My mom already warned me once I left: please honey, be in time and prepared when it comes to your VISA extension! I kind of waved it away because, how hard could this VISA thing really be? Unfortunately I soon found out that extending your VISA is one of the most annoying and time consuming things to do here in Bali. Since it is getting easier after three times of extending, I thought I might help you guys with this small guide: how to extend your social-cultural VISA in Bali.
While staying in Indonesia you can extend you social-cultural VISA up to four times, which means you can stay in Indonesia for six months (180 days). The first 60 days of your VISA were already provided in your home country. Please note that the social-cultural VISA is a single entry type of VISA. When you leave the country your VISA will no longer be valid.
Before I begin I want to state clear that I’m not a professional and this guide is just what works best for me. If you have any questions please contact the Indonesian embassy in your country or one of the immigration offices in Bali.
Step 1 – Prepare
Before applying for the actual VISA extension there are some things you should prepare. First of all you need to find out at which immigration office you should apply for your extension, based on where you are staying. As far as I know down in the South of Bali there are two offices: the one in Kuta and the one in Denpasar. You cannot just pick one of the offices as you please! Every area in Bali has its own office, which in my case meant that I had to go to the one in Kuta (this goes for the areas Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, Uluwatu, Kuta and Seminyak for sure). The address of this office is the following: Jl Bypass, Ngurah Rai 300B, Kuta, Bali.
For every VISA extension you will need to visit the office three times. The first one to pick up and fill in the forms, the second one to pay (355k) and if it’s your first VISA extension also to make photos and fingerprints. During the third visit you can finally pick up you passport including your new VISA. When you don’t make any mistakes, this process will take a total of five working days. If everything goes right, and if there are no holidays during that period (please check the Balinese calendar). Please, don’t wait for the extension till the very last moment. The start date of your new VISA will always be one day after your expiring date, even when you extend your VISA three weeks before the expiring date.
Also prepare some small money, your passport and last but definitely not least, your sponsor. This should be the same sponsor as the one you used for entering the country. Every time you want to extend you social-cultural VISA, your sponsor should join you during the first visit.
Step 2 – Collecting the forms
During this visit (this actually goes for every visit) please dress properly. No beach dresses, no hotpants and no flip flops. Show the office that you respect their culture and wear a proper t-shirt, long trousers and closed shoes. Even though this is clearly visualised at the entrance of the office, most tourist are lacking any respect and wear whatever they want. Please, don’t be one of these people.
When you enter the building you can tell the employee behind the desk that you are coming for a VISA extension. They will check you passport and ask you to make a copy of the photo page in your passport, your first and your last VISA page (of course, if this is your first extension you should only make a copy of your first VISA) and a copy of your sponsor’s KTP card. Also you will get two forms and a red binder that you need to fill in. A third form is necessary, but this one you need to type out yourself as I will explain later on.
Step 3 – Filling in the forms
1. The Binder
The only thing you have to fill in at this binder is the section behind Nama (your full name) and No. Paspor (your pasport number). When necessary they will fill in the rest of it.
2. VISA Extension Form
For this form you fill in only the lines from box 1 (starts with Permohonan) and box 2 (starts with Nama lengkap – Full name). The rest of the form will be filled in by the immigration officers. At the end of box 2 your sponsor should sign on the left and put his/her name and KTP card number below. You yourself should sign on the right.
3. Surat Permintaan Dan Jaminan Form
This one can be quite difficult when you don’t speak Bahasa Indonesia since it’s not translated and should be filled in in Bahasa. You can just use Google Translate in case you really need a word in Bahasa. I think in the form below you would only need the answer of Occupation and Type of connection translated. Relasi is very common used as an answer on Type of connection. It basically means ‘a friend’.
On the right bottom you should put a materai stamp and let your sponsor sign over the materai. This is very important since my applications was once declined because the sign wasn’t on top of the materai. You can get this materai at the little supermarket on the right side of the immigration building for 6k. An example of the materai can be found below.
4. Surat Perminataan Dan Jamninan Form 2
Now this is the last and most annoying form you have to hand in. You don’t get this form at the front desk but you have to bring it yourself. Next to the immigration building there is a place where you can type + print this document for 10.000, but I really recommend you doing this at forehand. Just type it out in Microsoft Word, print it and let your sponsor sign it. Unlike the other two forms you cannot fill out this form by hand.
My biggest tip for filling out and handing in all these forms is to make as many as you need at once. So if you want to extend your VISA for, let’s say, four months, buy four materai stamps at once, fill out all forms four times (except for the dates) and make four copies of your passport, your first and last VISA and the KTP card of your sponsor. This will safe you a lot of time that you can now spend at beaches or drinking Bintang…. 😉
Step 4 – Check if you have everything complete
At this point you should have gathered all the necessary forms, which are:
- Copy of the photo page in your passport
- Copy of your first (60 days) Indonesian VISA in your passport
- Copy of your last Indonesian VISA in your passport (only if this is not your first extension!)
- Copy of your sponsor’s KTP card
- The VISA extension form
- The Surat Permintaan Dan Jaminan Form
- The Surat Perminataan Dan Jamninan Form 2
- Your passport
- And last but nog least, the red binder to keep all these documents together.
Step 5 – Get it checked at the front + immigration desk
Keep it up! The hardest part is really already over! Just get over to the front desk and let them check your documents. If everything is okay they will ask you to take a number and wait. Usually this doesn’t take too long and when it’s your turn you can head over to the immigration desk where you will have to hand in your red binder including all documents. After that, you will need to take a seat again until they call for your name (this is when they check the documents a bit more detailed). Once they call your name, you will get a piece of paper, which contains the date and time you should return (usually two days later) to pay and if it’s your first time: to get your fingerprints and photos taken. This is the end of your first visit. You don’t pay during your first visit.
Step 6 – The second visit – You’re almost there!
During this visit you can just walk over to the front office again and tell them you are here to take photos and pay. They will let you know what type of number you need to take. Since it has been a while since I had my photos taken I’m not too sure about the order of what is coming next but I think you first need to pay. When it’s your turn you can walk over to the cashier and pay them the 355k.
Once you paid you have to take a new number and wait to get your fingerprints and photos taken (when this is not your first VISA extension you are done with your second visit already!). This usually takes a bit longer since it’s more time consuming. Once your fingerprints and photos are taken you have to wait again until they call for your name. When they call for your name you will get a paper again saying when and at what time to pick up your passport. This usually takes two working days as well.
Step 7 – The third visit – Picking up your passport!
Yaaay! There you are! I guess you will almost feel at home while arrive at the office, which means next time will only be easier. Just get a number again (‘Picking up passport’) and wait until it’s your turn. You can now pick up your passport and enjoy that ridiculously beautiful VISA stamp they put in there!
As I already said at the beginning of this post, extending your VISA is very, very annoying and time consuming. I do have to say that it really gets easier the more you do it and it is a lot cheaper than using an agent to take care of it. I hope this little guide will help you with your VISA-extension-adventure in Bali, and if you have any remarks of questions please don’t hesitate to contact me!
XOXO
NINY EZINGA 