Photo: ceoltravels.com
In two recent articles, Fundasaun Mahein (FM) discussed how Timor-Leste’s dysfunctional immigration system is facilitating the growth of illegal activities within the country, including transnational organised crime
and widespread violations of immigration laws. By implementing smart reforms in the immigration system, including investing in the capacity of the Migration Service, implementing an online visa processing system and creating new visa categories, Timor-Leste can discourage criminals who wish to take advantage of our weak immigration controls. At the same time, an efficient, modernised immigration system will ensure that legitimate foreign visitors can conduct their activities in Timor-Leste while adhering to immigration laws. In this way, the Government will tackle the growing problem of transnational organised crime while ensuring that foreign workers and businesses contribute to state revenues and support the growth of Timor-Leste’s economy. The following article discusses several challenges within the immigration system and offers recommendations for improving existing immigration policies and practices.
Effective immigration management is essential for a country’s national security and economic development. For FM, two aspects of Timor-Leste’s immigration system which are harming Timor-Leste’s security and economic interests are: an outdated and inadequate visa policy; and inefficiencies within the Migration Service caused by excessive bureaucracy and the lack of modernisation of the visa processing system.
Regarding the visa policy, FM believes that the Government should revisit its universal visa-on-arrival policy, which currently allows foreign citizens of any nationality to obtain a visa-on-arrival at President Nicolau Lobato International Airport. In practice, this means that any citizen may arrive in Timor-Leste by plane and obtain permission to enter the country for 30 days without undergoing prior checks or presenting supporting documentation, simply by declaring that they are a “tourist”. In FM’s view, the current situation is not sustainable and has opened Timor-Leste up to significant risks.
Recent experiences have demonstrated that the visa-on-arrival policy is being abused by foreign criminals who wish to use Timor-Leste as a base for their activities, such as the recent case of financial fraud committed by international criminals. In addition, international criminal networks are taking advantage of the current visa policy to use Timor-Leste as a destination and transit point for human trafficking activities. FM suspects that many other foreign criminals are operating in this country, but current migration controls are so weak that it is difficult to detect them and prevent their entry into the country.
Moreover, state security authorities have limited ability to independently screen foreign arrivals and rely on information shared by other countries and international law enforcement agencies such as INTERPOL. The current universal visa-on-arrival policy makes their work even more difficult, as foreign visitors are not currently required to register their intention to travel to Timor-Leste on any government system before travelling to the country. Thus, while well-intended, the visa-on-arrival policy is unfortunately encouraging criminals to use Timor-Leste as a base for their activities, while also facilitating the illegal movement of people through the country.
Another important aspect of the universal visa-on-arrival policy is that it enables foreign citizens who intend to work or conduct other non-tourism activities to enter Timor-Leste as “tourists”. A major reason for this is that it is still impossible to apply for working and other visas from outside Timor-Leste – this is discussed in more detail below. While many of those individuals do apply for the relevant visa once they are inside the country, the lack of adequate checks mean that many foreign citizens work illegally using the visa-on-arrival route.
Beyond facilitating serious organised crime, the current situation is incentivising foreign companies to break immigration and commercial laws. For example, as FM discussed in a previous article, numerous foreign tour operators are conducting commercial operations in Timor-Leste without obtaining commercial registration or visas for international staff. FM suspects that most do so not because of any nefarious intent, but rather because there is no facility to register or apply for visas outside Timor-Leste. The short-term nature of much work in this sector also means that it is simply not feasible to obtain a working visa once they are inside the country, as it currently takes several months to process a working visa application. Meanwhile, the ease of obtaining visa-on-arrival and lack of enforcement within the country further encourages foreign companies to break immigration rules and conduct business without proper licences.
Beyond its legal ramifications, this situation also has consequences for Timor-Leste’s long-term fiscal sustainability due to the significant losses in revenues from unpaid taxes and business registration fees. At the same time, by incentivising short-term, under-the-radar commercial activities, the current situation precludes the possibility of these foreign companies entering into partnerships with local companies, creating employment by hiring local staff, contributing to social security, and building local experience and capacity. Rather, they are incentivised to engage in short-term commercial operations in which all benefits go to foreign owners and international staff who enter the country for short periods at a time, with the result that Timor-Leste is losing out significant long-term economic benefits.
