• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Cekindo Business Center

Cekindo Business Center

Business Expert in Indonesia

  • Homepage
  • About Us
    • Client’s testimonials
    • Company Profile
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Our Services
    • Virtual Office
    • Co-working and Private Office
    • Business Visa
    • Due Diligence Solutions
    • Shelf Company
    • Company Registration
    • Foreign-Owned and Local Nominee Company
    • Representative office
  • Gallery
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • ENEN
    • ENEN
    • IDID

Know and Avoid Problems with Visa Agents in Indonesia

Home » Blog » Know and Avoid Problems with Visa Agents in Indonesia

From the capital city to the rural regions of Indonesia, a growing number of tourists can be seen in many places in this beautiful archipelago – any time of the year. Other than just tourism itself, many foreigners also look at Indonesia as a promising country to live and work.

The country’s tourism and economy is booming like never before. As a result, there are many so-called “visa agents” popping up around the country, especially in tourist areas such as Bali. This is not exactly good news to the development of tourism and for the advantage of foreigners.

In this article, we will share the uncomfortable experiences of our clients we came across and tried to reverse during our operations on the Indonesian market. It turns out that unreliable “visa agents” lead to a lot of problems for tourists and foreigners, and a professional consultant plays a vital role when it comes to visa applications.

1. UNRETURNED PASSPORT

In most cases, your passport will be returned once your visa application is processed and successful – only when your visa agent is not a crook.

If you are unfortunate enough and engage a dubious visa agent to apply for a new visa or to extend your visa, you might never be able to get back your passport. There is a high probability that they will disappear into thin air after collecting payment from you.

The passports they steal from victims like you can be sold for illegal activities.

2. APPLYING FOR THE WRONG TYPE OF VISA

This is a widespread mistake made by inexperienced and unqualified visa agents, who are not familiar with the immigration law in Indonesia. They have insufficient knowledge to distinguish the different visas and might end up helping you get a wrong type of visa.

For example, a lot of these deceptive visa agents will mistake a VoA (Visa on Arrival) with a free visa in Indonesia. Free visa is granted on arrival for a 30-day, but it cannot be extended. On the other hand, a visa on arrival can be renewed.

3. LACK OF INFORMATION ON VOA

If you apply your VoA through these untrained visa agents online before you arrive in Indonesia, you might not get the vital information you need for obtaining your visa. One example is that you might be refused for entry at certain airports if these airports do not issue VoA. There are only 20 designated airports in Indonesia which can issue the visa on arrival.  

  1. Banda Aceh – NAD, Sultan Iskandar Muda
  2. Medan-North Sumatera, Polonia
  3. Pekanbaru-Riau, Sultan Syarif Kasim II
  4. Batam-Kepulauan Riau, Hang Nadim
  5. Padang-West Sumatera, Minangkabau
  6. Palembang-South Sumatera, Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II
  7. Jakarta-DKI Jakarta, Soekarno-Hatta
  8. Jakarta-DKI Jakarta, Halim Perdana Kusuma
  9. Bandung-West Java, Husein Sastranegara
  10. Yogyakarta-Java, Adi Sucipto
  11. Semarang-Central Java, Ahmad Yani
  12. Surakarta-Central Java, Adi Sumarmo
  13. Surabaya-East Java, Juanda
  14. Pontianak-West Kalimantan, Supadio
  15. Balikpapan-East Kalimantan, Sepinggan
  16. Manado-North Sulawesi, Sam Ratulangi
  17. Makasar-South Sulawesi, Hasanuddin
  18. Denpasar – Bali, Ngurah Rai
  19. Mataram-NTB, Selaparang
  20. Kupang-NTT, El Tari

You might think that a free visa can be your alternative if you cannot obtain a VoA at an airport which does not issue it. However, this does need to be the case because you will still get sent back to your home country if your country is not eligible for the free visa. Currently, only 169 countries are qualified for Indonesian free visa.

4. LONG VISA PROCESS

Since not all visa agents are regulated in Indonesia, there is a high probability that you will come across an unreliable visa agent. This false visa agent simply does not have the knowledge of the visa regulations and might take a long time to figure out the requirements and hence causing a long visa application or renewal process.

One thing leads to another, you will be overstaying in Indonesia due to your expired visa which is said to be under the process for renewal.  

5. NO VISA SPONSORSHIP IS PROVIDED

For the social-cultural visa extension, you will need to have a sponsor to do so. A reputable adviser will be able to provide assistance for sponsorship. On the contrary, a dishonest and inexperienced visa agent will not be able to do so since they don’t know the intricate details of the immigration law in Indonesia such as a rule of domicile of a visa sponsor.

CEKINDO IS YOUR TRUSTED VISA CONSULTANT

If you feel that your visa agent in Indonesia is not a fair player, you should better consult a professional agency with a long experience on the Indonesian market. Cekindo has been operating in Indonesia for more than 7 years and came across dozens of clients that were affected by the dishonesty of their agents.

However, as we all know that prevention is better than cure, use services of Cekindo to avoid problems that might appear when applying or extending your visa in Indonesia. We provide visa sponsorship from our offices located in Jakarta, Semarang and Bali.

Related Posts

Using Virtual office: Cut expenses, save budget

Using Virtual office: Cut expenses, save budget

Can a Company Have Multiple Business Addresses in Indonesia?

Can a Company Have Multiple Business Addresses in Indonesia?

Contact Us

    Footer

    Jakarta – Slipi

    Grand Slipi Tower 9th fl. (Unit G)

    Jl. Letjen. S. Parman Kav. 22-24

    Palmerah, West Jakarta 11480

    Indonesia

    +6221 80660900

    Jakarta – Kuningan

    AXA Tower 36th fl. Kuningan City

    Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio Kav. 18

    South Jakarta 12940

    Indonesia

    +6221 50101510

    Jakarta – Kebon Jeruk

    Business Park Kebon Jeruk, Blok H1-H2

    Jl. Raya Meruya Ilir No.88

    Jakarta Barat 11620, Indonesia

    +622180660900

    Bali

    Istana Kuta Galeria

    Blok BW 2 No. 3A

    Jl. Patih Jelantik, Kuta, Badung

    Bali 80361, Indonesia

    +62361 2090200

    Semarang

    Ruko Peterongan Plaza Blok C-2

    (in front of Sri Ratu Peterongan)

    Jl. MT. Haryono No.719

    Semarang 50242, Indonesia

    +6224 86001600

    Privacy Policy · © 2021 · Cekindo Business Center

    Cekindo March 2021 Promo Cekindo March 2021 Promo Cekindo March 2021 Promo Cekindo March 2021 Promo Cekindo March 2021 Promo Cekindo March 2021 Promo
    ×
    X
    REGULATION UPDATES:
    Indonesia has closed its borders to foreign travelers until further notice. With the exceptions of foreigners with KITAS, KITAP, and diplomatic permits.
    The Ministry of Manpower has temporarily suspended all new foreign Visas and KITAS applications until further notice.
    Employed Foreigners (holding an existing and valid KITAS) who are currently in Indonesia, may file for an extension under their Employer.
    The immigration office in Denpasar (Bali) is limiting Visa extensions to 4 times. To continue staying in Bali, Foreigners can apply for a new Single-Entry Business Visa in Bali. The process takes up to 14 days and the overstay penalty is 1Mil IDR a day.
    If you require more guidance, please get in touch with our teams for the latest updates.
    Further details on COVID19.go.id