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Russia, Ukraine among additions to visa on arrival list
Twelve more countries have been added to Indonesia's visa on arrival eligibility scheme, part of a larger drive to relax COVID-19 restrictions and spur economic recovery.
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People protest in front of the Ukrainian consulate in Denpasar, Bali, against Russia's invasion of Ukraine on March 1. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
T
he citizens of 12 additional countries, including Russia and Ukraine, have been made eligible for Indonesia’s visa on arrival for tourism (VKSKKW) scheme, as the government continues to relax COVID-19 border restrictions to spur economic growth.
Besides Russia and Ukraine, foreign nationals from Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Oman, Peru, Serbia and Jordan will be able to enter Indonesia through any of nine airports, 11 seaports and four land border posts designated for international tourist arrivals.
Meanwhile, plans to expand the list of countries whose citizens are exempt from the tourist visa requirement have been put on hold indefinitely. Only citizens of the nine other ASEAN member countries are currently eligible for the exemption.
As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and wades into the uncertainty of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Indonesia has forged ahead with its reopening for tourism, particularly in popular destinations such as Bali and Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
The Ukraine war has stranded citizens of the two belligerents in Bali, the site of the upcoming Group 20 Summit, which aims to find solutions to the ongoing crisis.
Russian and Ukrainian tourists flocked to the island by the tens of thousands before the pandemic and were among the first to return when borders partially reopened.
But the war and unprecedented Western sanctions on Russia’s banks are taking a toll on its citizens overseas, some of whom have had to scramble to find cash or turn to crypto transactions.
