Visitor Visa USA – Kamu Bisa Mendapatkannya Jika Pihak Kedutaan Yakin Kamu akan Pulang ke Indonesia

Judul ini adalah kesan saya saat saya dan juga pengalaman beberapa teman yang mengajukan visa kunjungan ke USA, visa yang terkenal paling sulit didapat. Walau niat hati kita pasti balik pulang ke Indonesia tapi jika dari kondisi kita mereka menilai ada kemungkinan tidak pulang ke negara asal, Indonesia, maka tidak diberikan.

Saya dan adik saya beruntung mendapatkannya karena walau kami single dan usia produktif yang layak dicurigai jadi calon imigran gelap. Tapi dari jawaban kami, syukurlah bisa meyakinkan miss bule yang mewawancara kami kalau saya memang hobi jalan-jalan dan adik saya adalah pendamping jalan-jalan saya yang tidak terpisahkan. Lalu saya memiliki pekerjaan tetap plus usaha kecil yang dijalankan oleh adik saya...yang syukurlah semua ini dinilai ngak layak akan kami tukar dengan status menjadi imigran gelap di USA dan visa kami disetujui. Hhmm, jangan sampai lah yah kalau USA ngak ada di list negara yang pernah dikunjungi oleh orang yang suka jalan-jalan ini he...he...

Proses aplikasi, seperti biasanya, saya paling suka melakukan proses visa sendiri tanpa bantuan biro jasa, selain lebih murah, saya suka pengalamannya.

Langkah pertama, isi form aplikasi online DS-160 dan caranya bisa dilihat di www.ustraveldocs.com/id/

Plilih bagian visa non imigran kemudian pilih "Cara Mengisi Form". Form bisa disimpan online selama 1 bulan artinya bisa edit-edit dulu sebelum di-submit online. Pilih tipe visitor visa B1/B2. Setelah form di-submit kita lakukan pembayaran. Caranya bisa dilihat di web diatas di bagian "Cara Pembayaran".  Saat itu ada pilihan setor tunai di bank CIMB Niaga artinya harus datang ke bank CIMB Niaga, lalu ada pilihan dengan EFT (electronic transfer fund). Saya pilih cara EFT dengan transfer via internet banking karena males kudu datang dan antri ke bank. EFT adalah tranfer antar bank (bisa internet banking maupun ke counter bank dimana kita buka rekening) dengan nomor virtual yang diberikan saat kita masuk ke web yang diinfokan pada menu cara pembayaran. Bank penerima transfer dengan cara EFT adalah Bank Amerika cabang Jakarta dan katanya tidak semua bank ada channel transfer antar bank ke bank ini. Saya melakukannya dengan transfer internet banking dari rekening Citibank saya dan berhasil. Untuk bukti bayarnya cukup diprint halaman konfirmasi dari internet banking.

Jika kita memilih cara EFT maka keesokan harinya baru dapat mengisi jadwal wawancara. Caranya baca di web tadi di bagian Janji Wawancara. Di menu ini kita diminta pilih B1 (bisnis), B2 (travel) atau B1/B2. Saya pilih B1/B2....he..he...ngarep bukan hanya akan jalan-jalan ke USA tapi juga bisa meeting atau training untuk urusan kantor. Saya memilih jadwal di hari libur lebaran terakhir dan berharap akan sepi dan juga supaya jatah cuti saya yang dipotong sebagai cuti bersama ngak sia-sia...ngak mau rugi he..he.., padahal malamnya saya baru balik liburan dari Lombok.

