Scamed by Indonesian Imigration
Jun 29th, 2007, 03:10 PM
#1
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Scamed by Indonesian Imigration
Beware. You must have a blank page in your passport - that says VISA - in order to get the VISA upon entry.
I had a “problem” with my VISA getting into Indonesia. There wasn’t a blank page in my passport. Actually, there were 4 pages but they did not say VISA. They said "endoresements". So we had a standoff until I removed one of the expired Chinese VISA's.
He said he could not accept this, but for a small payment, he would look the other way and pretend he didnt see it. I had him call my contact who put an Indonesian on the line to negotiate. Net result - $200 bribe. I asked for my passport back, removed the page out of eyesight, inserted the money and returned the passport. I asked him to check again and everything was fine. Never been hit up so blatantly by a government official.
This was a well rehearsed and time honored tradition.
Yes, I am a jackass for not researching more carefully and for accepting such a demand. But he knew I was there for business meeting and thus had no options.
Word to the wise.
I had a “problem” with my VISA getting into Indonesia. There wasn’t a blank page in my passport. Actually, there were 4 pages but they did not say VISA. They said "endoresements". So we had a standoff until I removed one of the expired Chinese VISA's.
He said he could not accept this, but for a small payment, he would look the other way and pretend he didnt see it. I had him call my contact who put an Indonesian on the line to negotiate. Net result - $200 bribe. I asked for my passport back, removed the page out of eyesight, inserted the money and returned the passport. I asked him to check again and everything was fine. Never been hit up so blatantly by a government official.
This was a well rehearsed and time honored tradition.
Yes, I am a jackass for not researching more carefully and for accepting such a demand. But he knew I was there for business meeting and thus had no options.
Word to the wise.
Jun 29th, 2007, 03:30 PM
#2
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Legally, you cannot be given a visa on pages anything other than visa pages. Endorsement pages don't count...they are different. Indonesian visas, and those of many other countries, take a full page. It is your responsibility to be sure you have enough pages. You are lucky that you were able to remove the Chinese visa...if you could not produce a blank page somehow, you would not have been allowed to enter for any amount of money.
Jun 29th, 2007, 04:16 PM
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Many countries in Asia require a full visa page be blank, some require that two facing visa pages be blank. Your bad experience can be a cautionary tale for others. I know stories of people turned away at immigration because they did not have blank pages.
Jun 29th, 2007, 05:01 PM
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1blue, at least you had a "legitimate" reason having a little problem upon entering indonesia.
my was pure and simple, extortion.
in 1973, i went to bali for a week. no problem getting in. when i checked in at denpasar airport to leave, i passed through immigration, and went to the boarding area waiting for the flt to start boarding. before i could enter into the boarding area, i had to pass through another agent/soldier, who looked at my passport and told me i don't have the chop. what chop? i asked. he spoke very little english, so he could not explain what chop i needed. he pointed to a table against the wall where another agent/soldier was sitting at the table.
i went to the table, and told the agent that the other agent sent me here to get a chop. oh, yes, you pay $10. what for? i asked. he said for the childrens charity. rather than make i scene, i paid the $10, he chopped by passport, and then the gate agent let me into the boarding area.
inside the boarding area, i saw a european tour guide with his group, and i asked him if he had to pay for the chop. he said yes, they are a bunch of crooks.
what would happen if i didn't pay it, i asked the guide. he said don't do that. they will make you open your bags, inspect it thoroughly, and expose all of your films(pre digital camera days). why would they do that? he said that they will tell you that they fear that you may have taken pictures of sensitive military secret installations.(in bali??)
in the meantime, as they inspect your baggage, you flt would have come and gone.
that was the last time i visited bali. i don't mind going again, but dw has no interest in going there again. not because of being scammed, but because of the terrorist.(to each his own.)
my was pure and simple, extortion.
in 1973, i went to bali for a week. no problem getting in. when i checked in at denpasar airport to leave, i passed through immigration, and went to the boarding area waiting for the flt to start boarding. before i could enter into the boarding area, i had to pass through another agent/soldier, who looked at my passport and told me i don't have the chop. what chop? i asked. he spoke very little english, so he could not explain what chop i needed. he pointed to a table against the wall where another agent/soldier was sitting at the table.
i went to the table, and told the agent that the other agent sent me here to get a chop. oh, yes, you pay $10. what for? i asked. he said for the childrens charity. rather than make i scene, i paid the $10, he chopped by passport, and then the gate agent let me into the boarding area.
inside the boarding area, i saw a european tour guide with his group, and i asked him if he had to pay for the chop. he said yes, they are a bunch of crooks.
what would happen if i didn't pay it, i asked the guide. he said don't do that. they will make you open your bags, inspect it thoroughly, and expose all of your films(pre digital camera days). why would they do that? he said that they will tell you that they fear that you may have taken pictures of sensitive military secret installations.(in bali??)
in the meantime, as they inspect your baggage, you flt would have come and gone.
that was the last time i visited bali. i don't mind going again, but dw has no interest in going there again. not because of being scammed, but because of the terrorist.(to each his own.)
Jun 29th, 2007, 07:06 PM
#9
My brother's wife is Indonesian and he has some great mordita stories, including tales of planes returning from the runways to the gate and people being bumped then...all so gov't or other people could walk on and take their seats.
