(2/19/2005)
The Department of Immigration reports that during all of 2004 only US$35.6 million in fees were generated by the visa-on-arrival system, a figure substantially less than the US$50 million originally projected to accrue from the payment of US$25 (30 days) and US$10 (3 days) made by the nationals of 21 countries eligable to purchase visas upon arrival in Indonesia.
According to the Immigration Department, some 1.3 million tourists purchased a 30-day US$25 visa on arrival between February 1, when the policy was introduced, and the end of the year. Another 280,932 visitors purchased a 3-day $10 visa during the same period.
The Head of the Immigration Department's Public Relation Division, Soepriatna Anwar, said the long-awaited automated information management system to improve control and service from the immigration department remains unrealized, awaiting the final approval from the Minister of Finance to use some of the funds collected from the visa system to finance the purchase of the sophisticated monitoring system.
Anwar, quoted in the Indonesian-language Bisnis Indonesia, also explained that service by the immigration department continues to be upgraded, pointing out that the 10 immigration service counters at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport were increased to 30 counters in January 2005.
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