Indonesia officially launches e-VOA, see: here's how to apply for a visa on arrival online – official

 

(Sources Pic: Pict by google, Icon by flaticon, edited by author)

Did you know that Indonesian Immigration has made a new policy in immigration information systems and technology which launched in November 2022. This policy supports the work program of the Acting Director General of Immigration at that time in accordance with the directions of the Minister of Law and Human Rights, Ministry of Law and Human Rights. This policy was also accompanied by the implementation of other international events held in Indonesia, specifically in the Bali area. What event is it? Yes, the event is none other than the G-20 international forum. At the G20 event, Indonesia has the opportunity to host the G20 which was previously held in Italy in 2021. The G20 is an international meeting which is held once a year with 20 member countries. This meeting later aims to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive global growth. In addition, the results of the event are also expected to be able to resolve global issues related to trade, health, climate, and international issues.

Before starting the implementation of the G20 event in Indonesia, Indonesian Immigration prepared several innovations and new breakthroughs in the system sector, one of which was the Electronic Visa On Arrival application or commonly called E-VOA. This e-VOA aims to support Indonesia's tourism climate so that later it can increase the country's foreign exchange with the large number of tourists entering Indonesian territory. The launch of the system also supports the implementation of the G20 in Indonesia, where we as the hosts provide visa-free official visits for representatives of invited countries and journalists around the world covering the event. With the team's focus on handling the event, it is hoped that it will not disrupt other immigration operational activities for the smooth running of people who will come to Indonesian territory so that with the aim of reducing queues at the Bank Counter of Visa On Arrival counter at the airport, the Indonesian E-VOA issuance application was launched. This attention was given on the basis of the discovery of long queues at the Ngurah Rai Airport VOA payment counter as a result of findings from the Acting Director General of Immigration in early October 2022 (https://www.balipost.com/news/2022/10/07/296833/Disidak ,Long-Queue-Found-in...html). This became the attention from Indonesian President because Indonesian Immigration always received complaints regarding long and ineffective services, then when there was an inspection in the field it was found that queues occurred at bank counters which were not immigration authorities in making Visa On Arrival payments.

(Sources Pic: https://news.detik.com/berita/d-6334004/sidak-bandara-bali-plt-dirjen-imigrasi-marahi-pihak-bank-di-gerai-voa)

 

After receiving many criticisms, the Directorate General of Immigration was finally able to respond by making a breakthrough innovation in the systemic field based on findings in the field to respond to criticism and complaints from the public and foreign citizens. This is also in line with the message from the President of Indonesia to carry out digital transformation in public services. The launch of E-VOA Indonesia began with a timeline, namely the E-VOA trial at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport on November 3, 2022. After the trial implementation went smoothly, it was officially launched on November 10, 2022 until now.

(Sources Pic: https://www.imigrasi.go.id/id/2022/11/10/menkomarves-imigrasi-wajah-negeri-sempurnakan-transformasi-membangun-bangsa/)

 

The following are the differences before and after using E-VOA Indonesia

Before E-VOA existed

1. Manual preparation, passengers/foreign nationals who will enter Indonesian territory are required to buy a visa on arrival (for countries included in the list of Visa On Arrival countries) at the arrival terminal bank counter if they have not applied for an Indonesian visa;
2. Currency exchanged, passengers/foreign nationals are required to exchange money into rupiah (The Official currency of Indonesia) to pay for a visa on arrival at the arrival terminal so they must provide cash as the payment method;
3. Long queued, if in high season you need to queue to pay for a visa on arrival at the arrival terminal before taking the queue back at the immigration area.

 

Facilities received:

1. Pre departure online application, passengers/foreign nationals can fill in complete identity data for the benefit of immigration officers in profiling people who will enter Indonesian territory. 1 account can only apply for e-VOA only for himself. So prepare yourself;
2. Payment online using visa, jcb mastercard debit or credit, passengers/foreign nationals don't need to bother preparing payments via cash in Rupiah and calculating the exchange rate of money from their country to Currency of Indonesia. Payments can be made online using the rate of the country of origin so that payments become cashless. But what you need to know, don't forget to prepare cash to live in Indonesia;
3. e-VOA receipt right away, proof of visa registration will be sent via email or on the e-VOA submission application. In addition, passengers or foreign nationals get certainty, namely they don't have to worry anymore about not having a visa to come and certainty about when the visa can be used. As information for you, the visa on arrival will expire 3 months after applying so if there is a change in your schedule you can adjust it according to your arrival to Indonesia.

