last minute rush

Last minute rush

Today we realised we only had three days left on our visas in Indonesia. The plan was always to get an extension but it turns out, the process of applying for an extension takes about 2 weeks. Oops…

How did this happen?

Here we are thinking you can the extension sorted in one afternoon at the immigration office. Turns out, you need to make three trips to the office over 2 weeks to fill out the application, get your photo and fingerprints taken and then pick up your passport. Before you know it, Hayley’s on the computer Googling how much it’s going to cost to fly to Singapore for the night. Not ideal…

The good news is that we were able to get an express extension sorted for about NZD$100 through an immigration agent. This is the more expensive way to do things (doing it yourself would be about NZD$40). In hindsight, going through the agent was the better option. Our time is far better spent relaxing and exploring instead of making multiple trips to the immigration office.

So, what are the lessons here?

  1. Don’t make silly assumptions. By assuming the process would only take a few hours, we got caught out.
  2. Plan in advance. Do your research and know what you’re getting yourself into.
  3. There are always more options than you think. You don’t always have to jump on a flight to Singapore to solve your problems. With a cool head and a few minutes you can always find another way.

We got everything sorted pretty quickly, but this little mad dash could have been avoided with a bit more careful planning (I know, hard to believe coming from me).

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