Immigration Office Deported Russian Photographer In Bali

Head of the Class I Immigration Office of TPI Denpasar Tedy Riyandi during a press conference at the Denpasar Immigration Office, Bali, Wednesday (8/3/2023) showing a passport belonging to a Russian citizen.

DENPASAR - Immigration Office Class I TPI Denpasar deported a foreigner from Russia, because he misused his residence permit in Indonesia by working as a photographer in Bali.

The Russian citizen, a man with the initials SR, is scheduled to be forcibly returned to his country via I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, Thursday, at around 13.00 WITA.

"The residence permit owned by SR is a visit visa on arrival (VoA) with a validity period of 22 February 2023 to 27 March 2023," said TPI Denpasar Class I Immigration Office (Kakanim) Head Tedy Riyandi, Wednesday, March 8.

A visit visa on arrival is a residence permit granted by the Government of Indonesia to foreign nationals for vacation purposes. To work, foreigners are required to arrange and have another residence permit that is different from a tourist visa.

“Brother SR claims to be a photographer. He became a photographer in Bali, although SR's visa was for a vacation. SR has uploaded his photos on social media, specifically Instagram," said Tedy.

Denpasar Immigration also ensnared SR with Article 75 paragraph (1) of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration, one of the sanctions for which is forced repatriation or deportation. Denpasar Immigration said that SR had prepared a return ticket to his country so he was immediately deported, Thursday.

Denpasar Immigration since the beginning of this month has been actively monitoring the activities of SR, who while in Bali lived in Nusa Penida, Klungkung, Bali, and he was summoned to the Denpasar Immigration Office for questioning on Tuesday (7/3).

"Based on the results of the examination, he admitted that initially, he was traveling, but the facts and the reality were he was working as a photographer," said Tedy.

To the Immigration Service, SR, who was known later named Sergei Rodin, admitted that he did not receive any payment while carrying out his profession as a photographer.

"The person concerned admits that he did not receive payment, but based on evidence and witnesses, we can apply Article 75 to the person concerned," said Head of the Intelligence and Immigration Enforcement Section (Kasi Inteldakim) Iqbal Rifai at the same press conference session.

Based on the results of the investigation and witness testimony, the 44-year-old foreigner has quite a number of clients. But so far none of his clients are Indonesian citizens.

At the same press conference session, the Head of the Immigration Division of the Bali Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Barron Ichsan said that the prosecution and deportation of SR was proof that Immigration was present to protect Indonesia, especially Bali, from irresponsible foreigners.

He asked the public not to be afraid to report violations of the law allegedly committed by foreign nationals. Barron guarantees that the identity of the reporter is only for the purposes of verification by the Immigration Service and will not be disseminated to the public.

“If there is material to complain about, please don't be afraid, feel free to complain to us, because without the community we are nothing. We have limited immigration violations that occurred in Bali," said Barron.