General Info

[MasBule]

Hmm, ok, was an Aussie friend of mine, I guess he slipped through the well oiled Indonesian machine without paying.

Maybe he got a VOA in SYD or MEL and he didn't know what it was.

Garuda offers a VOA at point of embarkation at some major airports flying into Jakarta and DPS. Quite a useful service actually. (if they still do it, I havent had a VOA for many years)

[Ceegee]

Hmm, ok, was an Aussie friend of mine, I guess he slipped through the well oiled Indonesian machine without paying.

CeeGee, there was a proposal to drop the VOA for Aussies as well but it didn't go through. If you haven't paid it your a lucky bloke!

[ChuckPup]

CeeGee, there was a proposal to drop the VOA for Aussies as well but it didn't go through. If you haven't paid it your a lucky bloke!

[Member #4410]

Things could be different depending where you arrive. In Jakarta a week ago, a friend went to usual VOA counter and no fee was charged. Importantly, did not have to then join 'normal' immigration line afterwards, fast tracked straight through. VOA is the way to go at the moment.

Same here last Saturday, arriving from the Netherlands. After you get your stamp you walk behind the counter to the bagage carrousel, where the wait for your luggage takes more time than getting the VoA.

[Member #4410]

Thank you all for the replies. I checked the site and see that my country does require a VoA. Also, I'm looking for a tourist visa (6 day stay only), so I suppose the $35 fee, passport with 6+ months validity and a confirmed return ticket should suffice, right?

For that amount you might just as well apply for a 30 day visa. No additional cost and may come in handy, for whatever reason.

[Ceegee]

Recently the fee was dropped for Australia as well. At least arriving in Jakarta.

There are very few people that have to pay the VOA now, most notably Australian passport holders.

[ChuckPup]

There are very few people that have to pay the VOA now, most notably Australian passport holders.

[Behemoth]

Thank you all for the replies. I checked the site and see that my country does require a VoA. Also, I'm looking for a tourist visa (6 day stay only), so I suppose the $35 fee, passport with 6+ months validity and a confirmed return ticket should suffice, right?

[John Aldrich]

Hello forum members.

Jakarta newbie here. I'm opting for a visa on arrival in Jan and wanted to know if a leave letter is mandatory for this. Will be landing at CGK airport. The embassy site seems a bit dated so wanted to confirm the terms and conditions for VoA.

Depends on which country you belong to, the following categories of Visa's are issued.

A) Visa free entry. Recently the government decided to offer Visa free entry to quite a few countries. In this category, you do not need to pay anything, but, get the Visa free entry stamped at the counter in the arrival port. This facility is restricted to certain set of ports in Indonesia. This visa free entry allows you to stay in Indonesia for 30 days and cannot be extended.

B) Visa on arrival: There are a few countries who do not fall under the above category. They will have to pay USD 35 on arrival and get the Visa on arrival sticker and proceed to immigration. They can stay for 30 days and the visa can be extended for a further period of 30 days.

C) Social visit visa / tourist visa: There are many countries who are not listed in the above two categories. In this category, you will have to visit the Indonesian embassy in your country of domicile and provide either an invitation letter from a legal resident / citizen of Indonesia or provide your bank statement and a few other documents and apply for this category of Visa. The normal stay granted is 90 days, which can be extended within Indonesia for a further limited period. Citizens of the above two categories are also entitled to your obtain this visa.

You may Google and check for details from the immigration website, as to which category you belong to. The website is regularly updated with the latest information most of the time.

[Ceegee]

Things could be different depending where you arrive. In Jakarta a week ago, a friend went to usual VOA counter and no fee was charged. Importantly, did not have to then join 'normal' immigration line afterwards, fast tracked straight through. VOA is the way to go at the moment.

Just hold the $35 in your hand and you get the VOA-sticker, then proceed to immigration desk.

Dee.

[LA Guy 5]

Just hold the $35 in your hand and you get the VOA-sticker, then proceed to immigration desk.

Dee.

Unless things have changed in the last few weeks, they did away with the $35 fee for tourists. So, if you are a tourist you just go directly to the immigration line for foreigners; I say unless things have changed in the last few weeks because when the government decided to stop collecting the $35 from tourists, there was some question about whether this was allowed by Indonesian law. Accordingly, I suppose it is possible a court would reinstate the fee at some point although the last two times I entered Indonesia they were not collecting it.

On the other hand if you are there on business, you still need to go to the VOA window with $35 before going to immigration, at least theoretically (during the first few days of the new policy, it seems they weren't very concerned about collecting the $35 from anyone; I don't know if that has since changed).

[DeeKa]

Hello forum members.

Jakarta newbie here. I'm opting for a visa on arrival in Jan and wanted to know if a leave letter is mandatory for this. Will be landing at CGK airport. The embassy site seems a bit dated so wanted to confirm the terms and conditions for VoA.

Just hold the $35 in your hand and you get the VOA-sticker, then proceed to immigration desk.

Dee.

[Behemoth]

Hello forum members.

Jakarta newbie here. I'm opting for a visa on arrival in Jan and wanted to know if a leave letter is mandatory for this. Will be landing at CGK airport. The embassy site seems a bit dated so wanted to confirm the terms and conditions for VoA.

[ChelseaGrin]

This is a bit late, but thanks for answering my questions guys! I'm all set for my first trip next month!

[ChuckPup]

I have a Citibank debit card which has no fees gives the same, or better, exchange rate as the money changers and can be used in all ATMs. I just use it for travelling and transfer only the money to it that I want so if its stolen or compromised my losses are limited.