M

y family arrived at Bali airport one evening in July 2009. The waiting time for the visa-on-arrival procedure was one hour - not bad at all! A passenger who travels frequently told us that he had had to wait for more than four hours the previous week.

What a waste of time and an emotional drain on families that have traveled for many hours who, particularly in the evening rush, want to get to their hotel. If the problem is the government's attempt to eliminate corruption, why not introduce the cost into the airfare. That would do away with any opportunity for corruption.

Your comments:
I arrived in Jakarta on Feb. 4 and got my visa on arrival paying the US$25 knowing that I would stay more than 30 days and asked for an extension, but was told to inform the immigration officer.

This officer looked at me as I was coming from outer space, nodded stamped my passport, I was convinced that the extension was granted, and very pleased that the new rule was in effect.

However, after recovered from my jet lag coming from The Netherlands, I looked at the stamps again only 30 days!

No extension at all. You have to go find an immigration official to get your extension! Most likely travelers have to pay extra money so therefore this new rule is an absolute waste of time and money, and will definitely not encourage visitors to come to Indonesia for a longer period of time, they better go to Singapore, Malaysia, or Thailand. 60 days no pay!

Theo
Jakarta

Whilst I welcome the ability to extend the visa on arrival by another 30 days without leaving Indonesia, unfortunately the complicated, as yet undocumented and laborious process in doing it outweighs any positive benefits.

I did actually manage to extend my visa, however the additional costs, travel, queuing time, and associated stresses were simply not worth the bother, it would have been easier to fly to Singapore on a cheap ticket and back the same day.

For those of you intending to extend your visa you can expect at least the following or maybe more dependant on your location: a) find your local immigration office, b) go to the immigration office, join a queue, get photocopies, fill in numerous forms (none in English), pay to get your forms stamped, c) obtain small photos with red background, d) queue again, e) leave your passport overnight, f) collect next afternoon if you are lucky.

When I asked the cost, nobody was prepared to give an answer directly. I actually had to pay Rp 400,000 which is far more than the US$25, plus all the other hassles which simply as I said, is not worth the bother.

You could of course pay an agent to queue for you and I'm sure that will be the next source of enterprise for some enterprising locals. The whole thing is farcical.