REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Japan opened a new visa application center in Jakarta to facilitate all Indonesians keen on travelling to Japan.

The Japan Visa Application Center (JVAC), located on the 4th floor of the Lotte Shopping Avenue in South Jakarta, will start operating from Sept 15.

Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii said during the inauguration of JVAC in Jakarta on Friday that some 270 thousand Indonesians had visited Japan last year.

"The number of Indonesian tourists visiting Japan is expected to increase by 30 percent this year," he noted.

However, he believes several opportunities still exist to boost Indonesian tourist arrivals to Japan, as Indonesia is a potential market, with a population of 250 million.

In addition to meeting the growing demand of visa applicants, Ishii said the establishment of the JVAC aims to improve visa application services for all Indonesians by reducing the long queues at visa counters and shortening the waiting time of applicants.

In line with the growing interest among Indonesians to travel to Japan in the last few years, Director of Consular Division of the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia Hiroshi Matahira stated that the number of visa applicants had increased significantly.

The Japanese Embassy in Indonesia had issued 68,257 visas in 2012; 91,860 visas in 2013; 103,631 visas in 2014; 117,019 visas in 2015; and 138,327 visas in 2016. An increase of 200 percent was recorded in the number of visa applications in 2016 as compared to 2012.

By inaugurating the JVAC, Matahira expressed hope that more Indonesian citizens would travel to Japan by simplifying the visa application process.

"We (Indonesia and Japan) together expect a significant exchange of foreign tourists," he stated.

He was also optimistic that the JVAC would help Japan become a destination country for foreign tourists in the world, achieve the target of 40 million foreign travelers visiting Japan by 2020, increase the country's economic growth, and contribute to the promotion of people-to-people contacts in future.

From January until the start of September 2017, the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia has recorded a 30 percent increase in the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Japan.

The JVAC will extend the visa application process for eight hours, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, as the length of the visa application process at the Embassy of Japan was only three and a half hours.

As the visa retrieval period at the Embassy of Japan is only one and a half hour, it will be extended to five hours at the JVAC from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time.

Moreover, the JVAC will provide over 15 counters dedicated to visa application and retrieval services to reduce the length of queues at visa counters, as the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia is providing a maximum of five counters.

To significantly shorten the visa application process, the applicants can book an appointment for visa application via the internet in the JVAC.

After applying for a visa, the applicants can check the status of their visa applications via the internet.

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