Government Facilitates Visa And Fees For Bali GPDRR Participants

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy in Nusa Dua, Badung, Bali/PHOTO: Dafi-VOI

JAKARTA - The government has eased visa requirements and entry fees to Indonesia for all foreign travelers participating in the 7th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) National Forum in Bali.

"This is important to provide certainty to the participants who will attend from abroad", said Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, as reported by Antara, Thursday, April 21.

Muhadjir said the Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna H Laoly, agreed to simplify visa requirements and fees to enter Indonesia to participate in GPDRR activities on May 23-28, 2022.

However, the government provides exceptions for migrants from several countries that fall into the vulnerable criteria. "Except for countries included in the list calling visa", he said.

Calling visa is a country whose condition or condition is considered to have a certain level of vulnerability, in terms of ideological, political, economic, social, cultural, defense and security aspects of the country as well as immigration aspects.

For calling visas, the procedures apply through the coordination team for foreign visits to eight countries, namely Afghanistan, Guinea, Israel, North Korea, Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria, and Somalia.

Regarding visa policies for GPDRR delegates or participants, diplomatic and service passport holders from 91 partner countries with visa-free agreements, and laissez-passer holders can enter Indonesia without diplomatic and service visas for a maximum of 30 days.

The policy must meet the requirements of supporting documents for diplomatic notes of assignment or statements of visits from the ministry of foreign affairs/authorized foreign state institutions or a registration letter as a GPDRR participant from the United Nations.

In the same event, Menkumham Yasonna H Laoly said the forum would be attended by 3,142 delegates from various countries. The number of participants is estimated to continue to grow with a maximum capacity of 4,000 guests.

Ordinary passport holders, he said, or from countries included in the list of 43 countries that obtained a Visa on Arrival (VoA) with a visa fee of IDR 500 thousand, and showed a letter for registration as a GPDRR participant from the UN. Ordinary passport holders who are not included in the VoA list can apply for a visa through Indonesian representatives abroad for IDR 2 million.

"We apply for the visa on arrival. Especially for visas on arrival, there are still 43 countries, but we will add this specifically for GPDRR participants, for delegates we will open it", he said.

Indonesia and the United Nations have also trained 50 immigration officers who will be responsible for the registration process for GPDRR participants from abroad.

The government has also prepared special immigration counters for GPDRR delegates so that they can immediately go to their respective lodging places upon arrival in Indonesia.

The 7th GPDRR global forum will evaluate the successes and challenges of disaster risk reduction to accelerate progress towards disaster resilience and sustainable development.