In Reply to: Phone Calls posted by rakini on Sunday, 24. September 2006 at 19:54 Bali Time:
IF your brother does by any chance need to overstay his Visa due to medical reasons get a letter from the treating Doctor & contact Brian out at the Australian Embasssy.Brian ( the Aussir consulate) is absolutely brilliant & will go above & beyond to help.Personally I would contact him ASAP anyway just to let him know what has happened & he will do anything he can to sort things out & make life easier.
If your brother does end up overstaying his Visa it will be a bit of messing around going to the immigration department out at the airport but it will go smoothly IF the Aussie embassy gets involved.The other useful thing can be is if he has a close friend in Bali who is a native speaker to be with him re any official appointments.It sure made things a lot smoother for me.
If the Aussie embassy had not got involved & pushed the point for me then my travel insurance company would have had me in really deep doo doo's & I probably would have ended up in Kerobokan for God knows how long ! That is IF I had taken their advice instead of pushing the point,being totally honest & asking our Aussie government aka The Aussie Embassy for assistance! All I can say is the best advice I can give you is take full advantage of the fact that we have a brilliant Aussie Embassy in Bali - it is OUR Aussie tax Dollars at work & you are fully entitiled to take dvanatge of the fact that they are there.
BTW- I do realise that all medical issues that occur in Bali can be different but all involve an emotional & stressful aspect for the person involved & the family at home.At least if the Aussie embassy is helping & file is kept it only takes a phone call to know what is happening for the family back home.I honestly can not praise the Embassy staff high enough ! They are absoluely brilliant & I know ShazPerth would also agree.
PS - re your Brother - do NOT change any flight planes yourself,It is not his fault he got sick& it is not his job to sort things out.Get the insuranace company to do it & to handle the plans & extra costs from the start.After all that is exactly why they have been paid in the 1st place.Also do not accept any flights 1/2 way around the Australia to get back home,demand a direct flight if that is what you originally had booked.
If you have any questions at all re travel insurance & helping your brother & would like to talk about it from someone who has been there & done that - please feel free to email me.I am more than happy to help a fellow traveller in distress.I was ever so grateful to have fellow travellers & expat friends from BTF helping me when I was sick & stuck in Bali & will gladly repay the favour.