[Mhiz Rebecca]

The Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry Purwanto, on Tuesday
announced his government’s new policy for issuing visas to
Nigerians and other foreigners wanting to visit Indonesia for any
purpose.
Purwanto told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that under the
new policy, his Embassy would no longer be involved in visa
processing, but only in the collection of visa applications.
The Ambassador, who did not give any reason for his government’s
new visa policy, said that the processing of visas to Indonesia would
henceforth take a much longer time.
“Nigerians seeking visas to Indonesia should know that the
Indonesian government has introduced a new visa application and
issuance policy.
“Under the new policy, we as an Embassy in Nigeria have been
withdrawn from processing visas.
“All we are now required to do is to collect visa applications and
send them to Indonesia for processing. We now have to be taking
authority from Jakarta.
“We, therefore, want to tell Nigerians seeking visas to Indonesia to
now begin their applications at least two weeks in advance, to enable
us send their applications on time to Jakarta,’’ he said.
Purwanto enjoined Nigerians to always ensure that authentic
information and documents were provided in their visa application
forms, to avoid visa refusal from Jakarta.
The Ambassador, who restated his government’s commitment to
issuing more visas to Nigerians, said that about 1,000 Nigerians
were issued visas to Indonesia this year.
He also said that his government would continue to create the right
environment for mutual trade relations and people-to-people
interactions between genuine Nigerians and Indonesians.