Indonesia was close to international arrivals without a quarantine. The Warm Up Vacation concept required foreign visitors to stay in a specific part of hotels for a few days before being allowed to travel freely on the island.
This is over. Visitors only need to have travel insurance. The visa-on-arrival with many nations has been restored by Indonesia.
I arrived in Indonesia from Thailand on Saturday and it wasn't all good. The arrivals process is worse than I've ever seen.
The agent was aware of the dropping of the pre-departure test requirement on the 18th, and I was only asked to show my vaccination record and an onward ticket.
I have the EU vaccination certs on the French COVID app, and I just showed the code that says I had had several shots and the date of the most recent one. It took me a while to pull up the itinerary.
The Thai Airways flight was almost full, and I hated the old 2-2-2 seating in the business class.
I have entered Indonesia more than a dozen times over the years, and sometimes the process has been very smooth, but other times it has been a complete and utter mess, and mess again.
I was one of the first people to enter the area where they had booths to check their vaccinations.
They asked for my passport and typed something into their system after looking at the QR code.
I paid for the visa on arrival in Jakarta. Do you remember when you had to pay the exit tax in cash and no credit cards were accepted?
You could pay in a variety of currencies and credit cards.
Even though the note said 500K, the payment was for 515K IDR. The card payment may have been 3% more.
The visa slip is needed for the next step.
I should have known something wasn't right when I was approached by a couple of men.
The express service is a bribe to get you in front of the line. I think I paid it once, but the fee is somewhere between $30 and $40 right now.
There were different lines for Indonesians. Families with small children were guided by two very short lines for diplomats and KITAs holders.
People were lying on the floor. The arrivals hall had several hundred people waiting to be processed, but not all the windows were open.
It took an hour to get through the line. After two of my fingerprints were recorded, I presented the passport and VOA slip.
You enter the fourth lane, where a couple of customs officers collect the forms you prepared.
If you plan to stay in Indonesia longer, you will need to pay a fee to register for your cell phone's IMEI number. One day the phone will stop working.
Indonesia requires all passengers to have their luggage X-rayed. The number of arriving passengers probably made me waive through.
There were many people waiting for the guests. I saved a bundle and arranged a pick-up using GoJek.
My entry experience in Vietnam.
It is easy to enter Thailand on May 13, 2022.
The Arrival Experience in Thailand in April 2022.
Conclusion.
I spent an hour in the immigration line at the airport after landing.
If there had been a line at the vaccination check and visa-on-arrival counter, you could easily spend two to three hours in this COVID incubation hall.
This is not the way to welcome tourists to the Island of the Gods.
When they had no foreign visitors for two years and plenty of time to work out any possible flaws, dealing with this international arrival mess again is not ok.
If you see the arrivals hall full of people, you should pay for the expedited service, but I don't think we should have to pay bribes.
I have entered Thailand twice and Vietnam once in the past month or so, and all three instances were smooth and without any delays.
Why can't Indonesia andBali get their act together, and why are visitors willing to put up with this?
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