Foreigners in jail and awaiting deportation because of fault of Visa Agent Iqbal Palar

Many foreigners in jail and awaiting deportation because of fault of Visa Agent lqbal Palar (Premisol 88, Trisula Mandira Pusaka.

JI Pura Demak IV No. 88 Room 306, Denpasar, Bali PH: +62 821-4434-2234)

Dozens of police reports and cases have been filed against this agent but unfortunately police and immigration have done nothing to hold this person responsible and he is still operating his business as normal

A group of 40 clients and possibly lot more were scammed by this agent, resulting in the incurring of huge overstay fees and now detention and deportation.

Iqbal continually lied to and misled everyone about the status of their visas. He received payments for visas and extensions which were provided on time but were then never processed, or processed late, incurring penalties.

lgbal illegally held passports against will of clients and only returned them when forced too.  Now all of these foreigners are being subjected to detention and deportation by immigration because of overstay of more than 60 days and having invalid visas or no visas at all.

More details at http://visascambali.xyz/

Police Report filed against Iqbal Palar

November 30th, 2020

Respected Sir/Madam,

We wish to report Visa Agent Iqbal Palar (Trisula Mandira Pusaka, Jl Pura Demak IV No. 88 Room 306 PH: +62 821-4434-2234) for illegal and fraudulent acts as well as extortion and document tampering in regards to Indonesian and international immigration laws.

A group of 25 clients have been scammed by Iqbal resulting in the incurring of large overstay fees, which as of today add up to a total of 1Billion+ Rupiahs, 10 expired visas, 9 clients with no visas presently, and 6 illegally issued offshore visas.

Iqbal Palar operates under the following names to sponsor clients of Trisula Mandira: 

1. Trisula Mandira Pusaka

2. Biru Semesta Raya 

3. Fase Tiga Baru

Trisula Mandira had formerly employed Komang Puspadana, Putri Kusuma Wardhani and Rasyid Ridho.

Following the requirements set out by the Directorate General of Immigration, every one of his clients applied for visas before the October 5th 2020 deadline and received a telex. However, Iqbal failed to pay the required sum of 50 USD on time which rendered the telex expired and his clients without valid visas. This fact was not revealed to his clients until mid October, when it had become weeks too late.

Until his clients suddenly learned of their overstay and visa issues in mid October, Iqbal communicated that their documents were in process. Since discovering the surprise overstay penalties, the victims have consistently requested he resolve the overstay penalty and visa issues. He in turn has assured a solution would come, that it was all a misunderstanding, he would pay the overstays and get the visas processed. However as the weeks passed they became more concerned and suspicious of his motives, and trusted less of his word as fraud was evident.

As stated previously, it has also been discovered that Iqbal provided 6 “offshore visas” which are strictly granted to applicants who are outside of Indonesia. Since all of the 25 clients are currently present in Indonesia and had never left the country, Iqbal has continually broken Indonesian law by providing illegal visas beyond his clients’ knowledge, further complicating their situation.

1. We state all our visa and overstay issues are the direct result of Iqbal Palar’s illegal and fraudulent behaviour. Iqbal continually lied to and misled us about the status of our visas. He received payments from dozens of clients under false pretenses, which we provided on time but were then never processed, or processed late, incurring penalties. It has been confirmed by the Department of Imigrasi that as Iqbal and any of his aliases are listed as the sponsor, it is Iqbal’s full responsibility to bear overstay charges. As stated in article 63 clause (3) of Indonesian National Act No. 6 of 2011 about Immigration. However, Iqbal admitted last week he refuses to pay the overstay fines. Claiming, that he does not have the funds. 

Over the last few weeks as it became more evident that A. Iqbal would not resolve the visa and overstay fine issues, B. His clients were being extorted for under the table overstay fee deals C. He continued to withhold 25+ passports, falsely claiming the passports were either in process at Immigration or in the possession of an individual named Mr. Yadi. 

2. A few of his clients were unable to return to their home countries due to Iqbal’s withholding passports at an extended length of time. International law is clear that it is highly illegal to hold another person’s passport against the passport holder’s wishes.

3. Iqbal claims that if he returns our passports, he won't bear any responsibility for our overstay charges. Some over 50 million rupiahs each. Thus forcing his victims into an ultimatum; with a choice between him withholding our passports or extorting us for overstay fees. As illustrated in the incident below:

On Friday, November 27th, Iqbal offered that clients who requested their passports meet him, then Mr. Yadi and an Immigration Officer in Jimbaran Immigration Office at 2pm claiming he would finally return our passports. After waiting around on the ground floor for almost an hour and being told the passports were upstairs in Immigration, Mr. Yadi appeared with a number of red folders. We were told to follow Mr. Yadi and Iqbal out of Immigration to a stall next door. There they called out our names one by one and asked us if we wanted our passports returned, stating if we took back our passports the overstay was now our problem. He had not paid a single overstay. There are some individuals who still do not have their passport despite requesting its return.

