The Directorate General of Immigration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has raised its fine on foreigners overstaying their visas in Indonesia to as much as $100 (Rp. 1 million) per day.
"The reason is to give a deterrent effect to violating foreigners," said Agung Sampurno, Head of Public Relations and Data of the Directorate General of Immigration, .
Previously, the fine imposed was only $30 (Rp. 300,000), and Mr Sampurno said that the amount did not provide a deterrent effect for foreigners who violated their visas.
The rule, which came into force from Friday last week, is listed in Government Regulation Number 28 Year 2019 concerning Types and Tariffs on Types of Non-Tax State Revenues that applies at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Although it is stated in the regulations, not all parties concerned are aware of the changes.
Until this news is released, there is no notification regarding this issue on the official website of the Directorate General of Immigration nor on its official Twitter account.
Belgian citizen Olivier Decoster believes that the new rules are not well-publicised. He admits that he had just learned this information from Facebook as well as the tweets of fellow expats living in Bali.
In addition, he said that a $100 per day fine is considered expensive.
"It is expensive. This is more expensive than in Europe," said Mr Decoster, . "Some people will not have money to pay fines and will miss their flight."
Josh is a US citizen who has lived in Indonesia for 10 years. He said this policy could harm Indonesian tourism.
"The 30-day visa policy has [already] made things difficult and caused tourists to only come to touristy areas that are already famous like Bali," he said.
"Indonesia is a large and time-consuming country to explore, compared to a 90-day visa-free policy in Singapore and Malaysia, countries far smaller than Indonesia, this is an unfortunate policy."
According to information on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Smartraveller, Australians who wish to visit Singapore for tourism and business purposes do not need a visa and are allowed to stay for 90 days. For Malaysia, Australian passport holders can get a 90-day tourism visa on arrival.
Indonesia is a big country to explore in 30 days Source: Pixabay
Citizens from 169 countries, including Australia, are currently allowed to visit Indonesia for the purpose of activities such as tourism, social and family, arts and culture, government visits, giving lectures or attending seminars, attending meetings held by heads of representative offices located in Indonesia, as well as to continue travel to other countries.
SBS Indonesian has contacted the representatives of the Directorate General of Immigration regarding the overstay fine increase, but there has been no further comment.
