Arriving Bali-need onward tickets?
 

I'm going to fly into Bali, then journey overland, sort of seat-of-the-pants to Cambodia. My return tickets are from Bangkok, 6 months later. I keep reading that I need to show onward tickets on arrival in Bali....does anyone know anything about this?

Thinking maybe just to buy a one way cheap ticket from Bali to Singapore and trash it?

I am sure that we were not asked for onward tickets out of Indonesia when we entered...but I am also sure that the airline did check when we checked in for our flight.

The airline is held liable for transporting ineligible to enter passengers, so they do tend to be strict.

What I might do is get a visa beforehand rather than one on arrival. Prevents you wasting a ticket out, and prevents headaches at check in and immigration.

owg, Having a valid onward ticket is the rule. It is sometimes inforced by the airline in the departing country, sometimes enforced by immigration on arrival, sometimes not an issue at all. To avoid anxiety it's best to be prepared with an outgoing ticket.

My son often comes into Indonesia on the last leg of one ticket and goes out on another and he has frequently been asked to produce his onward ticket.

You shouldn't have to trash the unused ticket. You should be able to get a refund, minus a service charge.

I would also mention the same inconsitent observation of the 6 month validity rule on passports. Sometimes this is an issue, sometimes not, but I would be sure that your passport will be valid for at least 6 months after your arrival and that you have at least 6 blank visa pages.

At the end of the day minor immigration violations can usually be solved by the exchange of a few Rupiah but this can be stressful and wouldn't be anyone's first choice.

Overland (and sea, I assume) from Bali to Cambodia! I hope you plan to post details.

I can't speak for Indonesia as we did not visit on this trip, but after a year of travelling around the (a mixture of flights and overland) not once have we been asked to provide evidence of an onward ticket. This is despite numerous warnings in travel guides, websites etc. about many countries which have these rules which, I suspect are more likely to be enforced if you are a twenty something backpacker!!

6 months validity to cover up to and inclusive of departure date is vital in Indonesia . Without it you will be refused entry .

There's a mixture of visa/passport and entry comments above owg and the following you will find on the Indonesian section of www.projectvisa.com where you can find information for all countries.

" ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR VISA ON ARRIVAL (VOA)

1 Passport must be valid for a minimum of 6 (six) months as from the date of entry into Indonesia.
2 Onward or return tickets are compulsory
3 No compulsory vaccinations
4 Visitors must enter through the following airports and seaports in Indonesia.

There are 14 (fourteen) Airport and 23 (twenty three) Seaport across Indonesia that has the VOA facilities: "

See point 2.

Some countries are more rigid on the onward requirement than others, eg, no way will you get into New Zealand or even be allowed on board without an onward ticket, and yet no visa required for many.
Asian countries rules and attitudes can vary and for Indonesia, seeing as you'll not be planning on leaving by plane, it'll be a ferry to Singapore or Malaysia I expect and if you can pre-book a ferry ticket, I'd expect that with your Bangkok departure ticket ought to suffice.

they will not ask to see the ticket..

I've been in and out of Indonesia a number of times. Sometimes they ask to see the onward ticket, sometimes not. I saw a backpacker who was having difficulty without an onward ticket last trip, but I don't know how it was resolved.

BTW, having gone into Thailand perhaps 30 times in the last 20 years, I had never been asked for an onward ticket until 2 years ago.

the whole purpose of asking for an onward ticket is so that they do not get stuck with anyone without money in their country....makes sense to me...

usually it is unkempt people and backpackers who get asked for such things, and oh yes, people from cambridge and billerica...

So the collective final answer seems to be, sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I will try to get a visa in advance and buy a disposable ticket from Bali to where? Singapore? KL?

I won't have the same problem anywhere else along the route, will I?

Java, Sumatra, Malaysia seem to be the countries I will pass through.

I'm assuming, maybe wrongly, that you will pass through Thailand as well. If so, note that Thailand has just instituted a new policy for entry on their visa exemption program...entry via the land borders (rather than air) now gets you 15 days stay rather than 30 days.

That's good info Kim. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to advise people going from Siem Reap to Bangkok overland of that caveat.

I will only be passing through Thailand on the train from Malaysia. One short stop in Bangkok to say hi to Tong, then I'm outta there. 15 days will be plenty.

Topping this thread to report that what I decided to do was apply for the visa in advance, thinking if I had any trouble I'd rather sort it before I left the US

They denied it and returned my passport. Wanted me to send them recent bank statements, a letter from my employer and onward tickets. Feh. I didn't send the documents.

Figured if I had problems it would be at check in and I would have time to go online and purchase an onward ticket.

At LAX, EVA did not ask to see anything; they just put me on the plane. Arriving into Bali, on my departure card I lied and wrote a bogus flight number and date for a flight to Singapore. No one at immigration asked me for anything. Stamp Stamp, offwego.

Customs did tear my bag apart on the way in, probably because I was pouring sweat from my time at the immigration counter.

I fly into Jakarta or Bali 3 - 4 times a year, and I've never been asked for an onward ticket, or anything else. If you've got the cash, you get in.

Customs can be a bit of a hassle. Bali especially seems to be a bit touchy about alcohol. Though maybe its drugs, given the history there.

I have a couple of rules that have served me well: Never, ever, try to walk through customs with boxes (Thais I work with do this all the time, and get stopped every time); and always walk through customs like you don't expect to be stopped. Seems to work. :-)