Indonesia to offer Visa-on-Arrival to Eleven more Nationalities
In its endeavours to overcome the negative impacts caused
to the perception of Indonesia as a desirable destination
for international visitors during the last few months,
the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism has managed
to obtain the approval from the Government for eleven
more countries to receive the facility of visa-on-arrival
(VOA).
"The policy is aimed at attracting foreign tourists
to visit Indonesia. We have set a target of bringing in
more than six million foreign tourists this year,"
Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said on the
14 June, after a meeting at the office of the Coordinating
Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.
The Government has decided to allow the nationals of
11 countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East to obtain
a visa-on-arrival (VOA) in an effort to attract more tourists
to the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Belgium, Spain,
Portugal, Russia, Egypt, Austria, Ireland, Qatar and Luxembourg
are the additional countries granted the VOA facility.
The Government is also in the process of granting a visa-on-arrival
facility to the Netherlands and Sweden. The countries
which nationals have enjoyed this facility since 1 February
2004 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand,
Norway, Poland, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Switzerland,
Taiwan (Pr. of China), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
and United States of America.
This decision brings the number of foreign countries
to have been granted this facility up to 32. The visa-on-arrival
will now be valid for either six or 30 days. A six-day
visa will cost US$10 while a 30-day visa will cost US$25.
The visa-on-arrival will only take effect after the Minister's
Decree for Law and Human Rights has been issued.
courtesy of : asiatraveltips.com
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