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(Moderated: no allegation here please)

doc_bay wrote:

close to 500,000 plus to took one full week and four visits back to the i****** center to complete!  And they had to have a personal interview from one of the  top officers!  EVERYONE had to have this interview just for an extended VOA!

A VOA costs US$35, so check the exchange rate for the local cost. At today's rate, that's "close to 500,000"
Are you accusing immigration of something other than dealing with your visa normally and charging you the correct price?
You may not like the rules and methods, but immigration seen to have delt with you in a normal manner.
Maybe it should have been three visits, but you might have done something to concern them, possibly a bad attitude?????

(Moderated: abusive )

I have dealings with immigration soon.
I've already arranged for an officer to do the running about for me, going to other offices and all the messing about I don't want to do.
I know the price for the documents I want, and am being asked for that much.
The officer will get a payment for acting as an agent - NOT a bribe to do something illegal.
If my request is refused, that's my problem, and the agent fee will make no difference to the outcome.
Will he get an envelope? Yes, but not a bribe.
Are envelopes used to pay agents? Yes, but that doesn't mean any of those are bribes either.
If you pay for a private service here, it's considered good manners to put the cash in an envelope, but doesn't mean anything illegal is happening.
The worst is an immigration officer is doing a bit of moonlighting, hardly a crime, and really handy to save people a load of messing about.

You just can't accuse someone of a serious crime with absolutely no evidence.

Doc wrote,

“For a regular tourist and not someone trying to abuse the "system" wanting to experience more of Indonesia and spend more money in the country and has to park themselves in one location for a week so they can go back every couple of days to submit another piece of paper only to return again for photos and whatever to come back again to pick up their passport that has been held this whole time WHICH forces the person to stay where they are and cannot change hotels, fly to another destination or whatever!”

That is totally spot on Doc, and in Bali (where tourism is so important) that onerous process of VOA extension has been greatly streamlined, even if the tourist goes about extending on their own, without an agent.

Good luck Fred with your upcoming "visit" to immigration.   

Ubudian wrote:

That is totally spot on Doc, and in Bali (where tourism is so important) that onerous process of VOA extension has been greatly streamlined, even if the tourist goes about extending on their own, without an agent.

Good luck Fred with your upcoming "visit" to immigration.   

I have to be honest, the system is hard work, more so when you consider the ease of a normal VOA at an airport. You'd think they could just pop a stamp in your passport, and off you go.
In some cases, where immigration may suspect you're working or up to something else a shade naughty, I can see the point of further checks.
My trip is easier, and will take longer by several weeks, but it could be worth it.
Before then, I have to get all the paperwork sorted out for the new house, and the local office are less than fast.
Ho hum, that's an Indonesian's idea of a rush job, so I'll stand it.
I have until December to see the whole task completed, or I'll have an extra load of messing about to sort out.