura port in
Tanjung Pinang. This brings to 17 the number of ports and
airports across the country where on-arrival visas are available.

Among the airports are Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport; Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra; I
Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali; Tabing Airport in
Padang, West Sumatra; Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado, North
Sulawesi; and Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java.

On-arrival visas are also available at the ports of Tanjung
Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya and Benoa in Bali.

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Additional countries granted visa-on-arrival facilities

Austria
Belgium
Egypt
India
Ireland
Kuwait
Luxembourg
Maldives
People's Republic of China
Portugal
Qatar
Russia
Spain
Saudi Arabia