Indonesian Visa Discussion (Including Bali)

[SYD]

As long as dimensions etc are ok. Which was what rooflyer was having problems with.

Pretty sure iPhone lets you crop to size. I did that and once it’s in the system you can then do further eVOA off the same photo.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Go for Visa on arrival for 30 days - you are essentially pre-paying for the visa on arrival which saves you queueing up on entry - smooths the entry no end when busy. Also you really should complete the online customs declaration 3 or less days before arrival - again save lots on time on arrival (Official Website Direktorat Jenderal Bea dan Cukai)

We just returned on Saturday from 2.5 weeks in Indonesia - very smooth entry - we also paid for "Bali Express Service" where someone meets you as you disembark and walks you though immigration and customs - total waste of about $100 - with your e-VOA and Customs Declaration pre-completed - it's not necessary.

It may be worth pre-booking a car/taxi service to transport you from the airport to your hotel - but there are plenty of taxi service desks at the airport - the quality and price of taxis / car services vary.

Interested in your experience with the fast track… immediately after disembarking you go to this huge arrivals hall. Ever time we’ve been it’s been packed to the rafters. We were taken though the crew channel, saving an hour or more. Then there was the queue for the VOA. Then customs.

Does the pre-paid VOA get to use a separate channel at the initial entry point to skip those queues?

 

[Pushka]

Interested in your experience with the fast track… immediately after disembarking you go to this huge arrivals hall. Ever time we’ve been it’s been packed to the rafters. We were taken though the crew channel, saving an hour or more. Then there was the queue for the VOA. Then customs.

Does the pre-paid VOA get to use a separate channel at the initial entry point to skip those queues?

You skip the very first stop point, which is the desk towards the middle (left) as you enter from the right. Walk straight past that to get into immigration queue. Getting The VOA is the first thing you do. Then immigration. Then customs.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You skip the very first stop point, which is the desk towards the middle (left) as you enter from the right. Walk straight past that to get into immigration queue. Getting The VOA is the first thing you do. Then immigration. Then customs.

What you say makes sense… can’t go through immmigration unless you have a visa! But this is where I’m confused… always using fast track we come out of the corridors from the aircraft and get taken straight to a passport booth - usually the crew or diplomatic lane - they do something… we go through there, then hand the $35 to the agent who asks us to wait for a bit… they go off and come back a minute later with the passports! We then head to the exit.

The special booths are to the right of the main hall… which usually have huge queues. Is that where passengers normally line up for VOA? I just saw a video where there is indeed a ‘special lane’ for eVOA.

 

[Pushka]

What you say makes sense… can’t go through immmigration unless you have a visa! But this is where I’m confused… always using fast track we come out of the corridors from the aircraft and get taken straight to a passport booth - usually the crew or diplomatic lane - they do something… we go through there, then hand the $35 to the agent who asks us to wait for a bit… they go off and come back a minute later with the passports! We then head to the exit.

The special booths are to the right of the main hall… which usually have huge queues. Is that where passengers normally line up for VOA? I just saw a video where there is indeed a ‘special lane’ for eVOA.

It sounds like you just skipped the visa desk at the very beginning and went straight to the immigration desks. You can't get through immigration without either type of visa but as you are going to crew area then they treat you differently, knowing that the agent with you is about to get the eVisa from 'somewhere' else.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hmmm OK, that all went too well. Completed all the fields & uploads, no issues (red alerts etc), hit 'save' at the bottom; a yellow line went across the toip indicating something was happening - then nothing. After 30 secs or so the Captcha expired and I had to click it again - still nothing.

No field has come up as an error. Guess I'll leave it for a bit then start again.

 

[RooFlyer]

Should I open an account? To enter date of birth for that, you have to click backwards through months from now. You can't type in, or select by year. That'll be over 600 clicks for me .....

 

[Pushka]

Should I open an account? To enter date of birth for that, you have to click backwards through months from now. You can't type in, or select by year. That'll be over 600 clicks for me .....

I opened an account for me. But not for husband. If you can avoid it then avoid it. The details they need are ridiculous.

The website can be flakey I've read. Keep trying.

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, that was interesting!

I re-did the form (pretty quick) and it went through to payment; input my 28 Degrees card but failed to get OTC for security. Called them- can't explain why; card active blah blah ... nothing they can do. Great.

