Visa woes

 
Friday 27th November

My short trip to Bali hasn't started well.

My original 1-year visa to Australia expired today. The intent was to leave Australia for a few days during which time I'll obtain a visitor visa enabling me to return for a week to referee another NSW Touch State Cup before I had to leave for good. I'd arrived at this plan following hours of research and also advice given to me on the phone by the immigration office - but naturally there was an uncommunicated technicality as there always seems to be with these things...

JetStar won't let me fly - this bombshell coming after I've queued for three quarters of an hour and with only 5 minutes left until check in closes. I don't think I've ever had panic and despair set in more quickly in my life. The reason I'm not being denied boarding is because I have a return ticket to Australia but am not yet in possession of a valid visa to get back into the country. But I am neither allowed nor able to apply for that visa unless I am off-shore... talk about a case of "chicken and egg"?! I'm moved to JetStar's service desk where despite being rather shaken I'm actually managing to remain reasonably calm. The service desk supervisor re-confirms my situation. Frustration builds but I suppress it as to be fair to her she's under legal direction and she's being as understanding as she can, besides which it would do no good. She asks if I have a ticket out of Australia to which I reply December 8th. She suggests to change my return flight from Bali to December 7th, this way I could fly today and also return to Sydney airport "in transit" because I would be leaving the country again within short timeframe. I try to explore other options with her but it soon becomes clear that this is the only way I'm getting out of Australia today - which I must do to avoid being illegal. So I reluctantly agree after which I'm checked in, my bag is tagged and I race to security and on to my departure gate.

The flight is unpleasant not because of anything on the part of the airline but because I am a massive bundle of stress. I try in vain to sleep because I know I'll be up late at the hotel online and making phone calls. I reflect on some of the lighter moments I've had with friends discussing having to "fight" to remain in Australia - a few suggesting that I "return on a boat" (topical/current local issue of a spike in asylum seekers) while another took a historical line musing that in the not too distant past "all I needed to do was steal a loaf of bread and I'd be sent here for free."

Immigration in Bali is what I would call a pretty standard experience - it costs US$10 for a visa which could be bought on arrival. But as I collect my luggage I'm approach by two guys in uniform who insist on taking my bags from me. Naturally I thought I was subject to a random security screening as is now common in many airports. One wheeled my suitcase while the other carried my hand luggage, first to a security scanner then past a customs desk. We turn a corner where they stop and demand US$10 EACH (!!) to return my property. My fuse is already pretty short - aside from the fact that I feel deceived they've wheeled my stuff the grand distance of about 25 metres - but I have no energy to argue so I give up the remaining US$11 in my wallet and take my bags back before exiting the building. Nobody has had their hands on my luggage since.

My airport-hotel transfer is there to meet me but we have to wait for another guest so I stand (im)patiently to one side. After 25 minutes the driver comes back - this is apparently his wait time limit so we leave. It's only a short distance from Denpasar airport to my hotel in Kuta but the traffic crawls and I'm not sure the driver got out of first gear. This is doing nothing for my nerves.

By now I've figured out that neither my Australian nor Irish SIM cards will work here. I knew the Australian one wouldn't but I'm pretty annoyed with 3 Ireland who assured me my Irish one would.

I check in to the hotel around 11pm knowing I will be checking out again in the morning - reason being I have an overnight dive trip booked to the north side of the island. After changing some money and buying an internet card I make my way to my room - concierge staff insist on assisting but I'm just not interested.

I don't unpack but reach immediately for my laptop and head straight for eVisitor visa application website which I have bookmarked. I plough through the application in a couple of minutes and consider changing my return flight now but any confidence I had of visa approval much less a quick one is completely eroded so I pull down as many contact numbers as I can find for immigration offices as well as airlines. Even if I have no mobile phone, I can at least hope to make calls through Skype. Fortunately it works and I use up the remainder of my time talking gibberish at my best friend who helps calm me down (thank you) so I can go to sleep. There's not much else I can do tonight except try to rest - it's now 1am and I have to be up again at 6.

Saturday 28th November

It comes as no surprise that I am wake before either my alarm call or phone alarm have a chance to do their job. I re-arrange my packing as I plan to take an overnight bag only on the dive trip. Ordinarily I wouldn't take my laptop anywhere near water but under the circumstances I feel on this occasion I have no option. I check out and send my large bag to storage before grabbing breakfast despite having zero appetite.

Reception staff kindly allow me use one of their internet computers without charge for the two minutes it required to check my email. I can't begin to describe the feeling of relief when I saw "NOTIFICATION OF GRANT OF AN EVISITOR..." appear on the screen in capital letters. My focus shifts to my flight but unfortunately I have to get off the computer - I should be in the lobby waiting for the diving people anyway.

They're 15 minutes late. I purchase an internet card and attempt to phone JetStar via Skype. I'm about two minutes into the call and about to give my credit card information when dive staff enter the lobby. I try to continue but my Skype call - whose audio quality has been awful - finally cuts out and at this point I'm just about ready to break something.

The AquaMarine Diving staff - some locals, some ex-pats - and I introduce ourselves and I explain what's going on. I'm obviously not explaining the situation properly enough so they understand. So I strip it down to the bare minimum: "I'm desperately trying to change a flight but have no phone and (now that I'm away from my hotel) no Internet access." We have a chat about what I would like to do and they very kindly offer to try to change my flight for me while I'm on the excursion with them, which I jump at. So I scribble down booking & flight details and about 5 phone numbers and drop them off at their office which we call in at to collect one of the other guides.

I know in my heart heart they're trying their best but after a morning waiting for phone calls that came in when Janri is either away from his phone or we are underwater I start to really worry again. Over my lunch and against my better judgement I provide my credit card details hoping they would be able to change the flight when they managed to get through but after returning from the afternoon dive I get the message that only the passenger can change the flight. Frustrating, but it's probably a necessary piece of red tape. So I have to make the decision to abandon my night dive, overnight stay (which is incidentally in the middle of nowhere with zero lines of communication) and dives next day - there was no way I would be able to enjoy things until I got this resolved.

After being dropped back at my hotel I attempt to check in for an extra night as they weren't expecting me until tomorrow. I'm sure people arrive on-spec at hotels all the time but given how difficult they managed to find it I began to wonder. After some concern over them not being able to bill my credit card things finally get resolved and I head to my room together with my luggage now returned to me and a freshly purchased Internet card. Again I skip unpacking but immediately get online. Thankfully the Skype call just about holds up and I'm able to get my return flight leg put back to what it was originally and I now have email confirmations of both it and my visa. PHEW.

Of course now that it's all over and I've written about it I can see things I could (should?) have done differently. It's funny how our thought processes get screwy under duress, isn't it? I think that's why as people we generally turn to somebody outside and thus unaffected by the system we're in and problems we're facing - they can look at things objectively and dissect them into manageable bits.

For now though I'm just glad to have the visa and my flight back to what it was. Hopefully I can now enjoy the rest of my time here but I don't think I'll actually relax until I'm back landside in Sydney.