The Indonesian government’s recent decision not to restore a visa waiver for visitors from 159 countries will have an impact on many nations. According to Tempo, President Joko Widodo stated that Indonesia had considered reinstating the visa-free system for citizens of 169 countries that were in place before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the government ultimately decided to make a U-turn on it as the policy no longer provided any benefits to the country.
Tempo also highlighted concerns raised by Achmad Nur Saleh, a spokesperson for the Law and Human Rights Ministry, regarding public order disruptions and the risk of diseases from countries not certified as disease-free by the World Health Organization. These factors were taken into consideration when making the decision.
The impact of the decision to not restore the visa waiver would be felt by travellers from various countries including the United States, Japan, China, India, Taiwan, Australia and nations in the European Union, Cable News Asia reported.
Travellers can now easily obtain visas on arrival or their electronic counterpart (eVOA) for a fee of just $32, with the added convenience of extending their stay for up to 30 days. However, the visa waiver program does not allow any extension beyond the initial 30-day period.
Jakarta Post reported that Sandiaga Uno, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, has expressed his opinion that the visa waiver policy was not effective and that discontinuing it would not harm the tourism industry.
He said that it might even improve the quality of tourism in Indonesia.
In the future, only citizens of 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, will be granted visa-free access.
