I have had a few people ask me recently about visas for staying longer than the usual tourist visa length, but not a long term visa so I decided to write a blog post about the various options.
Indonesia offers a free visa for people from 169 countries. It is fairly safe to say most people reading this will be eligible. I was going to link to the immigration site but it seems like it is down for maintenance, but you can find some information here on Wikipedia
The trouble with the free visa is that you cannot extend it. If you would like the option of extending it, you need to purchase the $35 Visa on Arrival (VOA). The VOA can be extended for a further 30 days. You need to extend the visa at the closest immigration office to where you are staying. You should start the process at least one week before your first visa will expire.
It can take up to three trips to the immigration office to get the visa. The current price is 355,000 rupiah per person. For an extra fee you can use an agent who will take care of the whole process.
One trap for many people is that your passport needs to be valid for at least six months on the date of your arrival to Indonesia. There are pretty much no exceptions to this rule and you will be more than likely be turned away if you don’t have at least six months remaining in your passport – so check the date your passport (and anyone who you will be traveling with) expires before you make any travel plans.
Even if you arrive in Bali at 11 pm at night, that counts as your first day. There is an overstay fee of 300,000 rupiah per day.
Read more on
www.baliexpat.com