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Japan to waive visa requirement for Indonesians in 2015
Japan will officially waive the visa requirement for Indonesian citizens wishing to travel to the country, with a possible commencement date of January 2015, an official has said
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J
apan will officially waive the visa requirement for Indonesian citizens wishing to travel to the country, with a possible commencement date of January 2015, an official has said.
The deputy press secretary for Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Koichi Mizushima, said the two governments were currently in the process of passing the visa waiver policy for Indonesian e-passport holders traveling to Japan for less than 15 days.
'The foreign minister [Kishida] has said no date has been concretely set to make it official, but the policy has already been announced by the Japanese government. The procedures are currently being worked out,' Mizushima told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He explained that the policy was part of the Japanese government's attempts to lure more visitors from the ASEAN region.
'Last year, a total of 10 million tourists visited Japan. This year, we aim to double it to 20 million. Hopefully, if the waiver policy passes before year's end, we will be able to achieve that target,' Mizushima added.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the visa waiver would likely take effect around January 2015. Indonesia is also working on a policy to waive the visa requirement for Japanese citizens visiting Indonesia, he added.
'The visa waiver policy for Indonesians wishing to visit Japan will maybe occur sometime around January 2015. Hopefully this visa waiver policy can be conducted in synergy,' Marty said on Tuesday at the Foreign Ministry as quoted by Antara.
The Japanese government announced the visa waiver for Indonesian tourists back in June 2014 and has elaborated on the conditions of the waiver, including the requirement of holding an e-passport (which are equipped with IC chips) and staying in Japan no longer than 15 days.
Visitors must also register with the Japanese Embassy or Consulate before traveling. Until the policy is officially enacted, Indonesian citizens will still require visas to visit Japan. (dyl)
