Questions to Consul General

Questions to Consul General

My Balinese fiance applied for a Tourist Visa at the U.S. General Consulate, Surabaya. The main reason was that we would have liked to visit a very close American friend of mine, who is married with a cousin of my fiance and whose Best Man was here in Bali four years ago.

I guaranteed to pay all the travel expenses, insurance etc., gave evidence of my funds (Bank Account, Credit Cards). But the Visa was refused, because my fiance does not have her own funds.

Over the past five years she had traveled with me to Austria, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. My guarantee to cover there all her expenses was good enough for these consulates.

My questions to the Consul General are:

1. Do American tourists have to proof that they have their own funds when they want to come to Indonesia? If not, are Americans better, more reliable, more trustworthy human being then Indonesians?

2. How do you think an average Indonesian can have sufficient funds to travel to the United States?

Thank you Uncle Sam to get us both traveled from Bali to Surabaya and paying US$45 (Rp 585.000 what a strange exchange rate you apply!) for getting a weak. Sorry.

DR. MICHAEL BEER,

Amlapura, Bali