(7/11/2005)
The Saturday, July 9, 2005, edition of the Indonesian-language Bali Post reports that changes in the number of countries eligible for visa-on-arrival (VOA) will take effect from August 1, 2005.
While the Minister of Culture and Tourism had previously signaled that changes in the VOA policy had been agreed by the Government, the formal empowering decree from the Ministry of Justice had yet to be issued making the implementation date for changes in the policy uncertain. [See: On Your Mark, Get Ready, Wait!]
Minister of Justice's Statement
Quoted in the Bali Post, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told the press on Friday, July 8, 2005, that he had now issued a formal decision (No. M-05.IZ.01.10 2005) addressing changes in the VOA policy and setting the implementation date for August 1, 2005.
According to the press report, 14 new countries will be added to the existing list of 21 countries eligible to purchase a visa upon arrival in Indonesia with the period of validity for short term visa's costing US$10 had been extended from three to seven days. The US$25 thirty day visa price and validity remain unchanged.
According to the Bali Post,, the 14 new countries eligible to obtain visas on arrival from August 1, 2005, include: Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Egypt, Austria, Qatar, Ireland, Maldives, Luxembourg, China and India.
The citizens of 21 countries and territories already eligible to purchase visas on arrival are: the United States, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Norway, France, Poland, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Taiwan.
With the addition of the 14 new countries to the visa on arrival list the total number of countries eligible to purchase a visa comes to 35.
Apparently, discussions to add the Netherlands and Sweden to the list of voa eligible countries have been shelved, at least for the time being.
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