Markit wroteNot being amongst the "blessed few" that will (possibly) benefit from the visa freedom has anyone heard why this in fact did not happen as promised and planned?
How embarrassing Indonesia...
This from Balidiscovery.com
[B][SIZE=3]His Lips Were Moving
[SIZE=2]Minister of Tourism Promise of Free Visas for Five New Countries Fails to Materialize on January 1, 2015[/SIZE][/SIZE][/B]
[I](1/11/2015)[/I]
Promises issued by Indonesia’s new [I]Minister of Tourism[/I] promising visas free on arrival starting in January 2015 for the citizens of 5 countries –China, Russia, Australia, South Korea and Japan has failed to materialize, calling into question the veracity and bureaucratic prowess of the new man in charge of National Tourism.
As reported on [I]Balidiscovery.com[/I] Removing Obstacles to Tourism Growth , the minister made the pronouncement on free visas on November 5, 2014, insisting the step was needed to meet official goals for increased tourist flows and assuring that inter-agency agreement was in hand to allow the plan to go ahead.
Tourist from the five countries, however, arriving at Bali’s airport since January 1, 2015 have been met with shrugs of indifference from immigration officials telling tourists they had received no official notification of any change inexisting visa policy that would allow them to extend visa-free status as announced by the [I]Tourism Minister.[/I]
In response to many complaints from travel agents and travelers, the [I]Director General of Immigratio[/I]n in Jakarta issued a statement on January 5, 2015, announcing that [I]Presidential Instruction Number 43 of 2011 on visa policy [/I]remains unchanged and only 15 countries are eligible for “visa-free” status, namely: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Chili, Morocco, Peru, Vietnam, Ecuador, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar
While admitting there had been “suggestions” for the widening of the “visa-free” status to include the five additional countries, immigration authorities insist no new official order has been issued that would allow them to change the existing visa policy in effect at the end of 2014.
Bali News: His Lips Were Moving