Hari H – Wawancara

Pagi saat bangun tidur, hujan deras banget. Wah...jangan sampai antri sambil ujan-ujanan nih. Tapi hari ini memang hari keberuntungan saya. Saat tiba jam 6.30 di kedutaan,  hujan hanya rintik dan sama sekali tidak ada antrian, saya langsung masuk gedung setelah barang bawaan saya dan juga appointment letter diperiksa satpam. Ya, hari itu Jumat 30 Juni adalah liburan lebaran terakhir. Mantap banget deh ngak ada acara berdiri disetrap dan juga prosesnya lumayan cepat. Kami dapat nomor urut 4. Petugas bagian depan, memeriksa dokumen seperti yang diinfokan saat booking jadwal wawancara yaitu form konfirmasi jadwal wawancara, paspor asli dan 1 foto ukuran 5x5 berlatar putih dan dicetak di kertas glossy. Lalu mengurutkannya. Kami menunggu sebentar dan tepat jam 7, loket sidik jari dibuka. Ada sedikit pertanyaan di loket ini seperti memastikan saya dan adik saya adalah saudara kandung sehingga kami bisa di-interview bareng. Dia juga minta paspor lama kalau mau disertakan. Setelah itu kami ke ruang tunggu wawancara lalu sekitar jam 7.40 loket wawacancara dibuka.

Nomor urut 1, anak muda visanya tidak disetujui, kemudian no 2 tante yang cenderung oma visanya disetujui cepat banget karena dia pernah dapat visa USA tapi belum pernah dipakai dan sekarang baru mau pergi jadi apply ulang. Lalu no 3 yang oma juga, hampir sama lamanya dengan kami wawancaranya dan dia visa juga disetujui.

Giliran kami diinterview bareng berdua, agak banyak juga yang ditanya tapi dokumen tidak dia lihat sama sekali padahal saya sudah bawa surat keterangan kerja, rekening 3 bulan plus deposito...yang dilihat cuma paspor dan surat komfirmasi penyerahan form aplikasi. Berikut adalah pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang miss bule ajukan dengan lancarnya dalam bahasa Indonesia (no 1 sd 3 juga di-interview pakai bahasa Indonesia, sepertinya miss nya lagi suka ngomong indo he...he...) sampai akhirnya dia yakin memberikan visa kepada kami. Berikut pertanyaan yang ditanyakan dalam wawancara ngak sampai 10 menit.

• Mau apa ke USA?
• Berapa hari?
• Pakai tour?
• Rencana kemana saja di USA? (saya kasih unjuk itinerary yang saya buat dari balik kaca tapi dia tidak ambil dan baca dari dekat kertasnya...sepertinya sudah takjub dengar penjelasan saya he...he...)
• Pernah ke Nz (karena dia lihat kertas print visa yang saya tempel)? 
• Pernah ke Australia? (karena dia juga liat kertas print visa yang saya tempel di paspor...dan dalam hati saya ingat komentar teman saya saat saya trip terakhir ke Australia itu katanya saya numpang kencing doang karena cuma 3 malam disana ha...ha...)
• Kapan waktu itu ke Kanada?
• Saat ke Eropa ke kota apa aja?
• Siapa yang akan bayar biaya untuk trip ke USA?
• Kerja sebagai apa?
• Berapa gajinya? (saya jawab tanpa bersuara deh dengan gerakan bibir dan tangan saja...sebab mikrofon nyaring banget, bisa satu ruangan dengar)
• Kalian berdua kakak adik serumah?
• Ayah dan ibu apa masih ada? Siapa yang jaga? 
• Ada saudara lain di rumah?
• Khusus adik saya ditanyain di negara-negara yang pernah kita pergi lihat apa aja karena semua pertanyaan diatas hampir semua saya yang jawab dengan mantap tanpa acara gugup he...he... Waktu saat pertama ditanya, di Kanada kemana aja...dia tiba-tiba blank he...he...saya nyeletuk deh sebut Banff National Park....ama miss bule dibilang jangan dibantu jawab....harusnya bilang lihat aurora yah, lebih mantap menunjukkan kami adalah traveller jadi suka yang unik. Setelah itu adik saya ditanya yang dilihat di negara lain bisa jawab tapi yah itu dia tahu ciri-ciri tapi tidak sebut nama tempatnya.