 

Until the time this article was published (18/01/2023), e-VOA was only intended for a number of countries, including the following: (Source: https://molina.imigration.go.id/front/faq)

1.       Albania

2.       Andorra

3.       Argentina

4.       Australia

5.       Austria

6.       Bahrain

7.       Belarus

8.       Belgium

9.       Bosnia Herzegovina

10.   Brazil

11.   Brunei Darussalam

12.   Bulgaria

13.   Cambodia

14.   Canada

15.   Chile

16.   China

17.   Colombia

18.   Croatia

19.   Cyprus

20.   Czech

21.   Denmark

22.   Ecuador

23.   Egypt

24.   Estonia

25.   Finland

26.   France

27.   Germany

28.   Greece

29.   Hong Kong

30.   Hungary

31.   Iceland

32.   India

33.   Ireland

34.   Italy

35.   Japan

36.   Jordan

37.   Kuwait

38.   Laos

39.   Latvia

40.   Liechtenstein

41.   Lithuania

42.   Luxembourg

43.   Malaysia

44.   Maldives

45.   Malta

46.   Mexico

47.   Monaco

48.   Morocco

49.   Myanmar

50.   Netherland

51.   New Zealand

52.   Norway

53.   Oman

54.   Palestine

55.   Peru

56.   Philippines

57.   Poland

58.   Portugal

59.   Republic of Korea

60.   Qatar

61.   Romania

62.   Russia

63.   San Marino

64.   Saudi Arabia

65.   Serbia

66.   Seychelles

67.   Singapore

68.   Slovakia

69.   Slovenia

70.   South Africa

71.   Spain

72.   Suriname

73.   Sweden

74.   Switzerland

75.   Taiwan

76.   Thailand

77.   Timor Leste

78.   Tunisia

79.   Turkiye

80.   Ukraine

81.   United Arab Emirates

82.   United Kingdom

83.   United States of America

84.   Uzbekistan

85.   Vatican

86.   Vietnam

 

If your country is not included in the list, don't worry... you can still buy a visa on arrival at the arrival terminal or you can apply for a visit visa or limited stay visa after your destination in Indonesia. This list of countries will increase over time as well as policies from Indonesian immigration, so just wait.

 

(Sources Pic: molina.imigrasi.go.id)

 The way to apply for e-VOA is as follows:

1. Enter the official website for submitting an Indonesian e-VOA application at molina.imigration.go.id/;
2. Click login, then if you already have an account please log in using the account that was registered, if not please click register to create an account;
3. On the account registration page, fill in your personal data and passport information, then click submit;
4. Check the notification on the registered email, click activate your account, continue logging in using the registered username and password;
5. After successfully registering an account, you can apply for e-VOA by filling in your personal identity on the page by clicking apply or the application menu;
6. Complete the visa application form, then click submit to proceed to the payment menu;
7. Click make a payment to continue, fill in the credit card data, then click pay now;
8. After successfully making a payment, the e-VOA will be processed immediately and you will get an email notification after the e-VOA is issued. Click download to get e-VOA;
9. Prepare e-VOA to come to Indonesia by showing a soft copy or print out at the immigration checkpoint.

 

Notes:

1. If you experience problems related to the Molina application, please first read the Faq on the following page: https://molina.imigration.go.id/front/faq;

2. Any problems that you experience, please contact the live chat at immigration.go.id.

 

Don't worry if you don't have a credit card and the like or if you experience other problems in terms of payment and so on, you can contact the Directorate General of Immigration on the official Indonesian Immigration website www.imigration.go.id. I hope you enjoy living in Indonesia and never get tired of stopping by again!