How to get a Dutch Visa

This is a brief guide for Indonesian citizens who want to get a visa from the Embassy of The Netherlands: * You have to have a full day free from all other commitments. Or you have to be on vacation. Or you have to have no job.

The latest regulation requires you to come personally to the visa counter at the embassy. Since there is always a very, very long line of Indonesians who are desperate to see the land of their former masters, you have to be prepared to spend four or five hours in line to get your passport stamped. The other day I had to wait from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. And I was planning to be in The Netherlands for just a couple of days. * You have to respect the idea of "order". Once you are allowed to pass the gate and enter the embassy yard, a receptionist will give you a number. But you are not supposed to walk around, or even to stand, while you are waiting for your number to be called. The receptionist will tell you to sit, until your time for the next stage comes. * The next stage is to move from the yard into the consular office. Here, somebody in a security uniform will tell you to sit orderly, meaning you have to be positioned at a precise spot. Later, you are required to move from one chair to the next on your left each time a person leaves. You may feel that you are losing your freedom to choose a chair, but this has nothing to do with human rights.

Other foreign embassies do not have such an elaborate procedure, and the process is relatively fast, but then they have a different history.

GOENAWAN MOHAMAD

Jakarta