Colin Filer to ASAONET on PNG visa fees
PNG National Research Institute, 10 Oct 1997
... to all and sundry
Since I assumed responsibility for orchestrating this business at the
beginning of 1996, I have been trying (intermittently) to clarify the
points at issue, and look for some way to advance the adoption of a
systematic policy position, but PNG is not the kind of place in which these
aims can quickly be achieved.
The current situation is that NRI charges a flat rate of K250 for the issue
of individual research visas, and K500 for teams of researchers. It is
true that a proportion of these fees (K50 and K100 respectively) are
supposed to be transferred to the relevant provincial authorities as
payment for their own administrative costs in processing the visa
approvals. However, it seems that such transfers were not being effected
when IPNGS (our former Cultural Studies Division) was in charge of the
approval function, and this might explain why some provinces decided to
levy their own fees during that period.
As part of our own efforts to clarify the situation, we asked each
provincial government to advise us of their current policy on this matter.
From these enquiries, we have established that the following provinces levy
the following scales of fees on different categories of researchers:
CENTRAL and MADANG: Team = K200; Individual = K100.
EAST SEPIK: Social Science = K200; Archaeology = K300; War Relics = K500;
UPNG Students = K100; Consultants = K500; Medical and Scientific = K500;
Film & Photography = K1,000;
MANUS: PhD = K600; Masters = K300; Undergraduate = K150; Private = K600.
SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS: Film Makers = K1,000; Medical and Scientific = K500;
Archaeology = K500; Social Science = K200; Photography = K200; Local
Researchers = K100.
WESTERN HIGHLANDS: Film Makers = K550; Team = K250; Individual = K150.
WESTERN: Teams and Film-Makers = K530; Individuals for more than two months
= K230; Individuals for less than two months = K130.
So far as we know, all other provinces are still fee-free.
It is not yet clear whether provincial governments have a legal right to
levy such fees, and we do now know very much about their methods of
collection, let alone what they do with the money. These are matters which
ought to be addressed by the National Research Council which now exists on
paper, but not in reality. NRI's own capacity to sort out the mess is
fairly limited.
Colin Filer
cfiler@global.net.pg
Fax: (675) 326-0213
Ph: (675) 326-0300 (BH)
Ph: (675) 323-5601 (AH)