(Btw, jawaban saya tidak share semua yah di blog ini karena buat saya jawaban itu tergantung kondisi kita masing-masing dan tidak bisa disamakan).

Setelah itu kami diberikan kertas putih ukuran A4 yang berisi keterangan pengambilan paspor sambil miss bule nyampaikan selamat visa kami disetujui. Dan kami balas, terima kasih.. Saat itu baru jam 8 pagi, jadi saya di kedutaan cuma 1.5 jam saja.

Pengambilan Paspor di RPX

Kalau saat proses visa saya lancar jaya, tapi saat pengambilan saya kurang efisien. Pertama, saya nunggu-nunggu email pemberitahuan sampai hari kerja ke-3 belum ada juga. Atas saran teman saya, saya baru ingat bisa cek status di web. Saat dicek ditulis paspor ready to pick up. Saya cross cek lagi telepon ke customer service RPX dan ya benar sudah di mereka sejak hari kerja ke 2 sejak saya wawancara....wah cepat juga selesainya.

Kedua, untuk ambil paspor ternyata bisa diantar dan menurut teman saya aman karena mereka akan cari ybs atau kuasanya. Hhmm..mending begini lah yah lain kali.

Saya yang sudah terlanjur memilih mengambil sendiri di RPX, di hari kerja ke 5 pergi ke RPX saat jam istirahat kantor. Hhmm...ternyata RPX juga istirahat jam 12.00-12.40. Akhirnya saya berangkat dari kantor jam 12.20 dan karena tidak macet, urusan saya kelar cepat dan sudah sampai kantor lagi jam 13.15. RPX yang merupakan sister company-nya Fed-Ex, terletak tidak jauh dari samping gedung WTC dan kira-kira di seberang Sampoerna Strategic. Gedung rukonya sudah tua dan tampak sederhana, bangku tunggunya dari plastik dan box tempat menaruh amplop-amplop yang berisi paspor pakai keranjang plastik tapi walau sederhana mereka sistimnya lumayan ok, berkas mudah dilacak dan katanya mereka punya pesawat cargo sendiri loh...yang dipakai buat melayani Indonesia timur.

Setelah mendapatkan berkasnya, saya buka dan Yes, saya dan adik saya mendapat visa multiple 5 tahun kategori B1/B2! Lalu kapan ke USA nya? Hhmmm, nanti nyari tiket promo dulu...he...he...

Oleh, Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto

Lombok, Where We Can See Beautiful Beaches and Interesting Culture

I visited Lombok in Lebaran Holiday. This year, Lebaran Holiday was too long, total 9 nights. Actually, i had no plan to travel in Lebaran but i cannot imagine how i can enjoy life in 9 nights at home only, then i planned to short trip 4 days 3 nights to Lombok, the place that i had not yet visited before.

Day 1

I was flying by Batik Air to Lombok at noon (Garuda ticket was expensive for my departing day and i only buy Garuda for my returning trip). The flight was good but delayed for a half hour. After arrived at Lombok airport, we picked up by the driver from the travel.
There was not many view people celebrating lebaran because here, lebaran day 1st to 6th only for visiting close family and they will celebrate it in 7th day which call Lebaran Ketupat and this Lebaran, west lombok people will celebrate Lebaran Ketupat in Senggigi Beach.

After 1 hour drove, i arrived at Kila Senggigi Hotel than i had dinner in hotel and i was lucky, the food is very delicious.

Day 2 – Waterfall Day Tour

That day, we joined private tour which thema is Waterfall Tour from www.lombokmirahtravel.com

We visited some spot area in west and north Lombok. We started at 9am from hotel. The first spot was Nipah Hill. Here, we can see 3 famous gili (small island): Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air.

After one and a half hour drove, we arrived at Baun Pusuk Monkey Forest. We met our friends...he..he... i mean monkeys. That day, there was a small renovation then not so many monkeys were there. My sister and my guide feed them nuts. Actually, it was funny but i scared he...he...

