The opening of Indonesian tourism to foreign tourists not only attracts the enthusiasm of travel lovers around the world, but also tourism industry players. Over the last two years, hotel occupancy and bookings for tour packages have dropped dramatically. Therefore, the establishment of a travel agency and hotel as a guarantor of the B211A Tourist Visit Visa is an opportunity for the tourism industry players to rise from adversity. However, there are still many who do not understand the terms and how to register their business entities as guarantors for a Tourist Visit Visa.

The Sub-Coordinator of Public Relations of the Directorate General of Immigration, Achmad Nur Saleh, said that Immigration did not provide special rules regarding the standardization of tourist travel agencies and hotels that could be guarantors of tourist visas. This is not the authority of the Directorate General of Immigration.

“The scope of Immigration’s authority is the supervision of foreigners. In this regard, one of our duties is to ensure that the foreign guarantor complies with the visa or residence permit applied for, referring to immigration policies and applicable laws and regulations,” he said.

He further explained that business entities that register a guarantor ID account on the Visa Online website need to enter their Business Identification Number (NIB) data. The NIB data will provide information on the business sector of the registered business entity. If the travel agent administers the business entity correctly, then the type of business entity will appear as a “Travel Bureau”. The completeness of the file and the correctness of the guarantor’s data will then be verified by the authorized officer.

Meanwhile, the requirements (documents) required by corporations/business entities to register for a visa guarantor account are as follows:

• Company deed
• Letter of approval for Business Entity
• SIUP
• NPWP
• TDP
• Domicile certificate
• Other business licenses according to business field
• Identity of company leadership.

“Tourism/hotel travel bureaus that register themselves as guarantors have full obligations to monitor the activities and whereabouts of foreigners, starting from rented rooms to foreign nationals’ travel plans until the day they return to their country of origin. They must ensure that foreign tourists do not violate or disturb public order, including health protocols,” Achmad appealed.