Overview

The Indonesian government recently issued Presidential Regulation Number 95 of 2024 on Visit Visa Exemptions (New Regulation), which introduces additional criteria for granting visa exemptions (i.e., visa-free entry into Indonesia). The New Regulation significantly reduces the number of eligible countries, whose citizens are able to enter Indonesia visa-free. Another significant development in the New Regulation is that the holders of Singaporean residency permits (Singaporean RP Holders) are also permitted to enter Indonesia visa-free.

Individuals who are subject to visit-visa exemption are able to enter Indonesia without the need for a visit visa. Upon arrival, they are granted a visit stay permit valid for up to thirty days. This permit is non-extendable and cannot be converted into any other type of stay permit.

Key findings

We set out below the significant changes under the New Regulation:

1. Changes to nationalities of citizens now eligible for visa exemptions

The New Regulation sets out the following aspects that have been taken onto consideration to determine whether the citizens of a particular country, governments of special administrative regions of a country (e.g., Hong Kong), “certain entities” or those granted a residency permit of a particular country, will be eligible for visit visa exemptions:

• reciprocity;
• mutual benefit;
• national security;
• tourism;
• economic and investment opportunities; and
• any other aspects determined by the President.

The above aspects are more comprehensive than those in the 2016 regulation it replaced¹ (Old Regulation), which only listed reciprocity and mutual benefit. Consequently, this broader set of aspects has led to a significant reduction in the number of countries whose citizens are eligible for visa exemptions.

Under the New Regulation, visit visa exemptions may only be granted to citizens from the following 13 countries: Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Timor-Leste, Suriname, Colombia and Hong Kong (together, Exempted Countries).

This is a significant change from the Old Regulation, which permitted visa exemptions for citizens of 169 countries. It is not clear why many countries, including Australia, Germany, Sweden and Spain, have been excluded from visa exemptions under the New Regulation. However, it is important to note that the New Regulation grants the Ministry of Law and Human Rights the discretion to evaluate the list of Exempted Countries. As a result, the list may be subject to further changes.

2. Visa exemption subjects

Under the Old Regulation, visa exemptions applied solely to citizens of certain foreign countries, governments of special administrative regions, or certain entities.

The New Regulation now:

• expands the definition of a "subject" eligible for a visa exemption, which now includes holders of specific residence permits from certain countries eligible for visa exemptions; and
• grants Singaporean RP Holders access to Indonesian visa exemptions.

It is important to note that any visit visas issued under the Old Regulation will remain valid until they expire.

3. Journalistic activities

Under the Old Regulation, even though visit visa exemptions were granted to the citizens of 169 countries, it explicitly prohibited journalistic activities. However, the New Regulation does not include such a prohibition.

Regardless of the absence of an explicit prohibition against journalistic activities in the New Regulation, it is important to note that journalism is not listed as a permitted activity under the immigration law for citizens with visit visa exemptions. Consequently, citizens of the Exempted

Countries as well as Singaporean RP Holders are likely to still be restricted from engaging in journalistic work. The current position on whether Exempted Countries’ citizens are permitted to carry out journalistic activities remains unclear. Further clarification to the immigration regulations on this issue are anticipated.

Summary

The table below sets out a comparative summary of the provisions under the Old and New Regulations.

Final remarks

By adopting a more selective policy for granting visit visa exemptions in the New Regulation, Indonesia’s expectations are that the grantees will be more likely to provide tangible benefits for Indonesia’s economy, security, and diplomacy, even though the grantees come from a significantly smaller pool of countries.

It is important to note that even though the New Regulation designates far fewer countries to benefit from visit visa exemptions, it also extends the visit visa exemption to holders of residence permits from certain countries (at this stage, only Singapore). This expansion may open the door to inclusion of residence permit holders from other countries in the future. It is too early to tell whether the New Regulation will provide the tangible benefits to Indonesia that the government anticipates. Only time will tell.