Imigrasi

As we head towards the end of our fourth week here, it's time to start planning for visa renewals. The Indonesian visa system is complex, and quite possibly fluid. Rules seem to change without much notice. Holidaymakers from certain countries, including Australia, come for relatively short periods, so are able to queue at the visa desk and purchase a Visa on Arrival for USD25 cash. Apparently this visa is renewable for another 30 days but we have never tried to do this. Garuda Airlines carries immigration officers on some flights so that all the paperwork is handled on board, and passengers can proceed to the immigration desk without the queues, which can be extensive if several planes have landed in a short space of time. Nice service.

Last year we travelled on a 60 day visa, purchased at the Indonesian Consulate in Perth for AUD120. Again, no queues, but no renewal either. And it's 60 strict days from the date of arrival, not two months. If your flight lands at five minutes to midnight, tough. You've lost one of those days.

This time we have come on what is colloquially called a SosBud, or Social, Cultural visa that is valid for 180 days. When I say valid, the authorities are not about to miss out on revenue, so the first 60 days are covered, but this visa must then be renewed every month for up to four renewals. Renewing is a bit of a hassle, so we will use a Dutch visa agent who has been recommended to us to take care of everything. That will be another $80 a renewal each, but it's cheaper than flying out to Perth, Singapore, KL or Bangkok and organising another 60-day visa. A lot of people do, however, and enjoy a break between visas.

The SosBud requires a sponsor who is willing to take responsibility for you should you get into strife. We hope we don't let our friend down as he agreed to write the appropriate letter that we presented to the consulate to obtain our visas. That was a bit of a drama earlier in the year, as we handed in our passports but could not wait the four days to collect them. When we opened the registered package and looked at the visas the consulate had put them in the wrong passports. We didn't think Imigrasi would be too impressed with Eddie's visa in my passport, so it meant another trip up to the city* to sort it out. Eddie's was fine. They seemed to steam them off and reapply them. Mine, however was a mess. All previous visas bled into the paper, while the visa I needed was unreadable and had to be cancelled. So my passport now bears a cancelled visa that received considerable scrutiny from the young Papuan immigration officer.

You can get an overview of the Indonesian visa system here, but don't take it as gospel. As I say the system can change.

As an addendum to all this, there was another drama when we arrived. Facebook friends have heard this but it's worth repeating. We usually only travel with carry-on luggage, as we leave a suitcase up here. This time, however, we brought luggage that I packed and locked myself. It had briefly crossed my mind at the other end to shrink wrap the bag, but nah, what could possibly go wrong with a strong lock? When the bag came onto the carousel, I was horrified to see that the lock had snapped, the zipper was no more and the bag was secured only by a belt that someone had put around it. Our contents were clearly visible. There was a Schapelle moment of horror. Fortunately an official saw my distress and escorted us through customs. Nothing missing, nothing added that I could see, and the bag now disposed of.

Travellers beware.

* A five-hour drive