The Director General of the Immigration Service, Silmy Karim, officially inaugurated 90 new auto gates at Bali Airport. The project involved the phased installation of automatic gates in the arrival and departure areas of the international terminal. Now, everything is ready, and travelers with biometric passports can pass through immigration control more easily.
A total of 60 auto gates have been installed in the arrival hall and another 30 in the departure area of the international terminal. Although the first batch of auto gates was opened back in February 2024, the full completion of the project was a cause for celebration for the airport’s management. The number of gates for self-service border control has now reached 120.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the auto gates, the Director General of the Immigration Service, Silmy Karim, said: "Our airport is the main gateway for tourists to the country, with an average of 18,000 to 21,000 international arrivals per day. Thanks to the auto gates, the immigration control process now takes only 15-25 seconds per person. This is a huge success, as we have significantly increased the capacity of immigration control, making it much more efficient."
The auto gates are suitable for the vast majority of travelers, including Indonesian passport holders. Tourists with any type of electronic visa, including the eVisa on Arrival, are eligible to use the auto gates for both arrival and departure. The only condition is that the passport must be biometric, meaning it has a symbol on the cover as shown in the image below.
Staffed immigration counters will continue to operate for travelers without electronic visas.
When the first batch of auto gates was installed in February, they were used by an average of 17% of foreign tourists and 49% of Indonesian travelers. Data from September shows that now 67% of foreign tourists and 62% of all Indonesian travelers are using the auto gates.
Karim added: "It's important to note that improving immigration services through the auto gates does not mean that security is compromised. Those passing through the auto gate are also checked to ensure they are not on a blacklist or wanted by Interpol. If they are on such a list, they automatically get a red signal and will not be able to use the auto gates."
As of September 27, 2024, a total of 4,722,771 foreigners have entered Indonesia through Bali Airport. The top five countries with the most international arrivals are Australia with 1,164,258 arrivals, India with 411,758, China with 361,372, the United Kingdom with 228,948, and South Korea with 216,993 travelers respectively.
Sources: indonesianimmigrasi, nusabali
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