This is obviously highly irregular and we have to assume our passports had never been legally submitted to The Directorate General of Immigration to process the applications or extensions.

In conclusion, Iqbal Palar has committed a number of illegal and fraudulent acts:

1. Withholding passports

2. Providing illegal offshore visas

3. Operating under false pretenses

4. Extortion 

all the time increasing overstay charges and risking deportation in a pandemic. 

IV.      We request Iqbal Palar to be investigated and arrested for these illegal and fraudulent acts so we may prosecute him for the return of any overstay fines we may have to pay, as well as use this in evidence to discuss our individual situations with The Directorate General of Immigration.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f0HxkzaKeHcrDLcZ0qHq35Bz5aR8lWJ94B6qyNI--5U/edit

Indonesia Expat Article about scam agent Iqbal Palar

There are some Visa Agents out there who have been sponsoring multiple tens of people for a Social Visa (which isn’t strictly legal) and they’ve taken the money but haven’t processed the visas or extensions despite holding on to passports (all of which is illegal.)

And that has now led to a slew of issues around overstaying, which you can probably guess comes with healthy fines and possible deportation and incredible stress.

Once this situation surfaced a number of foreigners began reporting Visa Agents to the Police and Immigration offices. And here’s where red tape suffocates common sense because the response from some Immigration officers appears to have been that they couldn’t accept overstay payments or even release overstay billing until the sponsor has appeared with the foreigner at an immigration interview.

And that has a zero chance of ever happening because the Visa Agent isn’t supposed to be sponsoring so many people and hasn’t actually done anything to process any visas.

SNAFU doesn’t come close to describing the mess.

Now, it appears that some foreigners are in detention and are being deported and blacklisted, while the Visa Agents who have caused the mess in the first place are free to continue their fraudulent operations. Those affected hope that immigration and other relevant departments will investigate this and provide positive solutions to those foreigners who are clearly feeling desperate.

https://indonesiaexpat.id/business-property/what-could-possibly-go-wrong/

One woman’s horror story

 I am a 54 year old woman who was residing in Ubud, Bali and below is my personal experience. I have chosen to remain anonymous to protect my full identity and the lives of my family, however the information shared is all factual, along with the evidence to support it.

At the end of July 2020, during the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Indonesian Government changed the visa conditions for foreigners (who had arrived on a visa on arrival or visa exemption), announcing the end of the emergency stay visa that had previously been granted ‘’until the pandemic is over’’.

There was panic, as due to COVID, travel was restricted and there were no clear guidelines given from Immigration. In order to stay in Bali, we were advised to apply for a social visa B211 that allows a person to stay for up to six months but that switch required having to find a local sponsor or a Visa agent that could deal with the bureaucratic paperwork and navigate the system.

With the application deadline very near and not having local sponsor, I had to quickly find a Visa agent and apply. Visa Agent Iqbal Palar (Trisula Mandira Pusaka, Premisol 88, Jl Pura Demak IV No. 88 Room 306, Denpasar, Bali PH: +62 821-4434-2234) was among many offering services and through a recommendation I applied through him.

After months of false promises, deceptive behavior, delay tactics and chasing (detailed timeline and incident at end of post) for my social visa extension and trying to get my passport back off Visa Agent, Iqbal Palar, I discovered to my genuine horror, I had a huge overstay of 54 days at 1 million Rupiah a day.

This meant my debt to immigration had accumulated to 54 million Rupiah. I did not feel it was fair to pay this huge debt, since it was a direct result of my agents and sponsors’ negligence – not performing his duties or fulfilling his responsibilities, giving me false hope, telling me not to worry, that everything was fine, that I wouldn’t have to pay any overstay, and making excuses at every turn.

I was sure if I took this timeline of information with all the whatsapp correspondence printed out to Immigration, they would also see that my agent had acted negligently. I thought, I would be helped with a suitable resolution but on the contrary, my agent’s behaviour was not being held accountable and I was given no choice other than deportation. Deportation process can happen only after 60 days had elapsed so I was asked to come back later.

My Agent’s last correspondence with me was to offer another ”solution”. He implored me to trust him and to fly to Jakarta where he had an immigration officer contact at the airport which would wave me through without stopping me for my overstay.  This ludicrous option was quickly dismissed by myself, how could I trust this person after all he had done to put me in this predicament?

Denpasar Immigration had taken my passport off me and I had done a lengthy interview. Immigration assured me several times that:

1. I would not have to pay the overstay after 60 days as the agent/sponsor was responsible.

2. There would be no escort fees.

3. I would be in the Detention Center for about “2-3 days” and as soon as I booked an air ticket I could leave. (They would not allow me to book an air ticket and just leave within days without going to the Detention Center or have a pre-booked air ticket for a couple of days after arriving at the Detention Center).

