At Renon Immigration office today extending our visa for another month.
This is a hassle for many but I spend so much time cuking etc at home it's good to get out and go for a ride with Nyoman Dogen in his old bemo [see this April post with bemo photo]. Saved up a bunch of other errands too. Had all the papers filled out and signed with the right stamp, Katrinka and my passport plus photocopy [fotokopi] of it [can't say "copy" here cause that's what they call coffee (kopi)]. Got there in time to get out before their lunch break too - but the gentleman behind the window introduced a new element. Now for the fotokopi they want the current visa and entry stamp pages in addition to the front name and photo page. There's an office inside their grounds that does that but when I got back, in time again, the windows were closed for the lunch break - five minutes early. No big deal. We did some other errands including going to the American Consulate which was closed for Memorial Day Holiday. Went back at 1pm, got the documents handed in and the receipt with date to come back to pay - this step has to be a separate day courtesy of Indonesian Immigration, then the next biz day to pick it up. So before I left the window I told the official I wanted to look into getting a KITAS residency visa good for a year for Katrinka and me. He said I'd have to go do that from another country. I knew that wasn't a good answer. Stood in the hallway wondering what to do. Of course I could go to an agent which almost everyone says I'll have to do but I was told that about these extensions as well and I've always liked dealing with bureaucracy - call it a mindfulness practice. I know one person in the office I used to be able to walk up to till they changed the setup to being behind glass and you have to take a number. I thought, gosh I wish Ibu Siri (Mrs. Siri) would walk by - please, please, please. And then she did - and stopped to say hi. I told her what I wanted. She took me to a place where we could sit and talk privately. I struggled to understand what she was saying and she had to repeat herself a few times but finally I left with her phone number and what to bring her to get it going. She said she'd write to the head office in Jakarta and run it through for us. But that's just to get like a letter from Jakarta with which we can obtain the Kitas in another country. That gives us five months to get this done. Left with thanks for an answered prayer.
This is a hassle for many but I spend so much time cuking etc at home it's good to get out and go for a ride with Nyoman Dogen in his old bemo [see this April post with bemo photo]. Saved up a bunch of other errands too. Had all the papers filled out and signed with the right stamp, Katrinka and my passport plus photocopy [fotokopi] of it [can't say "copy" here cause that's what they call coffee (kopi)]. Got there in time to get out before their lunch break too - but the gentleman behind the window introduced a new element. Now for the fotokopi they want the current visa and entry stamp pages in addition to the front name and photo page. There's an office inside their grounds that does that but when I got back, in time again, the windows were closed for the lunch break - five minutes early. No big deal. We did some other errands including going to the American Consulate which was closed for Memorial Day Holiday. Went back at 1pm, got the documents handed in and the receipt with date to come back to pay - this step has to be a separate day courtesy of Indonesian Immigration, then the next biz day to pick it up. So before I left the window I told the official I wanted to look into getting a KITAS residency visa good for a year for Katrinka and me. He said I'd have to go do that from another country. I knew that wasn't a good answer. Stood in the hallway wondering what to do. Of course I could go to an agent which almost everyone says I'll have to do but I was told that about these extensions as well and I've always liked dealing with bureaucracy - call it a mindfulness practice. I know one person in the office I used to be able to walk up to till they changed the setup to being behind glass and you have to take a number. I thought, gosh I wish Ibu Siri (Mrs. Siri) would walk by - please, please, please. And then she did - and stopped to say hi. I told her what I wanted. She took me to a place where we could sit and talk privately. I struggled to understand what she was saying and she had to repeat herself a few times but finally I left with her phone number and what to bring her to get it going. She said she'd write to the head office in Jakarta and run it through for us. But that's just to get like a letter from Jakarta with which we can obtain the Kitas in another country. That gives us five months to get this done. Left with thanks for an answered prayer.