In addition to the visa-on-arrival policy and inadequate monitoring of arrivals, there are other aspects of existing visa policies which contribute to ineffective immigration management by promoting inefficiency and corruption within the Migration Service, and indeed within the state bureaucracy more broadly. A key factor is that procedures for obtaining some visas are unnecessarily complex and involve too many steps. The lack of effective utilisation of electronic systems means that immigration officers must sort through volumes of paper by hand, leading to bureaucratic delays. The reliance on paper can also lead to documents being lost, causing additional delays. Furthermore, many supporting documents are difficult to obtain, particularly for foreigners who lack “inside” contacts. As a result, they must pay agents to “buy” documents from state officials, which perpetuates petty corruption and informality within the state bureaucracy.
Another problematic aspect of the current visa policy is the requirement implemented after the COVID-19 State of Emergency requiring all foreign citizens inside the territory to be in possession of an “active” visa while waiting for their visa application to be processed. In practice, this means that people who have already applied for non-tourist visas must continue renewing monthly “tourist” visas throughout the processing period, which can take three months or more. At the same time, the Government decided to limit “tourist” visa renewals to a single 30-day period (previously tourist visas could be renewed by 60 days in a single application). As a result, many foreign citizens are forced to leave the country and come back while waiting for their visa application to be processed, at considerable personal expense.
These changes to visa policy were accompanied by the decision to assign sole responsibility for processing visas to the Ministry of Interior. Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNEC) was partly responsible for dealing with some visa applications, such as working visas. These decisions may have been intended to simplify the visa process and boost public revenues in the wake of the State of Emergency. However, by ending MNEC’s involvement in processing visas, and obliging foreign citizens already inside the country to submit individual visa applications for each month that they spend waiting for other visas to be processed, these policy changes have significantly increased the Migration Service’s workload. They have also significantly increased the burden on individual foreign citizens who wish to abide by immigration laws, while incentivising others to break them.
However, the fundamental issue with the current policy is that it obliges immigration officials to issue “tourist” visas to people who have already applied for other non-tourist visas. This is not only illogical – it is likely illegal. In other countries, lying on a visa application is treated as a serious crime. Usually, it is the applicant that misrepresents their intended purpose of travel; in Timor-Leste’s case, the current policy is forcing immigration officials to knowingly issue incorrect visas by issuing tourist visas to non-tourists!
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FM believes that Timor-Leste’s outdated and illogical visa policies and inefficient immigration system are failing to serve Timor-Leste’s security and economic interests. Serious reforms are therefore warranted, both in relation to existing visa policy and the internal systems and procedures of the Migration Service. FM advocates for creating a smart visa policy which is adapted to current global realities, in line with best practices and the policies of many other countries. Such a policy should enable genuine foreign visitors to travel here easily for a variety of purposes, while allowing Timorese authorities to monitor foreign arrivals more effectively and reducing inefficiencies and corruption within the immigration system.
Of course, any changes to Timor-Leste’s current visa policy must be considered extremely carefully so as not to discourage tourists and foreign investors. Moreover, it is not sufficient to simply change the visa policy – the Government must invest in alternative systems and building capacity to ensure that people can still enter the country to conduct their activities.
The Government recently authorised some diplomatic missions to issue visas for work, business, residence and tourism. President Horta subsequently made a post on his Facebook page criticising the Government’s plans to make Timor-Leste’s immigration policy more restrictive. So far, the Government has not published any additional information about its plans for immigration reform, so FM cannot provide additional comments. However, it appears that most of Timor-Leste’s diplomatic missions are not adequately prepared to begin processing visa applications, and it is unclear to what extent the Government has publicised this policy change abroad. Thus, as the visa-on-arrival policy remains in place, it is likely that most new arrivals to Timor-Leste will continue to avail of the existing option.
Some will object to changing the current universal visa-on-arrival policy on the grounds that a more restrictive visa policy will harm Timor-Leste’s image as an “open” country and cause a drop in state revenues. However, FM does not believe that changing Timor-Leste’s visa policy will necessarily deter genuine tourists or foreign investors, particularly if the reformed policy is in line with that of neighbouring countries such as Indonesia. Moreover, evidence indicates that the current immigration system has made Timor-Leste more vulnerable to infiltration by criminal networks and promoted bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption. These have probably already contributed to a negative image of the country.
