Going Back to Indonesia from Overseas, Covid-19 Edition
Since I have nothing to do during my quarantine here, and a lot of people have been asking me what things are needed to prepare, here’s a very brief and not-so-tidy article to explain the process.
While this article specifically describes my experience as a Singapore resident, I think the process should be similar from whatever country you are from, as long as you meet the assumptions below. Enjoy!
Assumptions
- You are an Indonesian resident
- You are fully vaccinated
- You plan to stay at a hotel instead of Wisma Atlet
- You are not infected with Covid-19. I honestly don’t know how things will go if one of your PCR tests is positive.
Going to CGK from SIN
As of November 2021, the quarantine length required for vaccinated people is only 3 days, 2 nights. This is very short compared to other countries’ requirements, something to be very grateful of 😌.
Far Before Departure Preparation
- Get a Vaccination Certificate
For Singapore residents, you can visit https://www.notarise.gov.sg/ to generate the vaccine certificate. - Register your overseas vaccine for PeduliLindungi here
Mine took 10 days to be approved. - Book a ticket (normal process)
- Book a hotel
It’s very crucial to book one beforehand. Booking on the spot while waiting for PCR test is a hell of trouble. I booked Wyndham Casablanca (this is not an endorsement, you can Google yourself for other choices). For most cases, paying the hotel also includes paying for 2x PCR tests, 1x at the airport upon arrival, and 1x on the 3rd day of hotel quarantine. By right, you will receive the following QR document. You will need to show this to the airport officer on arrival.
Near Before Departure
- Get a PCR test 72 hours before departure
The 72 hours is the regulation from Indonesia. To be safe, you can just book your PCR D-2 before your departure. I booked Raffles Diagnostica using RafflesConnect app, and it cost me $138. As for the results, I did the test at 9 AM and got the results via email on the same day at 10 PM. - Print 3 documents: a) Vaccination Certificate, b) Hotel QR code (your hotel should give you this), c) PCR test results
- Register for e-HAC at PeduliLindungi app
My Experience
My flight was scheduled for Thursday night at 10 PM. I chose a night flight so that I could work first before I depart. This turns out to be a regretful choice 💀.
Departing from Changi was mostly the same as usual, except for the check-in process. I was a huge fan of Changi’s automated check-in and luggage process, but all the machines are disabled. So we need to go through the manual check-in process.
The queue does take some time. It wasn’t long, but I could see several passengers arguing regarding the documents they have, taking up several minutes hence clogging the queue. For me, as I have prepared all the documents, it only took me 2 minutes to put luggage and get the boarding pass. From here, the trip is just the usual plane trip.
The flight was very punctual. Upon arrival, there are more processes instead of only doing immigration checks. And, the queue was extremely, immensely, long. It took me 2 hours to go through the following process:
- Passport and boarding pass check
- PCR results, vaccination certificate, and hotel QR check
- (This itself took 1 hour) PCR test
- Immigration check
Phew, I survived 2 hours and I thought I will be getting to the hotel, YET I still needed to wait for the PCR results. My hotel driver said that it usually takes one hour max, but they guarantee it won’t take more than 2 hours. Alas, mine took 1.5 hours. Afterward, I was escorted to my hotel to proceed with the quarantine process. It was 4 AM in the morning… a very dreadful experience.
The quarantine length for fully vaccinated person (as of November) is only 3 days 2 nights. Besides the one taken at the airport, I was required to take 2nd PCR on the 3rd day of quarantine. The conduct time of 2nd PCR will be odd, i.e. 3–5 AM. If you want to just spend 2 nights, you need to do it at that time. Otherwise, you need to spend another night.
And voila, once your PCR results are out and negative, you are free to roam the city of Jakarta! I’ll write another article on how to go back to Singapore using the designated VTL in the future, but I suppose it’ll be much simpler 😃.
