VISA POLICY TO INDONESIA

VISA POLICY TO INDONESIA


Tourist visas are only intended for tourists who are visiting Indonesia , not for expatriates intending to work and live for an extended period of time. Tourist visas will be needed by friends or family coming to visit you during your stay in Indonesia. There are 3 catagories of tourist visa system.


Pay for visa on arrival ( VOA ) system for citizens of 52 nations :
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta,, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlans, New Zaeland, Norway, Oman, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Suriname, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and The United States.

The cost of the 30 day (only) tourist visa is US$25 / person for a 30 – day visa and US$10 / person for a 3-day visa.

Visitors from countries with visa-on-arrival facility will have to go to a special counter to have their passports stamped with the the on-arrival visa before going to the immigration clearance desk. The VOA visa is NOT EXTENDABLE OR RENEWABLE. A Visa issued on arrival can be extended only in extraordinary circumstances such as as natural disasters, accident, or illness. If you want to stay in Indonesia longer than the 30 days you must exit and re-enter the country on a new tourist visa.

Visa purchasing takes 15-30 minutes per applicant, depending on the number of persons applying. Payment counters, a bank counter, and a money changer have been set up to process payments. Passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of arrival. Payment must be made on arrival. An onward or return trip ticket must be shown on arrival. The visa on arrival facility is only available at yhe following international gateways :

AIRPORTS :

Medan, Pekanbaru, Padang, Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Manado, Halim Perdana Kusuma in Jakarta, Adisucipto in Yogyakarta, Adisumarno in Solo, Selaparang in Mataram, Lombok, Sepinggan in Balikpapan, Kalimantan, Hasanuddin in Makasar, Sulawesi, and Eltari in Kupang, Timor.

SEAPORTS :

Batam, Tanjung Uban ( Bintan ), Belawan ( Medan ), Sibolga ( Sumatera), Dumai, Teluk Bayur ( Padang-Sumatera), Padang Bali ( Bali), Jayapura ( Papua), Teluk Bayur ( Padang,Sumatera), Bitung, Tanjung Balai Karimun, Tanjung Mas ( Semarang), Tenau ( Kupang), Pare-pare ( Sulawesi), Bintang Pura ( Tanjung Pinang) and Soekarno-Hatta ( Makassar, Sulawesi ).

Visa-free facility is granted to the citizens of 11 countries whose goverments extend visa free facility to Indonesian nationals would continue to enjoy short visa-free stays.Included in the 11 countries and administrative districts that are granted the 30-day visa-free facility are : Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Hongkong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Visitors with the visa-free facility will be able to proceed directly to the immigration clearance counter after deplaning. Passport must be valid for a minimum of six months from the date of arrival. Onward or return tickets must be shown on arrival.

Citizens of other countries not on the visa on arrival or visa-free lists will be required to apply for a visa overseas ( in their home country) before entering Indonesia. Citizens of any country wishing to stay more 30 days must also apply for an appropriate visa (cultural visit / business ) at their nearest Indonesian Embassy / Consulate before travelling to Indonesia. Tour agents are able to arrange express handling for groups at no additional charge by presenting the completed immigration cards, passports & applicable visa fee. Passengers who overstay their visa period for a short period of time can be processed immediately at the airport by payingUS$20 for every day they overstayed their 30 day visa. Airlines that experience technical difficulties or delayed flights can apply for their passengers to be exempted from paying any overstay penalties.

The current tourist visa policy cuts the length of stay for tourist visas from the previous 60 days to 30 days. It is NO LONGER passible to stay in Indonesia more than 30 days on a tourist visa.

Caution ( 30-day counting )

The way they immigration officials count the 30-day period is : you arrive on the 1st day with, for instance, a 30 –day visa, and you must leave on the 30th day ( not the 31st or the first of the next month, as you might think ). This is actually their policy for how to count the days, and after getting burned once and learning my lesson. I see their point and follow their definition of 30 days. If you want to stay in Indonesia LONGER than 30 days, you must leave the country and re-enter on a new tourist visa. People commonly fly to Singapore or Malaysia for this. There is no stipulation on the time you must stay outside Indonesia, in fact, you can return the same day if you want and be issued a new visa upon your arrival in Indonesia.

Overstaying your Visa

Overstaying a tourist visa ( or any visa) is a serious offense in Indonesia. You will be blaclisted ( can not enter Indonesia again for a year or more ) and fined $20-30/day for every day you overstayed your visa and then deported once you have paid the fine. The maximum fine for overstaying a visa ( more than 60 days) is Rp. 25 million and 5 years in jail. You will be kept at the immigration quarantine until you have paid the fee and/or the decision has been made to deport you. Please take this seriously as this is not one of those problems that you can easily bribe your way out of.



READING THIS FOLLOW :

• TRAVELLING KE PEKANBARU
• HISTORY OF CANDI MUARA TAKUS
• WHERE IS RIAU LOCATED