August 4, 2022 – Sebastian Powell, a blogger, was given an ultimatum to leave Indonesia. The man who came from German has written a blog post about his experience regarding Bali’s immigration titled “Bali Airport Has Become a Nightmare with Up to Five Hours Immigration Lineups!”
He was asked to leave Indonesia in 30 days, which is the validity of his Visa on Arrival (VOA).
Bali’s Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Anggiat Napitupulu said that this ultimatum is a penalty to the foreigner who has spread misinformation through his blog post.
“We have given Sebastian a warning to leave Bali or Indonesia immediately before his Visa on Arrival expires which is 30 days,” said Napitupulu.
The Bali Ministry of Law and Human Rights has requested information from the foreigner following his complaints about the queue.
“We have asked him [for explanations]. Currently, he’s still in Bali,” she said.
Napitupulu explained that the article written by the foreigner is not based on his experience but, someone else’s. Thus, when asked for an explanation, he couldn’t answer when and where the long line-up happened.
“He only tells what other people have experienced. However, he couldn’t clarify when or where it happened. He’s just retelling what other people have said,” she said.
She has also confirmed that the service at the airport Immigration counter does not take over 2 hours. She explained that Ngurah Rai Airport serves an average of 47 flights from 22 countries a day. From 47 flights, between 11:00 AM and 02:00 PM WITA, there were 10 to 12 flights arriving simultaneously at the airport. Thus, resulting in a queue of approximately two hours.
The time passengers get off the plane, going to KKP, VoA payments, and immigration checks do not take more than two hours. Meanwhile, the airport can accommodate 3,000 people, 1,500 at immigration and 1,500 at customs.
Napitupulu also said that there are a total of 16 counters for Immigration services with 3 officers at each counter. Among those 16 counters, three are not in use as it’s in the process of renovation for the upcoming KTT G20.
