New Indonesian Visa Regulations

Created by doina. Last modified on 2004-08-04 12:11:06
Contributors:
Countries: Indonesia

As of 1 February 2004 the number of countries whose citizens can obtain an Indonesian visa on arrival has been reduced to twenty-one. Therefore the citizens of the following countries may arrive in Indonesia without a visa and purchase one on arrival: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates,United Kingdom, USA. Citizens of countries not listed above must obtain a visa from an Indonesia diplomatic mission.

Visas on arrival are only issued at a limited number of international ports, such as Benoa (Bali), Batam, Jayapura, etc and at some international airports: Jakarta, Denpasar (Bali), etc. Two types of visa are offered: a three day visa costing USD10 or a 30 day visa costing USD25. Payment must be made in US dollars. As these visas can only be extended once for a period of 15 days, those who plan to spend longer are strongly advised to obtain their visas in advance from an Indonesian diplomatic mission. Visitors arriving by yacht are also advised to arrive with a visa obtained in advance as this will simplify clearance formalities.

For yachts arriving without the compulsory cruising permit (CAIT) and without a visa, the authorities in Benioa (Bali) still allow a 3 day stopover in cases of genuine emergencies. Longer stops can be very difficult to obtain and also quite costly. Crew that needs to be signed off the boat while in Bali, must leave Bali on an international flight. Those who need to fly via Jakarta, thus leaving Bali on a domestic flight, need to be accompanied by an immigration officer, the person who leaves being responsible for the return fare to Bali of the immigration official.