Applying for an internship visa for Indonesia

Obtaining an internship visa

From the moment I received the wonderful news that my scholarship for an internship had been approved, and I should start looking into applying for an Internship visa for Indonesia, I became very excited about the prospect of coming to Bali and starting my adventure as an intern!

After a quick browse online,  I found out that I needed an internship visa with the index code 211. But, other than the standard requirements needed, I could not find a step by step instruction that was relevant to my application in Rome, Italy. I started to  worry if I had enough time to arrange the visa in time for my departure, and the lack of information online for my internship visa application in Rome was also very concerning.

Luckily, I approached my host company, and together with the help of CCI’s Visa department, it proved to be not too difficult to manage at all! In fact, it was quite a fast and easy process, one just needs to be careful about fulfilling all the requirements that are outlined in this document, and make sure all your personal documents and the documents of your sponsor has the necessary validity.

The Embassy in Rome advised that I apply for an Internship visa which is similar to a Social Visa, as I am currently a law student looking to be placed on an internship, however I have heard that some countries would advise obtaining a Single Business Visa when on an internship in a company. Both visas are very similar, and have the same index code (211), however some of the required documents could be different.

In order to help future interns to get their trainee visa for Indonesia without having to deal with any fears or unnecessary bumps on the road, I wrote this informative article about the process of applying for a visa and what to expect.

What you’ll need for your Internship Visa application:

First of all, I suggest checking the requirements on your Embassy’s website.
Most countries host an Indonesian embassy, however, sometimes they don’t. In the latter case, one has to go to an Indonesian embassy located in the next nearest country.

In my case, I had to go to the Indonesian Embassy located in Rome. At that specific embassy, the requirements were as follows:
– The online visa application form has to be completed;
– Original passport with a minimum validity of 18 months;
– Two photos sized 4×6 cm;
– Copy of your return flight ticket;
– Internship Agreement with the University (signed by the Dean and your host);
– Sponsor Letter: a document in which your internship-company declares that they will act as your sponsor during your time in Indonesia;
– KTP of the sponsor; an Identity Card of the Indonesian Director of the company.

Note that this is just a model, as the requirements change with different embassies. The Indonesian Embassy in Paris, for example, also requires a Telex Visa (an approval from the Immigration Directorate of Jakarta), this Telex visa can take up to 14 working days to process.

After one has collected all these documents, one needs to take them to the Embassy. Whenever you are not able to go to the Embassy yourself, it is a possibility to assign an agent who will do it for you. An agent can be easily found by searching on the Internet and the price will be around 100 euro (visa plus service fee).

The Embassy usually needs a few days to complete the procedure, but it can be as long as a week if you apply for example to the Paris Embassy. Once the Visa is issued you will have 90 days to enter Indonesia and the Visa will be valid for 60 days, counted from the arrival date. If your internship will last longer than two months, you can apply for a visa extension through the Immigration office.

For example, I applied to the Immigration office in Denpasar for my extension because it services expats whom live in Sanur. The Internship visa can be extended up to four times for 30 days for each extension. For the extension you can use a consulting firm, like CCI, that handles the entire process for you. In this case, the price of the first and second extension is around IDR 1.150.000 for each one and for the third and fourth extension you will pay around IDR 1.250.000 for each extension.

This visa allows you to travel all around Indonesia, but doesn’t permit you to go outside Indonesia. If you leave Indonesia, your visa will be cancelled and you have to re-apply for a new one. Luckily, Indonesia is so beautiful that you will not feel the need to leave once you are here, I promise you!

Good luck with your internship ☺

To read  an article about applying for your internship visa in Paris Embassy click here