Passport requirements for Indonesia

[debersole 3]

My family and I are headed to Indonesia in May. A recent article in Scuba Diving Australasia commented that to enter Indonesia you must have a valid passport with 6 months remaining on it, a return ticket, and AT LEAST SIX BLANK PAGES REMAINING IN YOUR PASSPORT. Is this last one true? My passport is valid for another couple of years but I've almost filled it up. Do I need to renew it?

[3@5 0]

My family and I are headed to Indonesia in May. A recent article in Scuba Diving Australasia commented that to enter Indonesia you must have a valid passport with 6 months remaining on it, a return ticket, and AT LEAST SIX BLANK PAGES REMAINING IN YOUR PASSPORT. Is this last one true? My passport is valid for another couple of years but I've almost filled it up. Do I need to renew it?

i don't know if 6 pages is a requirement, but certainly at least 2 blank pages are needed because the new visa on arrival thing takes up one whole page and they the other page to stamp the in and out dates.

 

if you have no completely blank pages left, i'd renew it...

 

hth/paul

[herbko 0]

It's not necessary to renew. You can send it in and have more pages added. Do it a couple of months before departure date.

[Iggy 0]

It's not necessary to renew. You can send it in and have more pages added. Do it a couple of months before departure date.

My last visit was January 07. Indonesia stipulates two pages are required and added pages are not acceptable. The VOA takes up one page and the entry and exits stamps are put on the VOA. The only reason I can think the extra page is necessary is if someone makes numerous entries and exits on the same VOA (good for 30 days) then they need another page for the extra stamps.

[herbko 0]

My last visit was January 07. Indonesia stipulates two pages are required and added pages are not acceptable. The VOA takes up one page and the entry and exits stamps are put on the VOA. The only reason I can think the extra page is necessary is if someone makes numerous entries and exits on the same VOA (good for 30 days) then they need another page for the extra stamps.

 

That's new. I was there in Aug 06 and my passport has added pages, and they stamped those pages. No problems. These are pages added by the state department and looks just like the other pages, not pieces of paper I duct taped to the back.

[Iggy 0]

These are pages added by the state department and looks just like the other pages, not pieces of paper I duct taped to the back.

Now that's funny

[debersole 3]

Thanks. Since getting a new passport is taking 8-10 weeks at the present time and we leave in May, I'm just going to have some pages added by the state department to be safe. According to their website that can be done free of charge. After the trip I'll get a new passport -- in time for the Wetpixel Solomons trip in September !!!

[The Octopus 0]

Thanks. Since getting a new passport is taking 8-10 weeks at the present time and we leave in May, I'm just going to have some pages added by the state department to be safe. According to their website that can be done free of charge. After the trip I'll get a new passport -- in time for the Wetpixel Solomons trip in September !!!

Must be nice to travel so much to such fabulous places.

[cor 0]

Added pages are very normal. My wife had some added at the US embassy not too long ago.

 

Cor

[Tonym 0]

Added pages are very normal. My wife had some added at the US embassy not too long ago.

 

Cor

 

Cor, you are right about the added pages. I have used a passport with added pages since 1996 and never had a problem with any destination including 20 or so trips to Indonesia. The last trip to Indonesia being in Nov 2006 on a new passport issued in 2006 with added pages.

[Iggy 0]

Cor, you are right about the added pages. I have used a passport with added pages since 1996 and never had a problem with any destination including 20 or so trips to Indonesia. The last trip to Indonesia being in Nov 2006 on a new passport issued in 2006 with added pages.

Just prior to my January trip Manado Safari Tours advised us that they had recently had American tourists denied entry because their only blank pages were amendment pages. Point of their entry was Bandung. The tour company stated pretty clearly it was a new regulation being applied. If that info was incorrect, mea culpa

 

But I think I'd research it rather than assume past indo experiences forecast future ones. Indonesian entry regs have always seemed somewhat whimsical to me

[debersole 3]

Thanks for all of the input. I've decided to be extra safe and just get a new passport. Since I've only got a little over two months before the trip, I'm going to pay the extra fee to get it expedited. The additional $60 is well worth the piece of mind.

[underwatercolours 0]

My over-stuffed, ragged old passport finally expired between trips in January so I paid the extra fee to have my new one back before my Feb. Cozumel workshop. It took a while to get through their clearing house, but once it got to the passport office things went very quickly. Now you can track the status of your US passport application online, but I had my new passport in hand before it even made it into the online system. You can request a 24-page passport right up front if you don't get the newer passport that contains an electronic chip. I was told the passport office is issuing these new electronic passports as a test program. Now every time I go through customs and immigration I'm going to wonder what that little chip is telling that nice immigration man about me.

[reefwalker 2]

I travel in & out of Indonesia regularly and last year I had only one page left in my passport on arrival, this didn't phase the immigration guy at Denpasar, they just put their stamps on top of the Visa on my departure. I do have two passports (dual nationality) so I had a back-up if it wasn't OK. I was quite happy that I got to use the last page as it is such a pain when they use one whole page for each visa and extension to visa's in Indonesia. Often your passport has 3 years till expiry and no pages left. Our Australian passports cannot get extra pages added, we just have to get another!

[Drew 0]

Yes Denpasar immigration are a moody lot. Get them at the wrong time and 2 pages may not be enough. Still it's a lot more secure than the old days when someone in the travel busines who knows the head can get you to jump the queue to the big honcho's table for a quick stamp and go. Wait... I miss those days.