How to extend a Visa on Arrival (VOA) in Indonesia

Recently, I extended my Indonesian Visa on Arrival (VOA) to Bali. It took about a week, three visits to the immigration office, and Rp251,600, but it was much easier than leaving the country to get a new one.

Fortunately for me, I live near an immigration office (in Singaraja), so the whole process only took about an hour in total, including travel time. If your closest office is further away, you will have to decide if it is easier to do all 3 trips or just one trip abroad.

In my case, I needed a sponsor, but I have heard that other people do not. When you do this for the first time, I suggest that you take a suitable local person with you just in case. They can always help with the translation and fill out the visa application forms.

Also, I didn’t need a photo, but I’ve heard of other people being asked to provide one so it’s probably best to bring one just in case. It is always a good idea to bring some passport photos with you when visiting an immigration office, as you never know when they may ask for one. They must have a red background.

Since I used my wife as a sponsor for my visa, I had to provide a copy of our marriage certificate. Presumably, if you use someone else, this won’t be necessary.

I had to fill out 3 forms. One of them is a sponsor’s letter, which my wife completed. The others I completed myself (with some help from my wife, as one is completely in Indonesian). One of the forms needs a “materai” (stamp) which costs Rs 6,000. Paste in the square indicated at the bottom of the form and both you and your sponsor sign so that your signatures overlap.

The second time I did this, they asked me to bring my return ticket, presumably to show that I was going to leave the country.

A small but important detail: be sure to fill in the forms in black ink and in capital letters, otherwise they could be rejected. Actually! Oh, and it’s a good idea to dress reasonably well when you enter the immigration office, so that vests, shorts, and flip-flops are outside, as are mini skirts and crop tops. It is not necessary to wear a suit and tie, but at least long pants / skirt (jeans are fine) and a shirt or t-shirt.

You must also provide photocopies of your passport (showing your current identity and visa details), your sponsor’s identity card (KTP), and your marriage certificate (if your spouse sponsors you).

5 days after submitting the forms, I returned to the immigration office and paid Rs 250,000 (equivalent to US $ 25).

3 days after that, I came back to pick up my visa. Oh, and I had to pay 1,000 rupees to have my passport photocopied with the new visa stamp.

I was initially concerned that since the whole process would take a week, I would end up staying longer on my original visa (which ran out 2 days in the process), but this was not a problem as I left the forms behind. before my visa expired. Ideally, you should go a week before your visa expires but even though I didn’t do that, they made a date before the new visa to start from the day the original ran out. Nice!

In addition to the reduced hassle of doing this (compared to leaving the country with a visa), there is another advantage: the visa stamp they use only takes up half a page in your passport compared to a full page for the standard VOA stamp.

Hope this helps you clarify the process.

One last tip: don’t listen to anything they tell you at Denpasar airport about this as they have been giving inaccurate information there. For example, they may tell you that there is an immigration office at the airport, which is not true. There is one nearby, but not at the airport itself. They have also been known to tell people that they can extend their VOA while they wait, which is simply not true. I suggest you save energy and avoid asking about this at the airport.

Good luck and happy travels!