Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

Merry Meet!
I am currently living in Bendigo,Victoria, Aus and hope to apply in 2006 for a six month visa to stay with my 5 children in Kaliasem,Lovina. How easy is it to get a long term visa? And what about my children how do I get them visa's or don't they need them? Any help will be appreciated, I know this is fairly far off in the future but I am going to have to start saving and planning now. I am hoping to do volunteer work while I am in Bali and at the same time giving my children the experience of a different culture and spirituality.
Blessed Be - Adele

I have just got my 6 month visa. You will need to have a sponors in bali saying that they will take care of you there on your stay and that you wont get into any trouble or work etc... If you are going to be doing vol work then the place that you are doing it at should supply you with this. Then you must go to the indo consulate in melbourne on queens rd and apply you must take with you 2 passport photos, your sponors letter, travel doc, your passport of course and $60 it takes 5 working days to process then if they have no problems it should be fine. You must then leave within 90 days. You children will have to also get a visa. When you are in bali you have 60 days until you will have to extend the visa you do this every month and pay around $50 a month. They ask you why you want to extend etc..

Hope this helps

If you plan to stay in Lovina....
things may change a bit
because of the imigrasi office
that you may need to go to.

But I have written about my personal experiences on the following link:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/72591/66f/1/

Just scroll down. Good luck!

Greetings Andrea,

And welcome to the Expat forum. Visa questions, and “problems” seem to me to be a major topic on virtually every forum having to do with Bali for ages.

I read with interest your own personal story, and as I’ve said a thousand times…and Bert the same amount…GO TO THE EXPERTS! Why on earth anyone would want to try to renew their visa here, on their own, by going to immigration is beyond my ability to understand, ESPECIALLY if the visa you are trying to renew is the first Indonesian visa in your passport. That is nothing more than an open invitation to get totally messed with.

As I review my passport, I am on my 14th six month visa. Most of them, the early years, are all social/cultural, lately, they are business visas. I wouldn’t dream of going to the immigration office myself to renew any of these visas. They have all been handled by PT. Bali Ide…the hands down favorite in handling expatriate needs in Bali for many years. In fact, of my many, many expatriate friends, I don’t know one who doesn’t use PT Bali Ide.

I urge anyone needing of visa help to go to the pros. Their cost can actually be less than doing it on your own. Web site: http://www.bali-expat-business.com E-mail, info@bali-expat-business.com phone: (0361) 264749.

It is very, very silly to play around with immigration issues in Indonesia.

To answer Adele's question, yes, each of your children will also requre a visa. Even my three sons, born in Bali with me and my Balinese wife require a visa, (Kitas), as they are declared as US citizens.

on my expercience I have never used a pro and have had no problem in getting my visa issued even on my first visa. So i guess Roy it depends on the sistuation. I do of course now go to a friend that I have in immgration to sort out my visa issues but many people that I know have gone by themselves and had no trouble.

The Guest writes,

on my expercience, (sic) I have never used a pro and have had no problem in getting my visa issued even on my first visa.

First visa, or for that matter second, third...ad infinitum are not the issue. It's the renewals. THAT is the issue.

Why on earth anyone would want to try to renew their visa here, on their own, by going to immigration is beyond my ability to understand...

Well, Roy...perhaps not everybody is as well-heeled as yourself. I've forgotten how many social visas I've had, but it's not as frightening as you make out. There's no doubt it can be a trying experience, but once you know your way around, it's not all that bad.

I see your posts frequently extolling the virtues of the "experts", like PT Bali Ide. Yeah - they're fine, but some of us have got the guts to front up and do it on our own. Maybe, (and it's a big maybe), the immigration tyrants might get the picture, sooner or later. If nobody does it, they'll become even more complacent. I am in no way an 'evangelist' of any kind, but I've been doing my own visas for years.

Making some kind of 'contact' in the offices helps a lot. Once you have them, it's cheaper than dealing with the 'experts'. If you can be bothered.

Cheers...

Well, Roy...perhaps not everybody is as well-heeled as yourself.

Being "well-heeled" as you put it has nothing to do with it. The costs going it alone for renewals can actually be higher than using PT Bali Ide.

I guess it depends how one values their time on Bali. I for one have no intention of wasting a day a month hanging around the immigration office...not to mention the travel time wasted.

An old phrase from Ben Franklin comes to mind, "penny wise, pound foolish."

Maybe I'm fortunate to live in Sanur, not that far from the Immigration Office.

I just had a visit from a friend of mine who told me a horror story about how PT Ide screwed up her visa, to the point where the officals tried to fine her around Rp 7 million. She finally managed to get around that and only paid Rp 2 million in the end, with the help of some influential Balinese.

