G20 Summit: Indonesia Announces Visa Waivers for Delegates, Journalists

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Directorate General of Immigration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights will grant visa exemptions to G20 delegates and foreign journalists covering the G20 Summit in Bali.

Indonesia, which holds the rotating Group of 20 (G-20) presidency, will host the summit from Nov. 15-16 in the resort island of Bali.

"We will provide a visit visa exemption for delegates and foreign journalists participating in the G20 Summit," acting director general of immigration Widodo Ekatjahjana said on Thursday, Oct. 20.

He said that the decision aims to support the participants in the G20 Summit.

Also read: Indonesian Minister, US Ambassador Discuss Economic, G20 Issues

With the visa exemption, eligible foreign nationals will be allowed to stay up to 30 days in Indonesia, but their stay would not be extendable, he added.

To avail of the visa exemption, foreign nationals seeking to participate in the G20 Summit will need to provide a passport --diplomatic, official, or ordinary passport -- with a minimum validity of six months, Ekatjahjana said.

G20 delegates and foreign journalists will also need to show a return ticket or transit ticket as proof that they will be traveling to another country after the summit concludes and a registration proof or invitation letter for attending the event, he said.

"This policy is part of the Directorate General of Immigration's support for the success of our G20 Presidency event through immigration facilities," the acting director general said.

Earlier, the Law and Human Rights Ministry confirmed that it has prepared several steps to anticipate a surge in the number of foreign nationals during the G20 Summit.

Also read: Indonesia Continues to Finalize Preparations for G20 Summit

"The first involves improving services when foreign nationals go in and out of the airport," the secretary general of the ministry, Commissioner General Andap Budhi Revianto said on Wednesday Oct. 19.

Besides preparing several additional immigration counters next to the regular counters, the number of immigration service officers and other supporting facilities will be doubled, he added.

To anticipate visa abuse or overstaying, strict monitoring of foreign nationals will be conducted, such as through time permit duration evaluation. After the summit, the foreign national monitoring team will intensively perform its duty, he said.

Source: State News Antara