There is a technique to feeding the monkeys. Give them nut one by one and  hide the nut pack. If they look it, they take it and go away.

After we visited monkeys, we went to Senaru area to see Sindang Gile Waterfall. The way to this waterfall is not difficult. There is stairs, but that day was raining and rather slip in some part and because of holiday, the situation was crowded.

Our next plan spot is Tiu Kelep Waterwall. But the rain became more and more then we decided come back after we reached the bridge with connected with irrigation channels (saluran irigasi yang berbentuk seperti gua) which made by The Nederland long time ago. This irrigation is the way for fresh water from Mount Rinjani to villages. The water is clean, rather cold and the water flows is quite fast.

In foto, we looked like a strange people who had not travel spot to enjoy he..he.. Actually, this irrigation channel is the faster way to come back from waterfall and also avoid the stairs and for us to avoid the raining. Inside the irrigation channel is dark. There is only 1 “window” in each around 20-30 meters. We walked slowly inside this irrigation channel around 15 minutes and i was lucky bringing flashlight.

Traditional Sasak Village in Senaru which can reach by car in 3 minutes, is our next stop. This village is looked so traditional and its citizen still live there.

Their house is very very simple but unique. The living room is separated with the house and the living room's floor is lower than the house’s floor. This is symbol to respect the host. And the tip of the roof is also low. Its high is around our shoulder.

This means that guest should look down when enter the room as symbol to respect the host. One thing that made me surprised that the toilet is far from houses area. How can we go to toilet at midnight?

Then we came back to West Lombok. We enjoyed grilled fish and also the sunset at Nipah Beach.

Day 3 – Looked around Kila Hotel Senggigi

In this day, we stayed at my hotel all day because it is worthed to look around the hotel area which is so big and has many place to visit. This hotel is the first hotel in Lombok and owned by sister company of Garuda Airline. It is already 30 years old but still look very good. They did very good maintenance.

In the morning after we had breakfast, we went to beach area behind Purnama Spa. This is public beach and we only saw for a while then we went to beach near Basilico Restaurant. This beach is nice and quite private. We sat in long chair and took photo with big chess and some small statues.

Then we went to Pool Villa Hotel which have same management with Kila Senggigi Hotel. This hotel is good for people that love swimming and want more private condition. But i prefer Kila Senggigi because i can choose room which back door is in front of the beach.

Time went quickly....then, we took lunch at Rinjani Restaurant.

Because we stayed at hotel along day, we tried “pelecing kangkung” which is so so spicy but very delicious. If i try when i join tour, i worry that i will have stomach problem. Hhmm...actually, yes, after 1 hour,  i ate this, i went to toilet...my stomach was not sick but i needed to go to toilet.

The ala carte menu in Rinjani Restaurant is very delicious, we tried ayam taliwang included pelecing kangkung which so so spicy and seafood soup. But their breakfast menu is only quite ok.

After we went back to our room for a while, we took 1 hour massage in Purnama Spa. And for the first time when i take massage, i was asked to answer some question e.g. Do you have back pain problem? Do you use contact lense?....wow, they use this procedure for safety reason. Most clients are foreigners then it is easier to communicate by using a list of questions.

After relaxing, we went shopping to Nani Souvenir shop in front of Rinjani Restaurant or beside ATM. Yes, in this hotel there is ATM of BNI and BRI. As usual, my sister bought etnic bag and i bought assesories. Mutiara Lombok is famous because it is see pearl. This shop sold the original see pearl without license and also the not natural one. I bought the original one and hopefully it is true. The main charachter of the original pearl is more heavy. And for more sure i tested it by feeling it cold or not when i put it on my skin and yes, cold than become warmer after a while. This is one of the way to testing. Other way, burn it. If it not become black, that is original. But i do not do this way. About license, the seller said that the license is from the shop then like a nota. The price of pearl is depend on size and shape and also the figure. More bigger, more rounded and is more expensive.