Finally, with regards to the question of state revenues, the Ministry of Interior reported recently that it collected just $1 million from all visa fees during the first half of 2024, a tiny fraction of Timor-Leste’s annual state budget. Moreover, FM advocates maintaining visa-free/visa-on-arrival status for those countries which contribute the vast majority of visitors to Timor-Leste, such as Australia, New Zealand, EU, ASEAN and CPLP countries, USA, UK, China, Japan and Korea. Therefore, adjusting the current policy is unlikely to make a significant difference to these revenues, which cover only a small fraction of Timor-Leste’s budgetary needs. FM also believes that the long-term benefits of a modernised, efficient immigration system will greatly outweigh any temporary drop in revenues.
Below, FM has outlined some of the components which we believe could form the basis of a visa policy and immigration system which better serves Timor-Leste’s national security and economic interests. We hope the Government will consider the following suggestions:
- Expand visa-free access to visitors from all ASEAN, CPLP and OECD countries who wish to conduct tourist and business activities. Currently, only Schengen area countries, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Cape Verde have visa-free access to Timor-Leste.
- Establish an online immigration system which can receive applications for all visa types. The online system should be able to process some visa applications entirely online, including receiving supporting documents and issuing electronic visas. For other visa categories, applications may first be submitted online, with supporting documents then submitted to embassies for processing. See the following points for further details about how such an online system could function.
- Establish 30- or 60-days e-VOA (electronic visa on arrival) for tourists and business travellers from an approved list of countries. (For example, Indonesia currently issues e-VOA or Visa-on-arrival to citizens of numerous countries.) Applications for e-VOA should involve a simple process of online payment plus submission of electronic copies of documents such as passport and return flight tickets.
- Create new visa categories for short-term non-tourist activities (3-6 months) such as research, consultancy work and volunteering. These activities currently fall under the “Temporary Stay” visa for Specialized Activities. However, this visa cannot be obtained outside Timor-Leste, meaning that foreign citizens who wish to conduct such activities must first enter Timor-Leste by obtaining a “tourist” visa-on-arrival. Applicants from visa-free and e-VOA countries should be able to obtain these visas electronically before travel by presenting proof of their intended activity, such as letters or contracts issued by established NGOs, international agencies or universities. Some applicants may also be required to provide criminal record checks from their home country, for instance when planned activities will involve children or other vulnerable groups.
- For short-term non-tourist visa applications for citizens of all other countries, applicants would first submit their visa application online. They would then send supporting documents to embassies for processing, receive a physical visa, and travel to Timor-Leste.
- For long-term stays (1 year+) such as work, joining family and residency, applicants from visa-free and e-VOA countries should be able to first obtain a temporary (3 month) visa online before travelling to Timor-Leste. This should provide adequate time for the relevant visa applications to be processed after arrival in Timor-Leste. At the same time, the Government must invest in increased capacity within the Migration Service to ensure that all these visa applications are processed within three months. For all other nationalities, long-term visa applications should be submitted online, with supporting documents sent to Timorese embassies, and processed before travel to Timor-Leste.
- Create a “digital nomad” visa to allow people to reside in Timor-Leste while working remotely for organisations based abroad. Due to the rapid growth of remote work in recent years, many countries have created a digital nomad visa, including Portugal, Indonesia and Thailand. As internet speeds improve in Timor-Leste, it is likely that more people will seek to reside here while working online. The digital nomad visa should be available online and subject to similar rules as other long-term visas, including proof of employment and criminal record checks.
- The Government should take steps to simplify and streamline visa processes within the country. As noted above, current processes are overly complex, difficult for foreign citizens to navigate, and time-consuming. By eliminating, combining or simplifying certain steps, the Government can reduce the Migration Service’s workload while incentivising foreign citizens to apply for appropriate visas.
- Under a reformed visa system, citizens of non-visa free or e-VOA countries would be required to first submit visa applications for all categories online, then send supporting documentation to Timorese embassies for processing. It is therefore essential that the Government provide adequate facilities and training to ensure that they are equipped to process visa applications efficiently.
FM believes that these changes are necessary for eliminating the current practice of issuing “tourist” visa-on-arrival and one-month “tourist” visa extensions to individuals who intend to conduct non-tourist activities. If the Government also implements online visa processing in Timor-Leste, this will significantly reduce the workload of Migration Service staff and improve efficiency. These measures will also enable the state to track foreign arrivals more accurately, thereby improving national immigration data and enabling more effective monitoring.
