Bali (Indonesia in general) [NOT] to be Visa free for Australians from Jan 2015

[Austman]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

A colleague who goes there regularly was telling me that for a while customs would charge Japanese the USD25.00 instead of USD10.00 for the short stay visa & pocket the different. They got ticked off for it but that was about it however now they don't have the short stay visa.

I have, in the past, experienced the corruption at DPS. Two times personally.

It's a tricky situation to be in. When you know you are doing the right thing but an official is asking for a payment/bribe.

It can be a hard situation to call. Either risk paying the bribe and hope it ends the matter or stand your ground and take your chances knowing that the customs/migration official can make things very difficult for you.

I've always thought I'd take the latter path. But when actually placed in the situation (at DPS and some other places), I've gone both ways.

It's so much easier to take the moral high ground path in Australia!

 

[Austman]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Other rumoured dates are:

- Mid January
- April
- Never

Seems the latter date is now the more likely: Australia excluded from Indonesia's visa-free travel list

 

[defurax]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Seems the latter date is now the more likely: Australia excluded from Indonesia's visa-free travel list

This article from the Jakarta Post has a map showing all the potential visa-free countries New visa policy to aid rupiah | The Jakarta Post
So 2 of my 3 passports should be visa-free

 

[Musongman]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Seems the latter date is now the more likely: Australia excluded from Indonesia's visa-free travel list

Probably because we have given them such a hard time about the upcoming executions, where much name-calling has ensued!! :evil:

 

[Daver6]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Probably because we have given them such a hard time about the upcoming executions, where much name-calling has ensued!! :evil:

Actually my understanding is it has nothing to do with that and more to the fact we charge their citizens and exorbitant amount of money to come here on holiday.

 

[kpc]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Seems the latter date is now the more likely: Australia excluded from Indonesia's visa-free travel list

Just confirms my desire not to return to Bali ever again!

 

[Alanslegal]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Just confirms my desire not to return to Bali ever again!

Why? Is it because Indonesia excludes us from the visa-free travel or something else. If it's the former, that sucks of a reason - but if its the latter, then that's your choice.

At the end of the day we charge their people $$ for visas and I can understand that it has to be a two way street, so unless we get rid of the fee for the Indonesians, I see no justification for them removing the fee imposed on us. There are many countries in this world where Australians travel to, get access to that country with no issues but end up paying reciprical visa fees - because we impose it on their people.

 

[kpc]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Why? Is it because Indonesia excludes us from the visa-free travel or something else. If it's the former, that sucks of a reason - but if its the latter, then that's your choice.

At the end of the day we charge their people $$ for visas and I can understand that it has to be a two way street, so unless we get rid of the fee for the Indonesians, I see no justification for them removing the fee imposed on us. There are many countries in this world where Australians travel to, get access to that country with no issues but end up paying reciprical visa fees - because we impose it on their people.

The VoA is not a deal breaker...the typical tourists in Kuta are....

 

[defurax]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

The VoA is not a deal breaker...the typical tourists in Kuta are....

I've never been to Bali, but I will most likely fly more often to CGK on QF in J for 2K if I know I can just walk out the airport without having to line up for a VoA and line up again for immigration. The Sheraton Bandara near CGK is great and combined with UL J fares from SIN to Europe that's a great way to get from Oz to Europe in J for 4K or combined with GA and MH J fares to Asia.

 

[Alanslegal]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

The VoA is not a deal breaker...the typical tourists in Kuta are....

You can easily avoid Kuta though - some say go straight to Seminyak but even that is tooooooooooo close to Kuta - so drive north another hour or two and you would be away from the hoardes of tourists and get to experience the more welcoming and geniune Indonesia.

 

[Daver6]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

I've never been to Bali, but I will most likely fly more often to CGK on QF in J for 2K if I know I can just walk out the airport without having to line up for a VoA and line up again for immigration. The Sheraton Bandara near CGK is great and combined with UL J fares from SIN to Europe that's a great way to get from Oz to Europe in J for 4K or combined with GA and MH J fares to Asia.

My recent experience. Line-up for VoA. No line, took 1 minute. immigration, same again. Yup, those two minutes sure cut my holiday short.

 

[defurax]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

My recent experience. Line-up for VoA. No line, took 1 minute. immigration, same again. Yup, those two minutes sure cut my holiday short.

As usual I guess it depends on the time of day you arrive. Last time I flew to CGK the lines for VoA were quite long (around 30 minutes wait) and another 20 minutes for immigration. Full AF flight had just landed before us.

 

[kpc]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

You can easily avoid Kuta though - some say go straight to Seminyak but even that is tooooooooooo close to Kuta - so drive north another hour or two and you would be away from the hoardes of tourists and get to experience the more welcoming and geniune Indonesia.

Done all that. ..agree Ubud etc are all nice...but no wish to return in a hurry. ..

 

[Isochronous]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

JI is too big a problem to allow Indonesians visa free travel to Australia.

 

[Austman]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

The VoA is not a deal breaker...the typical tourists in Kuta are....

What's not to like in Kuta?



Afternoon scene on Kuta Beach. Interesting accents, drinking and massages. It was a bit like an AFF gathering (not) ! (well, maybe the drinking bit ...)

 

[Awesom Andy]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Afternoon scene on Kuta Beach. Interesting accents, drinking and massages. It was a bit like an AFF gathering (not) ! (well, maybe the drinking bit ...)

I never really need to go all the way back to AU to be reminded what it's like there. But having said that, I didn't go to Kuta the last 3 times I was in Bali. Appreciated the peace and quiet of other areas last weekend when I was there.

 

[carwashhair]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

What's not to like in Kuta?

View attachment 43800

Afternoon scene on Kuta Beach. Interesting accents, drinking and massages. It was a bit like an AFF gathering (not) ! (well, maybe the drinking bit ...)

Was that the beach.. under their feet?

 

[seanpodge]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Actually my understanding is it has nothing to do with that and more to the fact we charge their citizens and exorbitant amount of money to come here on holiday.

The Australian government charges pretty much everyone exorbitant amounts to come to Australia. I'm currently helping out my (Chinese) girlfriend get a bog standard, single entry 3 month tourist visa so she can come with me on a trip to Melbourne for two weeks in July/August. After filling in the THIRTEEN page application form in English (plus reading four pages of explanation), plus getting all sorts of documents (ID card, employment records, bank records, letter of invitation from my parents, et al, the Australian government charge a ¥740 application fee + ¥130 to pay for processing (done by outsourcing firm VFS) and ¥50 for courier fees if you don't happen to live in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. No refunds if you don't get a visa. At $1 = ¥5, a potential Chinese tourist is down around $185 (plus a shedload of time and effort chasing things down, and translations) before they even start buying plane tickets.

Really, it's pretty hypocritical for the Australian government to complain about visa requirements of other countries when they throw this type of bureaucracy at much of the rest of the world. Certainly, I think most Chinese tourists would just look at the requirements and go "stuff that!" before booking a trip to visa on arrival countries like Indonesia or Thailand.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

the Australian government charge a ¥740 application fee + ¥130 to pay for processing (done by outsourcing firm VFS) and ¥50 for courier fees if you don't happen to live in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

The Indonesian VOA suddenly looks like a bargain...

 

[TomVexille]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

So 2 of my 3 passports should be visa-free

And both of mine

But I have no desire to go to Bali. Elsewhere in Indonesia maybe though.