When you have to show you have enough money for your stay, when entering a country, how do you show it? Do you take out a handfull of cash or is there a safer way?
I am going to Sumatra on a boat from Malaysia, next August. According to the Lonely Planet book, I will be asked to show I have enough money, on my way into Indonesia. Apparently, 2000 US dollars is the amount they find acceptable.
I dont like the idea of taking out 2000 US dollars at a land border. An airport wouldnt be too threatening, but land borders generally have less security than airports, in my experience, and there often tend to be people hanging about selling things, and possibly some looking out for distracted travellers to rob.
Maybe, I could show a couple of hundred dollars, instead of a couple of thousand? Has anyone gone from Malaysia to Sumatra on the boat? If so, what was you experience with proving you have enough money?
Reply to this Hi Mel 😊 When we apply for visas in advance which have this requirement we have a print out of our bank statement showing the required amount of money in that account. If you have this along with the bank card which is attached to it to show (so they can compare the account numbers on each to check they match) then you shouldn't have a problem.
We have been to Indonesia a few times and never had to show evidence of funds, so you probably won't need to show anything.
Reply to this Never been asked anything at any border...and to be honest, have walked in many countries with less than the equivalent of 10usd in my pockets...credit card and debit card are made to be used!
Reply to this Yeah, as above.
Never had to prove my financial wealth, which is just as well, but apparantly a bunch of credit cards normally impress enough. I was asked to show a return flight though. Do you have yours booked Mell?
Reply to this Same as 3 and 4. I think the only thing they might be interested in is making sure you've got a ticket out. Have only been to Indonesia twice - once they asked to see a return ticket, once they didn't.
Reply to this Hi Mel,
I'm an expatriate living in Indonesia. I'm the director of studies in a language school and regularly deal with Visa issues for new teachers arriving in the country. The regulations state that you should have $2,000 but I've never known the immigration staff to enforce this. Maybe, they might if they think you look scruffy.
The following advice is from the website
Living in Indonesia:
According to Indonesia's bureaucracy, arriving tourists may be asked to produce the following documents (although a return ticket should be enough):
* Itinerary (original/copy or a letter from travel agents, airline, steamship company, confirming the purchase of tickets into and out of Indonesia (Note the officer may ask to see the copy of the original airplane ticket).
* Letter of Employment, indicating the employment status of the applicant. For retirees, please submit proof of retirement income.
* Copy of US Permanent Residence/Visa/Valid I-20 from schools/universities.
* Copy of bank statement, indicating the current applicant’s available funds at least two weeks prior to the date of obtaining visa.
Beware ... of the 30-day counting trap! The way they immigration officials count the 30-day period is: you arrive on the 1st day with, for instance, a 30-day visa, and you must leave on the 30th day (not the 31st or the first of the next month, as you might think). This is actually their policy for how to count the days. and, after getting burned once and learning my lesson, I see their point and follow their definition of 30 days.
The only thing I've ever known the officials to ask for is a copy of a ticket out of the country.
Reply to this Thanks for the replies folks. 😊
I am glad to hear that showing the 2000 dollars is not always enforced. I have a ticket flying out of Bangkok for 6 weeks after I enter Sumatra, so hopefully that will be proof that I am leaving Sumatra after a few weeks.
I usually wear a dress, or a dress with light trousers under it while travelling in SE Asia, which gives me a non scruffy and non wild tourist here for partying look, and I am also travelling with a child, so hopefully the immigration will just wave me on.
Reply to this Hi Mel,
The one thing they do often (but not always ask for) is a ticket that shows you are leaving Indonesia. A ticket from Bangkok is not a ticket from Indonesia so if the Immigration officer is after a bribe he won't accept the Bangkok ticket. You find $US50 in his hand will probably make him look the other way...
If you are worried book the cheapest Air Asia ticket from a city in Indonesia that you can find to KL or Singapore. Use it as a dummy ticket to show Immigration if they ask - so look for the cheapest from anywhere in Indo as you probably have no intention of using it! You can get a cheap ticket from Medan to KL or Jakarta to Singapore for about 300,000 Rupiah ($US34).
Reply to this You find $US50 in his hand will probably make him look the other way...
Ha! I will spend that $US50 on buying the boat ticket back to Malaysia in advance instead then. I will be going back that way anyway, after a few weeks in Sumatra. Thanks for the warning Stuart!
Does anyone know if the boat tickets are flexible, or do I have to buy one for an exact date?
Reply to this Hi Mel,
I don't know the answer but I suspect not. In fact you can only buy a ticket for the ferry 21 days before you travel. So if you want to stay in Sumatra for more than 21 days you will have to buy a
flight out of the country to prove you intend to leave.
The following is advise from the National ferry operator PELNI
• When is the best time for me to order a ticket?
The best time for you to buy one is a few days before your departure so that you can depart to your destination according to the schedule. You can buy the ticket (maximum) 21 days before your departure, at PELNI office near by and at PELNI's official agencies everywhere.
PT Pelni (Persero)
• Where can I find the information about ticket price?