4. I would have full access to my phone, laptop, etc.

5. I would be free to walk about at the Detention Center, but would not be able to leave the premises.

There were four persons in total, all conned by Visa Agent Iqbal Palar, who went into the Detention Center on the same day. We had all individually, been given this information by Immigration). Apart from not having to pay the overstay, categories 2-5 above, were all completely incorrect/false.

We were all pretty shocked upon arrival at the Detention Center. An immense Security presence made us feel like common criminals, we had been visa scammed by a conman agent, there was no empathy forthcoming. We were given 10 minutes to call family and our country consul, this was impractical. Our possessions were searched with various items confiscated, including phones and laptops. Despite having done Medical and Rapid tests, we were immediately put into quarantine for 14 days. We were locked in our cells, only allowed out once a week to use our phones for one hour. Rest of the time we were confined to our cells.

ring my stay the quickest I saw an overstay detainee leave was exactly 3 weeks after arriving. The quickest way to get deported is to say at the first opportunity that you would like to book your flight and pay the escort fee as soon as possible. I was informed by the front office that Iqbal Palar was paying for my flights and deportation fees for escorts. I should have known this narrative would never eventuate. Here he was still inflicting false hope on me at my most vulnerable state. In hindsight I should have got a date from the front office and booked on a specific date.

The best and cheapest is for a friend or family member to book the flight for you and send the details to the office. One has to check with the airlines involved if they are happy to take deportees. Not all are Turkish Airlines for example will take approximately 2 weeks to give individuals permission. Despite what Immigration says at your interview process, it currently costs approx IDR8,500,000 per deportation. Which includes flights and covid tests for yourself and 2 escort immigration officers from Bali to Jakarta.

There is no choice, everyone has to pay at the moment this may change when Bali International airport reopens. Regardless of the moral, ethical and financial obligation of my agent Iqbal Palar to pay these costs he did not. ​ There was a formal agreement between him and my Consul that he would pay for my ticket and deportation costs. Iqbal’s contribution was only 4.5 million rupiah. He was never held accountable by ​ immigration to follow through on his financial responsibilities; he is operating again as a visa agent with both Denpasar and Jimbaran offices.

So make your own mind up on this, he has taken people’s money and not delivered the service they trusted him to do. As a result myself and many others have had huge overstay bills incurred. Some paid I understand others like myself and 3 in detention at the same time did not pay and chose to be deported. We were given false hope of a quick exit by Denpasar Immigration, this never materialized for any of us either. After my experience, knowing what I know now, I would NOT have allowed Denpasar Immigration to take my passport and gone straight to Jakarta’s Immigration office to be deported from there.

There have been times when detainees have had to book several tickets and paid several times before they were finally allowed to fly. I found it very business-like and controlling by the front office staff who appeared to have no sense of urgency in trying to expedite the deportation process.

I was photographed as were the others regularly as a record of what we are doing or not doing. Most detainees are very stressed, angry and frustrated as I too was testament to these feelings.

One of the detainees who has been there 6 months told me he had witnessed 4 people attempting suicide in the first five months, One of which was fatal while another had tried 3 times. Currently another long-term detainee (not for overstay) is on his 3​ rd​ hunger strike. There is a lack of empathy with little or no understanding of real mental health issues surfacing. There is no distinction between detainees, we are all criminals in the eyes of the staff, Even though it was fault of Visa agent and we were victim here.

As a seasoned traveler, having gone to many “dodgy” countries, this was by far my worst travel experience, very traumatic for myself and family. Being locked up and having thrown myself on the mercy of immigration I could never imagined anything like this happening in such a popular, international travel destination. The worst part is that Immigration and the Police have not done anything to hold this crooked scamming visa agent accountable. Despite this case having been very well documented and having affected so many people. I would have hoped that Bali Immigration would have dealt with this whole situation better and given some leniency to Iqbal’s victims, especially considering the Covid situation. We came forward and told our stories, many had Police statements and had lawyers acting on their behalf. This injustice has left painful memories of what was supposed to be a beautiful time in Bali. Never would I believe being held in a detention cell for 36 days. But if it can happen to me it can happen to others whose faith is misplaced in a visa agent. If you believe by unraveling your case to immigration in Bali that fairness will prevail, think again and be warned.

Note: All information posted is coming from victim directly and has been verified with various mediums. Through our sources, we also came across a video. Here is evidence of  the Visa Agent accepting to commit fraud of putting exit and entry stamps in passport via his connection in airport, without need to actually leaving country. This video was shared with Police and Immigration months ago but no actions were