Extending social visa in Balikpapan, Tarakan or Ambon?

Hi Nick,

I've only ever traveled in Indonesia on tourist visas. I'm not sure why you want a social visa, a tourist visa should do you just as well. You can also travel for 6 months on a tourist visa, extending every month. And that way, you can get sponsors locally.

I have extended a visa in both Ambon and Balikpapan before. The office in Ambon was far more friendly and helpful than Balikpapan. Both offices wanted a sponsor to extend a tourist visa. Once I had the paperwork sorted out, the office in Ambon issued me with a visa extension in less than an hour.

Instead of getting an extension in Tarakan, or flying from Balikpapan to Manado, it is faster and probably easier to cross to Sabah and perhaps return from there with a new 60 days visa.

Ambon has long been a good place for extensions, but last year they took 2 days to issue one, and this year my friends got it next day.
That's still better than in most places, but don't expect to get it within one hour like Giora did.

Hi There,
Right. I didn't know a six month tourist visa was an option. I've had a social visa twice before and it's worked out fine as I was staying in or returning to one area, but that sounds more logical under these circumstances.

A few questions
Do you apply before travel for the 6 month tourist visa?
When you say get 'sponsors locally' do you Just need to produce a copy of someones ID and an invitation letter each time you extend? And you can use different people?

Thanks for your help :)

Do they require a minimum number of days before coming back into the country? That could definitely be worth considering.

Thank you very much

No.
Though coming back the same day might be a bit too cheeky.
If you want to get a 60 days visa frpm the consulate in Tawau, you will probably need to spend a day there anyway.

There is no 6 months tourist visa.
It is for 60 days, extendable up to 4 times by 30 days each.
It is basically the same as the social cultural visa, except that it has no sponsor written on it.
You must get it from an embassy or consulate before entering Indonesia - for example in Tawau, as suggested above.
You can normally extend this in different places using a different sponsor living in the place you extend. You definitely need a copy of their ID and usually a letter or form or two of some sort filled in by them, and they may or may not need to go with you to the office. Just like processing time, exact requirements vary from office to office.

I think that you will have to show proof of leaving the country when you get your original visa and every time you extend. This is a complication you have to get around. The visa run to Tawau sounds like a good idea to me.

Paul

Okay sweet, that definitely sounds like a better idea. if I jump over to Sabah too that'll give me much more time to work my way to Manado or Ambon for an extension.

That has solved a lot of issues.

Cheers guys!

• Edited -

My mistake, I misread your post

Cheers