1. You can find the information about ticket price in:
1. Pelni Central office on Jl. Gajah Mada 14, Jakarta Pusat. Ph. 6334342, Ext. 1102 1120 or 63857773.
2. Pelni Kemayoran on Jl. Angkasa 18 Jakarta Pusat. Ph. 4211921 or 4241963.
3. PT Pelni's official branches and travel agencies near your location.
4. Call-center at 79180606
2. The prevailing ticket price is in rupiah rate and it can change without information before. The price is excluded the boarding pass, port transportation, and insurance.
Reply to this Alternatively look for a flight that you can subsequently cancel for minimal penalty - though it will probably cost you more to buy in the first place.
Reply to this This worries me a bit. I intend to overland most of the way. Most countries require a ticket out but I assumed they didn't really enforce it. I guess thats not the case. Do you guys make it par for the course to buy a plane ticket out and then just cancel it once you are in? Also, is an e-ticket sufficient?
Reply to this We recently entered Indonesia by air at Jakarta. Asian people in the visa queue were asked for proof of funds/forward travel etc. but we weren't.
Reply to this Hi Tina, an e-ticket is all you need as long as you print it out so that you have something to show. Often it's not worth it to cancel the ticket because if you use a budget airline like Air Asia the fee to cancel the flight can be more than the cost of the ticket!
In my experience its very rare for the immigration authorities in Indonesia to check if you've got a ticket out. When I recruit new native speakers we fly them into Indonesia on a tourist visa for the induction then fly them Singapore to pick up their Work Visa before stating work. Although they don't usually check if our new recruits have a ticket out of the country they do sometimes check.
When you buy a ticket get a seperate one to Singapore or KL. You only need to show an onward ticket to a destination outside of Indonesia, you don't need a return ticket if your starting place is not in Malaysia or Singapore.
Reply to this What I am going to do is buy a return boat ticket, so I have a ticket out of the country in case they ask. If I can get the return ticket for up to 21 days in advance, I will stay in Sumatra for 20 days. Seems like that will save some potential hassle, and I wont lose much time in Sumatra. I was planning to stay there for around 30 days, but no big deal. I will hang out in Malaysia for longer instead. Melaka seems like a town worth spending time in as far as I have read.
I will have the money ready to show, just in case. Hopefully, a peep into my money belt will satisify them, and I wont have to take it out.
Reply to this Hi Mell,
I'm sure you'll love Sumatra, you won't be the first person to have cut the amount of time they spend in Indonesia because of the authorities counter productive immigration rules. Anyone would think that the Indonesian Government doesn't want any money from tourism! The tourism strategy seems to be totally focused on short term stays in Bali.
Reply to this Thanks Stuart 😊
Whats Bali like? I have the bad impression of a tout ridden hell, that most backpackers go to, but none have anything good to say about.
Reply to this Hi, Mell
I have a totally different impression of Bali. It is a beautiful island, the culture is very interesting, and Balinese people are the friendliest people I have met. If you get away from the tourist places, which are concentrated in the South, you can visit fantastic villages, and interesting small towns. The temples are amazing, as are the terraced rice fields and bamboo forests. In the inland there are no touts and as a tourist you only get some of those wonderful encounters with people who are curious of who you are and where you come from. They will invite you to your home, offer you snacks and so on.
If you are lucky you can visit a funeral (yes!) and cock-fight. And there are always processions going on at the temples.
Even in Kuta the touts aren't too bad, and they are always very friendly. Only one place was horrendous and that was Kintamani, don't go there! As for back packers I think they go to Kuta, yoga/new age is in Ubud and the rich tourists in Nusa Dua.
Reply to this Thanks Inga! I will keep Bali as a possiblity then. 😊 I hope to avoid the cock fights though. And, arent the funerals a public slaughter fest. I wouldnt have the stomach for that. Likely, I would faint at the first sight of it. We had to disect pidgeons at one of my biology classes at school once and I fainted when I saw blood comming out of the one I was disecting.
Reply to this Hi Mell, Bali is mainly Hindu religion, but it is a different kind of hinduism than in India. They eat meat for exampel. So the funerals are cremations. They bring the dead in an amazingly beautiful carriage, you don't see the dead person at all. As everything in Bali it is highly esthetic. Balinese people have an incredible sense for the beautiful, so everything is very pleasing, their houses, gardens, temples, their dress and even the funerals. They believe in good spirits that will only come if surroundings are beautiful, I wish we had that belief and our environment would be different. Even the gas stations were nice. And everywhere is the Balinese music.
As for the cock fights it is the atmosphere that is so great, actually the fight is very quick and remarkably bloodless. Not at all scary. There is a religious meaning to the fight, I think it is the struggle between good and evil. If you go also visit a Balinese theatre, they put it up for the tourists but it is still touching. And still very much part of ordinary Balinese life. The stories are from the Hindu religious myths.
What I liked was also that people are so proud of their heritage, and they very much like to show it to you as a visitor. Even inviting you to a funeral, though of course we didn't take pictures there and kept some distance to show our respect.
I wish I could spend a month (or more) in Bali, it would certainly improve me a lot. All that beauty has a great impact!
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