The holiday is over: Tourists must leave Bali as visas expire
When the COVID crisis swept the world earlier this year, tourists and expats were forced to make a decision: get a flight back home, or ride it out in a foreign land. Those who chose the latter did so not knowing how long the crisis would endure, nor what developments might follow.
In Bali, where an estimated 40,000 Australians were holidaying in March, most favoured prudence over adventure and headed home. However, up to 3,000 stayed taking up Indonesia's offer of Emergency Stay Permits. They joined an estimated 7,000 expatriates already living there.
On the 13th July, the Emergency Stay Permits expired giving holders thirty days to head home. All the permits expire on the 11th August.
The new policy is in response to Bali's plans to again open its doors to tourists on September 11th.
Indonesian immigration will grant further extension of the permit, but only if flights home can't be sourced. At present, approximately one flight per day is connecting Bali and Australia with prices beginning at $2,500 - one way of course.
On top of that, returning citizens will now have to pay for their fourteen day quarantine which is $3,000 for one adult, $1,000 for each subsequent adult, and $500 per child.
Bali is having an incredible season of waves and the diminutive crowds are akin to Indonesia of the 1970s, yet a $5,500 hit is a nasty trade off for those who stayed.
Comments
Bali is the land of Karma
Ouch, that’s pricey.
But if you weigh it up against relatively uncrowded Indo, ???
Now once in a lifetime!
I wonder what happens if you've run outta cash.
Might end up like this guy:
https://coconuts.co/bali/news/no-flights-out-russian-tourist-stuck-around-bali-airport-detained/
I'd assume you have to make repayments, or additional contributions with tax payments, not get money back in a tax refund or the like.
Even if you come home and go on jobseeker, they could give $100 less each fortnight or something.
Apparently you have 30 days to pay once quarantine is over
Yeh but if you can't, you can't and they'll take repayments well before they lock you up.
Wait a bit longer. 2-3 days out, look for a flight on last day of permit. Bugger, no seats left because everyone wanted to stay as long as possible! I need an extension please. 30 day extension gets you another month. Rinse and repeat until the game is up (affordable and semi-regular flight resume). Tidak apa apa!
Couple of stacks of rups in the right hands and I'm sure you can get as many stamps as you require
Beautiful.
Give the joint a chance to heal for a bit.
Stoked for the local surfers.
Yep. Great result for the local (Indo) surfers. Hope they're scoring themselves silly.
Im betting a big chunk of those is made up of people who pretty much live in Bali and normally do visa extensions or visa runs many working online etc.
They have all had plenty of time to get home though.
Agreed Indo. Almost everyone I meet that says "I live in Indonesia" generally means "I've illegally migrated here on a tourist visa that I plan to extend every 6 months until I need the support of socialized health and welfare to keep me alive, and then I will go home."
trust funded permanent vacationers...
Bingo!
Bit of a discussion on Reddit regarding the Thai visa situation (similar to Indo but is happening a month earlier):
https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/hpquee/thai_visa_amnesty/
Sounds like a lot of them don't want to go home (to USA) and are scrounging for other places to go.
Goddamn freeloading expats and their antics!
Lived in Bali for 14 years on proper visas either working or with business. Back in Oz now. A lot of legit expats doing it very tough ATM which rely on tourist trade. Therefore their local employees hurting which is very difficult for local economy and local families.
Bali always bounces back but this is hurting.
On positive side, it has been pumping!!!
Always has been and will he Trustafarians...
Balos get all the waves anyway
So they should
Straight to Christmas Island quarantine station with that lot!
Is there waves on Christmas Island?
If so, wouldn't be so bad.
I dunno Zen, but if your really well behaved, Santa will bring you some good waves for Christmas!! His little helpers are already working on it.
Hope so- little buggers had their hands in their pockets last Christmas.
Just do the visa run to Singapore, $3000 saved in Aussie quarantine buys a couple months in Indo...
Indo borders are shut you cant re enter unless you have a certain visa so couldn't return on a tourist or social visa.
I’d be careful. Being detained in Indo might not be a lot of fun, but still, I’m sure it would be a real adventure!! It could be the bottom turn that you didn’t bargain for. Not everyone there is a big fan of drunken/drugged out Aussie Whities. When the shit hits the fan like it might with this covid, the lower you are down in the chain the rougher the treatment. I would come home and the faster the better. Plenty of good waves here.
Tales from the Bali visa snafu:
"The former Darwin resident loved living in Bali, but the possibility of being fined more than $100 a day for overstaying his visa forced him to make the hard decision to leave.
"Facing the prospect of paying $3,000 to quarantine for 14 days if he returned to Australia, he instead chose to fly to Belarus, where he previously worked as an English teacher."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-17/aussies-on-visas-caught-out-by-indonesia-rule-change/12559680
Spot on - why return to a police state/nation if you can bide your time?
Mind you , heres hoping Xmas brings some relaxation of the 'rules'.