As I was off traveling, the family needed to renew their visas.
Currently because of travel we are staying in Indonesia courtesy of Visitor on Arrival visas. These are good for 30 days from the date of entry into the country, and can be renewed once for another 30 days. While there are other, more expensive two-month visa options, these wouldn’t allow us to travel outside the country without invalidating the visa. Rather than waste money, we deal with the headache of having to go down to the immigration office every other month and renew our visas.
It costs $35 (USD) for each 30-day visa renewal, per person. But it also requires at least four trips to the immigration office. First to get paperwork, then to submit paperwork and pay. Then to return to be fingerprinted and photographed. And a final visit to pick up our passports with the visa seals in them. It’s time-consuming, but manageable.
Our hope is that I’ll be able to secure a 1-year work visa courtesy of our Indonesian church partner organization. Thanks to Rev. Matt Wood who knows the GKLI more personally and far better than I do, that process is creaking forward slowly, and perhaps by March or April we could have that. It wouldn’t solve all our problems – Alec and Mika are both over 18 (as of Mika’s birthday this month!) and therefore aren’t covered under my work visa and will need to have alternate visa options. But it will make my life slightly easier in the meantime, which would be a blessing!
The Nelson Family Indonesia 