After short shopping, we took a bath then prepared to have sunset time with dinner in Basilico Restaurant.

That day, the sunset is beautiful and we also had a delicious dinner with reasonable price. We ate pizza and frend fries. Actually, there is "all you can eat menu" and i choose ala carte because we did not wanted to eat much at night but the pizza quite big for 2 people he...he...

Day 4 – Sasak Tour

We visited some places in west, midle and south Lombok that is related with Sasak Culture and some beach. We joined private tour www.lombokmirahtravel.com

The first stop was Lingsar Temple.

The most interesting thing here is a Tune Fish but we was unlucky, the fish didn’t appear although their “pawang” tried to call them by push the wall of the poll and gave some eggs.

This temple is reflected the unity of Hindu and Islam. They can pray together here. I saw some people pray here. The local guide said that they prayed for more than 1 days for asking something. They didn’t pray all along day and they brought some foods and simple cooking tools for their food along they stay here. And around Desember or January, there is interesting activity here "Ketupat War" which play by Hindu people vs Islam people to celebrate unity.

Then, we went to Sukarere Village. We went to some houses and met some housewife who made “Kain Tenun” by using traditional tool. If you want to try, they allow you but i don’t try.

After that, i visited the small shop (they call as Koperasi). We tried Sasak Traditional Costume for free, but i bought some “Kain Tenun” here. I bought 3 small type that i can use for syal. I think that kain that they sold is made by machine but good quality, too cheap Rp 650.000 for 3 syal if that is hand made. Actually, i don’t mine because i feel the prise is reasonable for me. If hand made kain, imagine....to make 1 small kain tenun, they need 1 month time to finished it. This kain tenun is tradisional Sasak kain and Sasak girl should study to make kain tenun since 8-9 years old and they can get married if they already can make kain tenun.

After that, we went to south lombok to see some beaches. First, we visited Selong Belanak beach which famous as place to learn surfing for beginners.

Yes, the beach’s waves looks suitable for beginners, not so big waves. I saw many foreigners here.

Then, we went to Kuta Beach but only saw in from cars because there was renovation. South Lombok government has built Circuit and area near Kuta Beach will be one part of the Circuit. Kuta Beach is famous area for foreigner backpaker. I saw them ride motorcars and wow...i saw a foreign woman who rode motorcycle and she only wore bikini outfit ha....ha...

Tanjung Aan was our next stop. We took picture on the beach and also from the small hill. Very good view and beach sands are big, different with sands in Selong Belanak which are very smooth.

The last place we visited is Sade Village in west Lombok that is not far from Lombok International Airport. Local guide explained some house condition. I interested with honeymoon house...actually the house is very very small...cannot imagine how they can enjoy there.

And about the floor, they use buffalo dung and clay for maintenance. About toilet, same with Sasak Village in Senaru. The toilets are far from the houses area. Here there is a unique tree called "love tree", place where their grandpa and grandma met to dating.

There is unique married tradition of Suku Sasak. That is no common to propose a girl when man to marry her. He should kidnap her and bring her to his relative's house for 1 night then his relative contact their parents. After that they do a marriage traditional ceremony.

Long time ago, here only home but a long many touris came, they also sold goods in front of their house. I bought a tenun blouse.

This is the end of my Lombok Trip and i have some opinion after 4 days here. West Lombok is the richest area because many tourism spots and the land is fertile because this area get water from Rinjani Mountain and then, the weather is not so hot than south area. South area land is not fertile as west area because water from Rinjani cannot reach this area. From north to west, the area go down, then from west to south area go up and go down again to beach area.

We still can look many traditional culture in Lombok, beautiful beaches and of course their gili (small islands) that i did not visit in this trip.

By, Kumala Sukasari Budiyanto