After leaving Bunaken Island, where we stayed for twelve days, we returned to Manado on the island of Sulawesi.
From here we will head to our next destination, but before we do that, we managed to extend our Indonesian visa.
Indonesian Arrival Visa and Visa Extension
When you enter Indonesia, many nationalities can obtain a Visa on Arrival at the airport. Arrival visas are valid for 30 days, but you can only extend this visa once.
The extension period is 30 days and is calculated from the date of expiry of the initial Arrival Visa. This means that you can stay in Indonesia for a maximum of 60 days.
The following items are required for a visa extension.
- A passport with at least six months remaining in its validity
- Visa extension fee: normally Rp 500,000
- Air ticket or other ticket out of Indonesia
The visa extension fee cost Rp 1,000,000 per person in our case, as we applied on the same day (super express!).
Normally it takes two to three working days at Manado Immigration. Some immigration offices in other cities may take even longer, so it is recommended to apply as soon as possible.
As there are only a limited number of cities with immigration offices, people like us who plan to go to the countryside or remote islands need to be especially careful.
Immigration in Manado
Immigration in Manado is located south of the city centre, in an area with many government facilities.
It can be reached by micro from downtown. Take a micro to ‘Winangun 17 Coco’ and tell the driver ‘Kantor Imigrasi’ and he will drop you off in front of you. The fare is Rp 6,000 per person.
Apply for a visa extension at Manado Immigration Office
A colourful building in light blue and red, which does not look like a government building, is the Manado Immigration Office. Enter through the entrance marked ‘Selamat Datang’ (welcome).
Once inside, you will find an area full of locals. The visa extension section is in a room at the back of the building.
It is difficult to understand as there are few English signs, but go to the back and you will find a room lined with visa extension counters. Tell the staff there that you want to extend your visa.
Same day Indonesian visa extension (express)
I was told that the normal application procedure would take to three working days. The cost is Rp 500,000 per person, which you pay at the bank and then take the receipt with you to complete the application process.
We wanted to travel to Ternate the next night by boat, so we applied for an express visa. The cost is Rp 1,000,000 per person, paid directly to immigration.
You fill in a visa extension form and submit it with your passport and cash. However, at this time, it was necessary to present the airline ticket out of Indonesia.
We did not yet have an exit ticket, but we bought one on the spot using our frequent flyer miles, had the Immigration staff print out the email we received and applied with it. They then took our photos and took our finger prints.
It was just before lunchtime and the staff told us that they were about to take a lunch break and to they would complete the procedure afterwards. Please come back for your passport around 3pm”.
How long does it take for immediate visa extension in Manado
Once we had also eaten lunch and returned to the hotel, we were contacted by an official via Whatsup and told, “We have your visa extension, it is completed. You can have your passport now”.
So we immediately went back to immigration and received the passport with the visa extension completed.
At this time, the official was preparing snacks and told us that the drinks here were also free.
There is a fridge and water heater next to the counter, and it is indeed marked Free (Free). We got an iced tea and a chocolate candy and had a good chat with the staff member in charge.
A 60-day visa before entering the country can be extended for up to 180 days
He told us that in the future, if we wanted to stay longer in Indonesia we could apply online for a 60-day visa before entering the country. A visitor visa, or something like that, I think it was called, can also be obtained for tourism purposes, and this visa can be extended up to two times, meaning you can stay for up to 180 days.
It costs Rp 1,500,000 to obtain a 60-day visa, but it is not necessary to show a ticket out of Indonesia when you extend. This may be useful for longer stays in Indonesia in the future.
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