How the fees break down

Every quote you get for a visa is made of three things. Most agents show you their sum. This is what is inside it.

Government fees

Set by the Indonesian authorities, paid to the state, and the same whoever lodges the application. They depend on the category and on how long the permission runs, not on who you hired.

Two things follow from that. A quote below the government fee for the category it names is describing a different category, or is wrong. And a quote that is higher than another purely because the government fee is higher is not more expensive: it is for a different route, and that difference is the thing to ask about.

The service fee

Ours. The assessment, building and checking the document set, lodging, tracking, and coming back to you when something changes.

This is the only layer where agents genuinely differ, which is why bundling it into a total makes comparison impossible. What is worth asking when you compare: does the fee cover the extension, or is that quoted again later? Does it cover a resubmission if a document is queried? Who talks to you while it is in progress?

Third party costs

Anything paid to somebody who is neither us nor the state: translation, legalisation, courier, and occasionally a document that has to be bought rather than requested.

These should be listed by name and at cost. A round number here usually means an estimate, and an estimate that is never reconciled is a margin.

What moves, and when

Government fees change. Processing rules change. That is why every quote we issue carries the date it was issued, and the figures on it are the ones current on that date.

If something changes between the quote and the lodging, the quote is reissued with the new number and you are told why. What should not happen is a payment request appearing later with no explanation attached.

Questions worth asking any agent

• Which of these three layers is your fee, and what is the government fee for the category you are quoting?
• What is explicitly not included?
• If a document is queried and has to be resubmitted, is that inside the fee?
• Is the extension quoted now or later?

None of these are awkward questions. If they are awkward to answer, that is the answer.