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No more automatic visa-upon-entry in Indonesia


gobbledonk

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SBS World News here in Oz reported that countries which do not grant Indonesian citizens automatic short-term visas upon entry can no longer expect Indonesia to do the same. All such travellers from February, 2004 will be required to lodge a visa application, so if you are planning a trip to Indonesia, I strongly suggest that you chase this up. There is nothing on the Australian Embassy page, but they would have been on leave for the last 2 weeks, so that isnt surprising.

 

As expected, the Balinese tourist industry is less-than-impressed, but I can see the Indonesians point. This may make Thailand a more popular destination than it currently is - time will tell.

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Interesting. Brazil has been doing the same thing. In 1998, we saw the impact on toursim in Phuket as a result of the brush fires in Bali and civil unrest in Indonesia. All the hotels were fully booked, and rates practically quadrupled overnight. Phuket hasn't been the same since.

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Hi Belem,

 

A tourism official in Bali has already been quoted as saying that tourists will 'go to Thailand' instead of visiting their beleagured island. For all the rhetoric of some Thai politicians, I doubt that theyll be knocking back the extra cash, even if not all of these additional tourists conform to their ideal of 'happy families looking for a holesome, sorry, wholesome holiday'...... :grinyes:

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Hi Belem,

 

I thought that Phuket had been written off as a desirable tourist destination - too mercenary ?

 

If someone asked me where to go in Thailand for a 'family' holiday, I'd suggest Chiang Mai, or even Pattaya, long before I'd suggest Phuket. Travel agents here are pushing Malaysia at the moment, but they'll be back to Thailand as sure as the sun rises in the east - its still a sensational bargain in the face of the mighty Aussie dollar ( tipped to reach US 0.85 from its current 0.77 level) ::

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As I understand it the new scheme is a visa on arrival scheme. Essentially if you come from a country that offers Indonesians visa free entry or you belong to an ASEAN country you get the old short-visit pass good for 60 days.

 

If you don't fall into the above category you go to another line, pay a fee (USD25) show proof of support (if required) and show an onward ticket you get a 30 day visa.

 

To my understanding the sosial visit visa or the business visa hasn't changed. The multi entry business visa is still the best deal if you plan on being in Indonesia more than once in a year but for no longer than 30 at a strecth. The business visa requires a cover letter from your business stating your plans, and a letter from a business in Indonesia along with your CV and $85. The visa is good for multiple entries for one year, your passport neads to be valid for 18 months upon application. The social visit visa requires a letter from a sponsor in Indonesia the visa is single entry valid for sixty days, but extendable from within the country for a total of 180 days (~6 months).

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"Brazil has been doing the same thing."

____________________________________

 

AFAIK Brazil pioneered the tactic of reciprocity. In fact, in response to America's war on terror and its just introduced program of photographing and fingerprinting all (mostly) non-European arrivals, they quickly implemented a program to do the same with Americans only, including lengthy delays. Resulted yesterday in detaining overnight an entire American Airlines flight crew as one of the pilots flipped off the camera.

 

Multiple-entry visas do have an unintended effect, however. For instance I still have three years to run on my Brazilian visa and I'm thinking, hey I paid dearly for it, I've got to use it again before it expires.

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Hi Adik,

 

As a long-term resident of Indonesia, are you required to pay the 'Fiscal' everytime you leave Indonesia ? My IG told me that foreigners who have resided in Indonesia for 6 months or more have to pay the same amount as Indonesians - 1 million Rupiah - to leave the country.

 

Departure tax is one thing, but the Fiscal takes it sideways. I can only assume that its an attempt by the government to stop a population of 300 million getting a little too mobile.

 

BTW, have you ever done the trip from Jakarta to Surabaya by road ? I'd be interested to know if it really is as bad as the JKT-Bandung stretch :o

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