Am able to go back into application, and I use my NAB card ( fees) . OTC came though - but payment failed. Gawd.

Called NAB. Got passed around, eventually got fraud dept. They can't see any reason why it was declined. Looked here and there, all settings OK, nothing to indicate any issue. MAY have entered one of the card details incorrectly. Hmmmm ... maybe. So I go back in and begin to re-entering the card details, when I notice an e-mail on my phone. Success!! Payment accepted, visa issued.

Many thanks for the hand-holding and tips here. Compare to get a eVisa for Turkey. Literally 5 minutes from opening the URL to getting the eVisa.

 

[CorporateFlyerMEL]

did it earlier in the week using 28degrees card - when hit payment the screen did say 'processing' or similar and did not change to 'success' or similar, but emails came in at the same time with the evisa and payment receipt. Charge (with no fees thanks 28degrees) processed on card (around AUD50) with entry being 'Finnet E-Visa' Jakarta

 

[laffer]

Appreciate all the contributions to this thread. Three questions if I may.

1. Can the EVOA only be applied for sub 14 days prior to arrival?

2. Photo. Is there an ideal way to get the photo right or does the system crop it to size for you?

3. Family. Can you go through one single application process for a family or is it a case of applying individually even for children?

Grateful for any shared experiences.

 

[Pushka]

Appreciate all the contributions to this thread. Three questions if I may.

1. Can the EVOA only be applied for sub 14 days prior to arrival?

2. Photo. Is there an ideal way to get the photo right or does the system crop it to size for you?

3. Family. Can you go through one single application process for a family or is it a case of applying individually even for children?

Grateful for any shared experiences.

The EVisa - need to have one for each person and I presume that means kids. The Customs Declaration is one per family. We did the first one 14 days out. The customs is 48 hours from memory. Maybe a bit longer. Photo - we used an online photo app for Egypt and India visa and this worked for Bali.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not knowing any better, I applied for my eVoA 3 weeks out.

 

[RooFlyer]

I thought someone here mentioned that a bit of cash within the immigration/customs zone made things better. Or may have been a different thread. Say EDIT: Story in the Hobart Mercury on-line:

Five immigration officers have been arrested in Bali after allegedly fast-tracking foreign tourists through the airport priority arrivals lane in exchange for cash.

The officers were taken into police custody on Tuesday on suspicion of abusing the express system for foreigners in need of additional support on arrival at Ngurah Rai International Airport, The Bali Sun reports.

Deddy Koerniawan, Assistant for Special Crimes at the Bali High Prosecutor’s Office, told a media conference the alleged scam came to light after complaints from the public.

“Fast track services are free of charge for priorities such as the elderly and pregnant women,” he said.

“However, foreigners who use the fast track facility are (routinely being) charged between 100 to 250 thousand rupiah ($10 to $25) per person.

In the coming weeks, 90 new auto-gates will be installed across the international terminal to smooth the airport process, 60 in arrivals and 30 in departures.

 

[rodm]

Anyone had any experience coming off a cruise ship and going directly to the airport?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I thought someone here mentioned that a bit of cash within the immigration/customs zone made things better. Or may have been a different thread. Say in the Hobart Mercury on-line:

Oh! Wow!

Guess that’s the end of fast track!

 

[Virgin Bart]

This is a very good thing.

 

[Cossie]

We have our e visas, but now I’m seeing a need for a “Customs Declaration (BC 2.2)“.

From here, Official Website Direktorat Jenderal Bea dan Cukai

Is another payment required? I can’t do it until Monday anyway.

 

[jase05]

We have our e visas, but now I’m seeing a need for a “Customs Declaration (BC 2.2)“.

From here, Official Website Direktorat Jenderal Bea dan Cukai

Is another payment required? I can’t do it until Monday anyway.

No payment required. Need to do one for each passenger and takes less than a minute. You will then get a QR code. Just print that out and when you get to customs they will scan your QR code and through you go. Definitely recommend doing it before you go as there were stacks that hadn’t done it and they got pulled aside and had to do it at the airport on arrival

 

[rodm]

Thanks for the feedback; just a bit confused if I need to do a visa when I will be disembarking a cruise ship and then being transported immediately to the airport for our flight to Brisbane. Will I need a visa for a few hour layover. Appreciate any assistance or thought, has anyone been through this experience in Bali? Buy a visa for a 4 hour stopover?