Jun 29th, 2007, 10:33 PM
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Upon further thought, 1bluedevilfan was really lucky. Not only did he have no blank pages, but was entering Bali on a VOA, which is for tourists, to do business, and the immigration officer knew it (he says so). The only scam here is the one by 1bluedevilfan himself...scammed his way into Indonesia on a tourist visa to do business without the requisite blank pages in his passport which he then created by removing another country's visa, then offered up a big bribe to the official...4 things HE did wrong.
The entire scene would have been avoided had 1bluedevilfan followed proper procedure.
The entire scene would have been avoided had 1bluedevilfan followed proper procedure.
Jun 29th, 2007, 10:46 PM
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kim, excellent observation.
as far as the no visa page issue, about a couple of years ago, on returning to singapore from jb, the sin immigration officer stamped my visa on the endorsement page, as my passport pages were nearly all used. she realized her error, then search for a blank visa page, and stamped that page.
although i travel abit, i am fairly uninformed on these issues. luckily for me, she found an unused page, and chopped me through, only into the waiting arms of the young customs agent who "caught" me with a couple of bottles of wine.
as far as the no visa page issue, about a couple of years ago, on returning to singapore from jb, the sin immigration officer stamped my visa on the endorsement page, as my passport pages were nearly all used. she realized her error, then search for a blank visa page, and stamped that page.
although i travel abit, i am fairly uninformed on these issues. luckily for me, she found an unused page, and chopped me through, only into the waiting arms of the young customs agent who "caught" me with a couple of bottles of wine.
Jun 29th, 2007, 11:49 PM
#12
Good point Kim. My husband pointed that out to me when I told him about 1bluedevilfan's experience. You can't enter the country for business on a tourist visa.
However, Indonesian officials asking for and expecting bribes.....that's common practice here.
However, Indonesian officials asking for and expecting bribes.....that's common practice here.
Jun 30th, 2007, 12:39 AM
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I recently had a client experience the same visa page issue as bluedevilfan. She thought she was okay becuase she had several blank pages, but it turned out that only blank pages marked VISA would be accepted. Eventually, we came to a compromise that involved money changing hands and she was admitted. Nowhere near $200, though. That is really steep!
The other point that Indonesian immigration is very strict on is that your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after the date of arrival. This has never made sense to me since they only allow you to stay for 30 days . . .
I don't condone corruption among government officials and I feel that this is one of worst aspects of Indonesia; however, I have noticed that when a person in an official position faces an apparently unsolvable dilemma -- e.g. he wants to admit you into the country but doesn't have a blank page on which to put a visa -- a little money is often the most expedient solution. The laws here are complicated, contradictory and often grey in their interpretation and implementation.
Another example was when we moved to Indonesia permanently. We hadn't yet been granted our stay/work permits so my husband I got business visas in Hong Kong. The immigration officer duly stamped our passports and then looked at our son who was in grade school at the time and said what about him? There didn't seem to be a reasonable solution so again, some money changed hands and we went happily on our way.
I would like to clarify that a business traveler who is only staying a few days MAY use the visa on arrival. My clients who are VERY legal in everything they do checked this out with the Indonesian Embassy in the States. The business visa -- which can only be obtained outside of Indonesia -- is generally used for longer stays.
The other point that Indonesian immigration is very strict on is that your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after the date of arrival. This has never made sense to me since they only allow you to stay for 30 days . . .
I don't condone corruption among government officials and I feel that this is one of worst aspects of Indonesia; however, I have noticed that when a person in an official position faces an apparently unsolvable dilemma -- e.g. he wants to admit you into the country but doesn't have a blank page on which to put a visa -- a little money is often the most expedient solution. The laws here are complicated, contradictory and often grey in their interpretation and implementation.
Another example was when we moved to Indonesia permanently. We hadn't yet been granted our stay/work permits so my husband I got business visas in Hong Kong. The immigration officer duly stamped our passports and then looked at our son who was in grade school at the time and said what about him? There didn't seem to be a reasonable solution so again, some money changed hands and we went happily on our way.
I would like to clarify that a business traveler who is only staying a few days MAY use the visa on arrival. My clients who are VERY legal in everything they do checked this out with the Indonesian Embassy in the States. The business visa -- which can only be obtained outside of Indonesia -- is generally used for longer stays.
Jul 1st, 2007, 08:11 AM
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I was formerly married to an Indonesian and lived in Indonesia (Cirebon). It's not on bules who have to pay. I'm not in favor of corruption, but it is a fact of Indonesian life. It isn't really helpful to obsess about it. There are many times in Indonesian life when you have to "pay to make it fast".
My favorite Indonesian shakedown is the folks who create road blocks and then stand in the road collecting money to let you pass. This certainly doesn't target foreigners and usually they are quite surprised to see a bule in the car. In the area around Cirebon, a bule is an unusual sight -enough so that I often gathered a group of observers in the grocery store.
There are many wonderful things about living in Indonesia, but like anywhere there are customs to be learned. My former husband could of course navigate bribery with ease, but was driven to distraction by the American obsession for making appointments for everything from haircuts to doctors to car mechanics. He thought we had "time corruption".
My favorite Indonesian shakedown is the folks who create road blocks and then stand in the road collecting money to let you pass. This certainly doesn't target foreigners and usually they are quite surprised to see a bule in the car. In the area around Cirebon, a bule is an unusual sight -enough so that I often gathered a group of observers in the grocery store.
There are many wonderful things about living in Indonesia, but like anywhere there are customs to be learned. My former husband could of course navigate bribery with ease, but was driven to distraction by the American obsession for making appointments for everything from haircuts to doctors to car mechanics. He thought we had "time corruption".
