MAKING good on its long-standing promise to drop visa requirements, Indonesia has officially granted visa-free entry to citizens of 45 countries including China, Japan, South Korea and the US.
A Presidential Regulation signed by president Joko Widodo on June 9 was followed by a formal announcement posted on the State Secretariat website on June 13, stating that visa-free arrivals are valid for 30 days with no extensions allowed.
One tour operator in Indonesia, Panorama Tours Indonesia, confirmed with TTG Asia e-Dailythat their groups have entered Bali without visas, indicating that the new regulation was immediately effective.
Out of the 45 countries listed, 15 have enjoyed visa-free entry before while 30 others are new, including China, Russia, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and South Africa.
Passport holders from the countries above will no longer need a visa when entering through the airports in Jakarta, Bali, Medan, Surabaya, Batam, and seaports of Sekupang and Batam Centre, Batam, Sri Bintan and Tanjung Uban Riau.
The new facility is available for those entering on government service, educational activities, socio-cultural affairs, tourism, business, family visits, journalistic duties or transits.
Visa-free entry was already open to all ASEAN member countries plus Chile, Morocco, Peru, Ecuador, Hong Kong and Macau.
With visa-free entry in place for some of the world’s biggest outbound travel markets, Indonesia is targeting 10 million tourists to Bali by 2019.
