A big hello from Belfast and a few questions...

[dingding]

Hello guys and gals!

Just joined this wee forum so thought id say hi to everyone and ask a couple of questions...

I am loosing my job by the end of the year as my company, Caterpillar, is pulling most of its operations out of Northern Ireland. I am looking at this as a blessing in disguise as the redundancy package is going to fund a year out travelling around Australia.

I would like to visit Bali on my way there, Seminyak in particular. I have found a decent apartment that i can rent for a month that is just within my budget. My question is do i need a visa for a stay of this long? I have never travelled solo before and this will be my first time in indo/asia so its a bit daunting.

I am hoping to volunteer at a reptile rescue facility while i am there, i will not be being paid for this work and i dont have to pay anything to volunteer. Will i need a certain kind of visa for this? if any?

Theses are my main concerns at the minute but im sure there will be more lol...

Any info on this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading my post and i hope to chat soon...

[Nimbus]

You are eligible for a visa on arrival good for exactly 30 days. This visa can be extended for another 30. In theory you're not supposed to do any work (including voluntary unpaid one) unless you have a work visa. In reality I have never heard any foreigner got into trouble for unpaid work.

I just thought of something: if you pay them a token amount (like $5) for the chance to do things at the facility, you would actually be safe. It's completely legal for tourists to spend money for the opportunity to handle animals.

[ScooterIndo]

I am loosing my job by the end of the year as my company, Caterpillar, is pulling most of its operations out of Northern Ireland..

Caterpillar in Indonesia is operated as a company called Trakindo Utama - they usually employ a lot of expats out in the field they have 34 dranches around the country supporting various mining operations. They are planning on building 2 new CRCs in kalimantan at the end of this year - if youre unemployed and wanna stick around for a while why dont you contact them and see if they have anything for you. They advertise on their website.

They pay pretty well so that means you wouldnt have to live in Seminyak and besides running 793s is a lot more interesting than rescuing reptiles (wink)

www.trakindo.co.id

[atlantis]

In reality I have never heard any foreigner got into trouble for unpaid work.

I have quite a few friends working with NGO to introduce you Injun at your next visit in Indonesia.

The tolerance given by Imigrasi is more about length of the work rather than the fact that it is paid or unpaid. They don't give a toss about the fact that one is paid or not. It is anyway almost impossible for them to verify, while the length of your stay is. One will have hard time to be a volunteer for more than 6 months without having Imigrasi chiming in.

[Nimbus]

Hmmm... So somebody who works for a couple of months with pay is safer than somebody who volunteers for six? It makes little sense, but then again government bureaucrats aren't known for their sense...

[atlantis]

Hmmm... So somebody who works for a couple of months with pay is safer than somebody who volunteers for six? It makes little sense, but then again government bureaucrats aren't known for their sense...

Somebody who would be working with pay (while on an izin kunjungan) for two months would be DEFINITIVELY safer, though not in a legal situation. In two months the probability that s/he attracts attention is almost nil, especially if s/he entered Indonesia with a visa kunjungan. In a 60 days time frame s/he is not even registered in Imigrasi. Someone who would be staying 6 months+ has all the time necessary to raise attention of Imigrasi. After 6 months and several visit to Imigrasi for extension, I doubt that one wouldn't have to answer a few questions and I also doubt that "I am unpaid" would be a satisfactory answer in an immigration officer's mind. It's not only "I doubt". I have in mind a few cases from two different LSM here in Manado.

Government bureaucrats indeed are not known for their sense. Those with some sense or a critical mind usually fail the recrutment test.