I think one should be very careful promoting Indonesian companies as they are definitely not all infallible. It might be somewhat irresponsible to give people the idea that that Company X never gets it wrong. In this case, the company washed its hands completely of the matter and wouldn't help at all, even though it was clearly a blunder on their part.

Sleep with one eye open...

Sanur! Finally awake from that 36 hour Arak binge, eh? If you care to give me details about your friend’s PT Bali Ide’s horror story, I could very likely intervene, or at the very least, find out the story that resides on the “other side of the coin.”

What can I say? So many years, so many close friends here as expats in Bali, and never a story like yours…who, by the way, you have yet to really introduce yourself. So, how about it Sanur? We’ve all read your “streams of consciousness,” so isn’t it time to come clean?

The fact is Sanur, it’s from you that I “hear” my first bad story about PT Bali Ide…and I don’t even know you, your name, your phone number, or anything else. AND, you have the balls to tell me that you “ think one should be very careful promoting Indonesian companies as they are definitely not all infallible.”

If you want to be credible, then be credible. I’ve used PT Bali Ide for over six years, and never a hitch…and none either from my many expatriate friends. YOU come “out of the blue” no name, no anything and tell me this horrible story. What, if you were in my shoes, would you believe? I know what I’m believing.

PS…and as for sleeping with one eye open…I gave that up years ago. Now I snore loader than a water buffalo…which means I have lots of people around me awake with both eyes open!

Now now Roy...Hold your horses.

We have met several times in the past, originally through a mutual acquaintance (now unfortunately deceased - I'm sure you know who).

I'm not sure that I need to be 'attacked' about arak binges - yeah, I've had them.

The 'horror story' was told to me only yesterday by an expat friend of mine who's been busting her butt, so to speak, for several years here now trying to make a living, raise a family and so forth. The screw-up happened last year, so I doubt whether you (or anybody else for that matter), can do anything to rectify it. But what amazes me is that you've never heard of something like this with your favourite visa company.

I think it's unfair of you to suggest that I hide my identity, and that I write 'stream of consciousness' stuff, although perhaps I could take the latter as a compliment of sorts.

I have nothing 'to come clean about' - I'm just new to this particular forum and don't have the time to write reams of stuff and advice. Maybe I'm not ready to become a kind of Cyber Ned Flanders ala The Simpsons like some others. I'm working on it.

If you'd like my 'real' name, phone number, etc...no problem. I'll send you a PM when I finish this.

My main worry now concerns your references to buffalo. Are you becoming one?

I looked earlier, with interest, at the number of people viewing the posts about losing their houses/land, whatever, in Bali. When you tweak to who I am, you might remember the crap that I've been through (if I actually told you before - but that might have been during a vodka-martini binge years ago).

Roy - I honestly appreciate what you write on this and other forums - you're a good guy. I believe that. But coming at me like an uncooked crustacean (raw prawn), does not auger well for the future. You are far from being a 'king' on Bali (thank god for that), but hey - how many hours a days do you spend on the internet?

Someone, (who I don't recall), once said that:

"...There are a thousand smiles in Asia
And you're never sure which one you're seeing..."

Last time I looked, Bali is still a part of Asia; hence the (possibly) inappropriate suggestion to 'sleep with one eye open'. Sorry if you found that offensive or ridiculous 'advice'.

Give my regards to Brian, Nuri, Video Joe, Victor, etc.

I’ve sent you a reply via PM. I cannot reply here on the “open” forum without breaching your anonymity.

Gee guys, hiding identities, secrets, you make me really curious, is there someone wanted by the police or what?

While things get intersting you go PM, grrrr

Come on PLEASE... Let us read & be part of this fun!???

Wow!
Sounds like a tug of war of testostorone and
of who is right and who is wrong
AND will have the last word.

Back to the subject.....
because of the gift of patience
that I have learned,
and living not too far from imigrasi....
I found going to imigrasi with my sponsor
not such a difficult thing to do in extending my visa.

On the contrary....
we now have an imgrasi officer friend,
who is glad to give an extension tourist visa to my mom.

Never did we spend more than an hour in the office.

At the end,
it's all good!!!

Do what feels right for you,
and you'll be happy!!!

And peace to you both!

The to-ing and fro-ing between Roy and I is not really that interesting (nor important).

I got a PM from Roy and have replied to it. We are OK and he knows exactly who I am now.

What bugged me initially was what I regarded as an unnecessarily harsh 'attack' on me. Like, most people don't use their real names on forums - there's nothing strange or sinister about that. And I hate to disappoint anybody but I am not a fugitive from justice.

So - there is no amazing intrigue here and I think everybody should get back to reading and writing posts. Roy and I are distant friends and we're both OK.
As for "last words" - you've just read 'em.

Cheers...