Nine foreign nationals (Warga Negara Asing or WNA) who illegally carried out film production activities in Batam using a visiting visa were detained and deported by the Immigration Office.
Nine foreigners, consisting of eight Singaporeans and one Malaysian, were deported through Batam Center International Port on Friday, the 18th of April, after being secured and questioned since Friday, the 11th of April. According to the Head of the Immigration Enforcement Section, Muhammad Faris Pabittei, the perpetrators were caught shooting a series at a hotel in the Batam Center area.
The identities of those foreigners, as well as the title of the series they were shooting at the time, have yet to be disclosed by the authorities.
“From the results of the examination, they used Visa on Arrival (VOA) and Visiting Stay Permits, which were clearly not intended for film production activities or other commercial activities,” Pabittei confirmed to the press on Saturday, the 26th of April.
It was also revealed that even though the perpetrators had already obtained a location permit from the Indonesian Ministry of Culture, violations still occurred due to their lack of an appropriate visa.
“The Directorate General of Immigration has issued a visa classification policy that specifically regulates the activities of foreigners in the territory of Indonesia — in this case, filmmaking — which requires the Visa Index C14 or D14 or E23K,” Pabittei explained.
Pabittei concluded that the Class I Special TPI Batam Immigration Office is committed to continuing to enforce immigration laws in the Batam area. This aims to ensure that the presence and activities of foreigners comply with applicable laws in Indonesia and that there is no disruption to public order.
In recent years, several regions in Indonesia have seen a rise in popularity as locations for filmmaking. Last year, the Indonesian Ministry of Culture confirmed that, throughout the first half of 2024 alone, foreign filmmakers submitted 29 requests to conduct film production in Bali. Meanwhile, throughout 2023, there were 165 film production permits issued for foreign filmmakers. The countries of origin of production houses that frequently shoot in Indonesia typically include, among others, England, Japan, Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands.