Indonesia’s Visa on Arrival may double in price: 1 000 000 rupiah if obtained at the airport, and 750 000 if arranged in advance online. Both options currently cost 500 000. Hendarsam Marantoko, head of the Directorate General of Immigration, announced the new fees but did not say when they would take effect.
The Directorate attributed the increase to the rupiah exchange rate: at the current rate, 500 000 brings in too little revenue for the state budget. Immigration collects non-tax state revenue and by August had raised 6,5 trillion rupiah of the 8,5 trillion planned for the year.
The 250 000 rupiah difference between the two prices is intentional. The electronic Visa on Arrival is arranged through the immigration website before departure: fill in the form, upload your passport, and pay, then the completed document is sent by email, leaving only immigration clearance at the airport. The same visa can also be purchased on arrival at the VoA counters before immigration, and this option will become more expensive.
Immigration expects that a higher price at the border will mean fewer people queuing at the counters. The Directorate also referred to Soekarno-Hatta: the airport ranked tenth for immigration services in the Skytrax ranking, and the authorities want to eliminate crowding before immigration.
Immigration did not mention Visa on Arrival extensions. An extension currently costs the same as the visa itself: 500 000 rupiah for another 30 days. It can be extended once, bringing the total stay to 60 days. The statement does not indicate whether this fee will change along with the visa price.
A month earlier, the government said the opposite. On 15 July, Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana was asked whether Indonesia would raise its visa fees. “I don’t think there are any plans to increase visa fees for now,” she replied, adding that she had received no information from immigration about new fees.
Immigration had been working towards revising the fees since January, when the ministry discussed new rates with the same target of 8,5 trillion rupiah and stressed that the increase would affect foreign nationals, not Indonesian citizens.
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