Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# another visa question Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Papua New Guinea
pakoban 08:27 UTC 06 Feb 2009 | lets assume this unpredictable png consulate in jayapura gives me a png visa just cause they are ballack-fans.. how is the latest indonesian-visa-procedure to get back into west papua then? possible in vanimo? or port moresby..? thanks! |
donbrisbane 12:20 UTC 06 Feb 2009 | indonesian consul in vanimo issues visa's-monday to friday...cost 60 kina..if you put in your application in the morning,you can pick up next morning...problem is finding transport to and from vanimo-border,as png foreign affairs have closed the border and only allow passport holders to travel across...all local people no longer travel to the border to go "shopping"at the indonesian run trade shops...so the domino effect is that all those sleek shiny bus's no longer take the trip.good luck | 1
Laszlo 13:56 UTC 06 Feb 2009 | Oh, the border is closed again, this time by PNG for a change??? In that case, it might still be worth trying to cross by sea. One can supposedly even get a visa on arrival in Jayapura, if entering by sea, rather than through the land border. | 2
pngmangi 00:30 UTC 07 Feb 2009 | I went from Vanimo to Jayapura in late December. The border was unofficially closed to traditional border crossers, now it has been made official. There has been some major problems in Vanimo relating to the border post lately. Passport & visa holders should be ok, fingers crossed. The processing at the border was very smooth and straight forward. Its great to be able to get your stamp there instead of in town. I am hoping to cross over again in 2 weeks, I will check out the VOA status when I'm there. I will get my visa in advance in Vanimo - thanks for the updated cost Don. When I crossed in December I got my visa in POM (K135 for single entry 60 days). It was very easy and quick, the embassy were extremely helpful, unlike elsewhere! I didn't see or hear of any boats making the trip to/from the border when I was there. I will check that out too. | 3
Laszlo 06:01 UTC 07 Feb 2009 | As far as I know, there have been no regular/public boats for many years now. However, whenever the border was closed, it was always possible to hire a boat directly from Jayapua/Hamadi to Vanimo. Not cheap, of course. Note that the VOA only applies is arriving directly to Jayapura by sea, not at the land border! | 4
pakoban 20:09 UTC 27 Mar 2009 | just to report the latest situation.. getting a png-visa in jayapura required 2 passport-size pics, a copy of an onward- or return-ticket, a typed visa request letter with a nice justification why applying for a visa and 225.000 Rp. according to the stamp on the visa it took 7 days to issue my visa.. ( after 2 days I went to the highlands and picked it up 4 weeks later ). crosing the border was by rented car from jayapura to wutung at the border ( 400.000 Rp ) - from yotefa market there are theoretically public cars but there are rarely enough passengers. from the border to vanimo its a 10 kina ride by PMV or minibus. getting an indonesian visa in vanimo was very straightforward and relaxed within a few hours. the price is 70 kina. | 5
pngmangi 06:00 UTC 30 Mar 2009 | Thanks Pakoban! | 6