Don't Let Your Nationality Refrain You From Seeing The World

Few months ago, there was an article about Most Powerful Passport In The World and as Indonesian, we’re on 60th ranking, in other words, it's not quite powerful. As result to this, sometimes I’m facing more complexities and questionnaires from visa application process to arriving at the border point of destination country. I been traveling with Indonesian passport for quite some time and have personally experienced this type of behaviour more than people who are traveling on privilege passports. When it comes to travel, if you’re coming from privilege countries, it’s more of a given when going on an overseas trip. You can just buy plane tickets and start planning on your itinerary. But for the rest of us, sometimes we need to think of visa bureaucracy that we need to get through first before feeling excited making plans on our choice of destination.

One occasion was when I travelled to Rarotonga in Cook Islands. I arrived at 1am, it was a long day already for me. I was standing in line just like everyone else waiting for Custom to stamp my passport. When it was my turn, they asked me to move aside and they held my passport. Another Custom officer came over and asked me questions about my itinerary for the next 7 days. They also questioned why I was traveling alone. I told them what I was planning to do and I was traveling on my own because I chose it this way to be more flexible meeting new people and get to know more of the culture. They also soon found out my New Zealand residency on one of the pages of my passport. This has somehow stopping them from raising their eyebrows as they let me go not long after.

 

Another situation when I was arriving in Cairns, Australia, although I was coming from Auckland, Custom officer still asked me about my purpose of visiting Australia and then they also told me to go to “Goods To Declare” line even though on my Arrival Card I ticked “No Goods To Declare”. Because of course they didn’t just believe that I didn’t carry anything and therefore I need to be thoroughly checked before they let me go. Again, this all because of the stereotype of my passport. I sometimes feel discriminated but I know in a situation like this, I have to remain calm and play by the rules.

 

Visa bureaucracy also can be complicated process and intend to linger on and on. Typical documents that I normally lodge are Visa Form, Bank Statement, Proof of Employment, Travel Insurance, Return Ticket, Booking of Accommodations at the destination country and other additional supporting documents depending on the countries I am visiting. Some examples are in preparation for my visit to South America next month, I needed to lodge my tourist visa and other documents way in advance. When I lodged my Bolivian visa application, on top of the normal paperwork, I had to submit Police Criminal Record. This is something that I never been asked before as part of Tourist Visa requirements. Bolivian Embassy also doesn’t have a representative office in New Zealand, so I had to send my passport to Sydney in Australia. Three weeks before I fly, I finally heard the good news. Honestly, I was a bit anxious of the prolonged process they took on my application. With Argentinian visa, I had to fly down to Wellington for a one on one interview that happened to be with the Ambassador himself. I felt quite honour to have met him in person actually. He turned out to be a very hospitable and was quite informative giving me some advice for my visit. However, this didn't change the fact that I was still facing questions afterwards by the Consulate officer. By far, Argentinian Embassy is probably the most meticulous when assessing visa application. The most smooth and straightforward was when applying for Brazilian tourist visa, it only took total of 4 days from the moment I sent my application by post to their Embassy until they returned my passport back with a year’s visa sticker on it. I didn’t even have to fly down to the capital for interview!

Although every country have their own rules and regulation, sometimes I feel it's unfair that passport holders from less privilege countries had to endure this process. However, I can’t change that fact on how people perceiving my nationality. It's ultimately beyond my control. All I can change is my perspective of the situation and how I act towards them. I guess by keeping myself composed and answer the questions thoroughly, they can see that I have good intention entering their countries. I know it takes more preparation for us to enter most of the countries in the world, but you just have to keep that positivity alive and be optimistic with all the requirements you need to comply because when you're sitting on the window seat on a plane that takes you to those dreamy places, you'll realize that the more difficult something is, the more rewarding it is in the end.

All these bureaucracy and challenges never put my spirit down and keeping my Indonesian passport gathering dust in the drawer is definitely not an option. If you invest enough effort and dedication towards it, you're already half way there. Here's my tips for everyone who wants to travel but was put off by visa bureaucracy: prepare cover letter that explains your itinerary and checklist of the documents you're submitting, be firm with your answers, be friendly and well-presented when going on an interview, having full time job has helped me a lot with the application process too and last but not least, have faith! Up to date, I have entered 24 countries with and without visa. And I'm just an ordinary Indonesian girl who is working full time and trying to fulfill her longlife dreams one step at a time. My passport have yet to fail me from fulfilling my wanderlust. People can think whatever they want towards your nationality, all you need to keep in mind is that you have nothing but best intention to see their countries and learning about their cultures. Never put your dreams on hold until you're old and jaded and let it be just dreams. Instead, chase them and start planning. Don't let anything refrain you from seeing the world and never stop exploring no matter what obstacle coming to your way!

 

"We may not get what we want, when we want. But with a bit of perseverance and a lot of patience, we can get what we need." -Sarah Strohmeyer-