JAKARTA, Sept. 19, 2021 (BSS/Xinhua) - Indonesia has opened a few of its

borders to foreigners after the Ministry of Law and Human Rights issued a
ministerial regulation that reopens applications for tourist and limited stay
visas for fully-vaccinated travelers.

  "Previously, only foreigners with diplomatic and service visas are allowed
to enter the country. With today's issuance of Ministerial Regulation No.
34/2021, those with existing valid tourist and limited stay visas are also
allowed to enter Indonesia," the Directorate General of Immigration's
spokesman Arya Pradhana Anggakara said in a statement on Thursday.

  Furthermore, the government has also decided to open international borders
at six transportation hubs, which are the Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport in Tangerang city, Banten province, Sam Ratulangi International
Airport in Manado city, North Sulawesi province, seaports in Batam city, Riau
Islands province, and Nunukan, North Kalimantan province, as well as land
cross-border posts in the areas of Aruk and Entikong in West Kalimantan
province.

  The aforementioned seaports and land borders have been reopened for
international tourists as of Thursday, and the two airports since Friday, the
Transportation Ministry's spokesperson Adita Irawati said in a recent press
release.

  On Friday, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut
Binsar Panjaitan also said that the government is likely to reopen its resort
island of Bali for international tourists starting October due to the recent
decline in the number of daily COVID-19 cases in Indonesia.

  "If the number of cases continues to drop, we are confident to reopen Bali
in October," Panjaitan said at a virtual press conference, adding that
Indonesia will prioritize foreign tourists from countries with controlled
COVID-19 cases.

  Travelers who want to enter the archipelago, both Indonesians and
foreigners, must be fully-vaccinated besides showing vaccine certificates and
negative PCR test results taken no longer than 72 hours prior to the
departure time, according to a press release from the Transportation Ministry
issued on Thursday.

  Upon arrivals, the travelers have to take another PCR tests and must
undertake eight days of quarantine if declared negative.

  One more negative result of the PCR test will be required on the eighth
day.

  Both Indonesians and foreigners are required to fill out the Electronic
Health Alert Card (E-HAC) inside the PeduliLindungi contact tracing
application.

  A foreigner must also show a proof of being covered by health insurance,
which is expected to cover the individual's health expenses, including for
COVID-19, while staying in Indonesia.

  Between Sept. 15 and 17, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's Immigration
Office recorded 974 foreigners entering Indonesia, and 874 foreigners
departing the country.

  Meanwhile, the airport also recorded 2,961 Indonesians going home and 3,418
leaving the country.

  "In total, there were 15,343 foreigners that entered Indonesia between Aug.
1 and Sept. 17, with 22,122 foreigners leaving the country during the same
period," Sam Fernando, head of the immigration office's public relations and
information technology division, told media on Friday.

  During the same period, there were also 51,658 Indonesians arriving back in
the country and 50,925 Indonesians leaving the archipelago.

  Indonesia's daily new COVID-19 cases have shown significant decline this
week, as opposed to last month.

  On Friday, the Health Ministry recorded 3,835 newly-confirmed COVID-19
cases with 219 deaths compared with over 20,000 new infections just one month
ago.