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I have a Pakistani passport and was issued a tourist visa to Indonesia as I plan to visit Bali in January. The visa sticker has a misprint and seems like they ran out of ink while printing. Regardless, the text in the visa is almost illegible. Only the visa number is fully and clearly visible.

The consulate issued an official letter clarifying the mistake on their end and have written all the visa info in the letter and verified it is authentic. The letter is also on their official letterhead with a stamp and signature. They have said they can not reprint the sticker and I should have no issues.

I’ve read some stories of people having issues at immigration. Does anyone know if this will be okay for travel along with the letter?

All help is appreciated.

TIA

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    "the text in the visa is almost illegible": does this include the two rows of machine-readable (optically scannable) characters at the bottom of the visa?
    – phoog
    Commented Dec 6, 2023 at 11:03
  • Yes! The bottom rows are spotty and some letters are fine some are not
    – Moos1998
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 11:02

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Entering Indonesia will not be a problem, they will be able to validate that the visa is real.

You may, however, have problems with the airline flying you to Bali, since this is a pretty unusual situation. Logically speaking, it should be OK since it's clearly an actual visa sticker with all the security features etc and you have the embassy letter to explain why, but airline staff don't always apply logic. To be safe, I would suggest reaching out to them and getting written confirmation that you will be allowed to board.

I'm also quite surprised the consulate refused to reprint the sticker. If the airline gives you a negative or anything less than 100% positive confirmation, I would suggest contacting the consulate again and explaining your concern.

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They have said they can not reprint the sticker and I should have no issues.

If they clearly said that, don't overthink this

I’ve read some stories of people having issues at immigration

I doubt you'll have a lot of issues at immigration, mostly because the visa sticker still bears the visa number.

The main friction point will likely be the airline you're flying. I would arrive early to try to navigate any issues that may arise from that misprint

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    I'm not quite as optimistic as you: having the visa number is good for Indonesian immigration, but the airline will be concerned if the OP's name is not clearly visible on the visa.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Dec 6, 2023 at 10:42
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    @lambshaanxy I'd be fairly optimistic if Indonesia has an advance passenger information system that could validate the visa by number alone and respond to the airline with an appropriate message; otherwise I would share your pessimism. I don't know whether Indonesia has such a system, so in fact I don't know what to think.
    – phoog
    Commented Dec 6, 2023 at 11:00
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    Thanks for the response! I went back to embassy and reapplied. They said they will check with immigration and if there is a need, will issue another visa. I will keep you all posted. Again, thanks for taking the time!
    – Moos1998
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 11:03
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    @Moos1998 The issue really isn't that much with immigration but with the airline. They are so afraid of being fined if they let someone board who doesn't have the right documents that they usually err on the side of not letting you board if they have any doubt.
    – jcaron
    Commented Dec 7, 2023 at 17:08
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    @jcaron indeed. It is not terribly surprising that they are "so afraid," however. The cost of refusing to board a passenger who should have been boarded isn't going to be more than a few hundred dollars in compensation, and most likely rather lower, whereas the fine for transporting a passenger who lacks proper documents is typically a few thousand dollars and, I suspect, gas a fairly high probability of being imposed.
    – phoog
    Commented Dec 8, 2023 at 10:17
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Update:

Thank you all so much for taking the time and for your responses! I ended up going back to the consulate and submitting a new application. Unfortunately had to repay but it turns out the visa officer spoke to immigration and they told him to issue a new visa on my new application so I don’t have issues.

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