More on the new visa
Frankly, I don’t know what’s funnier to watch…the government bureaucrats trying to figure something out, or an old episode of the Keystone Cops. I was just at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok on Monday the first of December to renew my social visa and it too was mobbed with tourists trying to apply for the new 60 day tourist visa. Of course, the fact that the Embassy had been closed the entire previous week due to Idul Fitre didn’t make matters any easier. By the way…in case some expats are not aware, visa processing time at the Indo Embassy in Bangkok has been increased to TWO days, i.e. apply on day one, and pick up visa on day three. This is a new change that went into effect recently.
In any event, the “word” there was that all visitors who currently are eligible for automatic tourist visas for 60 days on arrival did not need the “new” visa so long as their arrival date in Indonesia was prior to January 1, 2004.
When I got back to Bali, I read an article in the Bali Post that said that this new visa has been postponed indefinitely, and will not be effective on January 1.