A Canadian citizen resided in Bali for more than two years until his deportation over the weekend. The man claimed that he forgot to apply for a visa extension and thus overstayed for a total of 776 days.
The 42-year-old Estonia-born man is identified as AO, and authorities in Bali noted that he arrived on the Island of Gods on March 17, 2020, before COVID-19 became a full-blown pandemic. He flew in from Singapore and entered Indonesia using a visa waiver known as BVK.
It should be noted that BVK is different from visa on arrival (VOA), in that the former allows a foreigner to visit Indonesia for up to 30 days but without the option for extension. A VOA, on the other hand, offers a 30-day extension option.
The head of the Bali office of the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights Affairs, Anggiat Napitupulu, said today that AO never left Indonesia after his BVK expired on April 17, 2020.
To authorities, AO claimed that he did not know that, due to pandemic concessions, a BVK holder may extend their stay under the condition that they file an application with the local immigration bureau.
“Although he [AO] equivocated by saying that this happened due to his absent-mindedness, the Immigration Bureau still enforced the law using the ignorantia juris non excusat principle,” Anggiat said, referring to the legal principle holding a law violator accountable despite them being unaware of the law’s content.
AO was detained for a total of 35 days starting June 3 before he was officially deported yesterday evening on a Montreal-bound Royal Dutch Airline.
Pak Shorty says
For 2+ years he forgot????