Foreign nationals, especially those on holiday or living in Yogyakarta and surrounding areas, can now extend their visas in the Prambanan Temple area.
Currently, the manager of Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko Temples, PT Taman Wisata Candi (TWC), is trialling a stay permit extension service in the Prambanan Temple area for two months. This program is a collaboration between PT TWC and the TPI Surakarta Class I Immigration Office, Central Java, to make it easier for foreign citizens to process Visa on Arrival (VoA) for tourist visits, business or other purposes.
Foreign citizens can access this service at the arrival gate for foreign tourists, starting from 22nd February to April 2024. They can attend directly with their passport and return ticket. VoA processing is served every Tuesday and Thursday by TPI Surakarta Class I Immigration Office officers, starting at 09.00–15.00 Western Indonesian Time (WIB) at a cost of Rp500,000.
General Manager of Prambanan and Ratu Boko, I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana, explained that this service is expected to increase the interest of foreign tourists in visiting Prambanan Temple. He also informed that the VoA extension process could be completed in one day (one day service) so that foreign tourists could wait for the service process while visiting the Prambanan Temple tourist area and its surroundings.
“The VoA extension process is a one-day service so that foreign tourists can wait for the service process while visiting this World Cultural Heritage destination,” said Sedana on Thursday, 22nd February.
Head of the Surakarta Immigration Stay Permit Subsection, RR Karlyn Ambarwati, said that this program was her agency’s personal selling effort to provide services that make it easier for foreign tourists to arrange VoA at tourist destinations.
“We are trying out this stay permit extension service in collaboration with PT TWC as the manager of Prambanan Temple, to support government programs by providing easy immigration services, especially for foreign nationals. We will carry out this trial over the next two months to evaluate the volume and system in operation so that the service will run optimally when it is launched,” explained Ambarwati.
Prambanan Temple is one of the largest Hindu temples in Indonesia which was visited by 2.4 million tourists in 2023. Previously, there was also a stay permit extension service for foreign nationals which had been running in the Borobudur Temple tourist area, Magelang, Central Java, since July 2023.