Maybe you are following the news, or maybe you have no idea what is going on right now in Bali, but for those who are planning to go to Indonesia for traveling, studying, or working, make sure you have the right visa to avoid trouble with immigration.
For those who don’t follow the news: right now, immigration in Bali is checking whether everyone working there (influencers, digital nomads) has the right visa. Currently, a lot of people are staying and working in Bali on a tourist visa. For a while, immigration didn’t really check this, but since the president changed recently, Bali is under the loop, and a lot of people are being deported for having the wrong visa while working (paid or unpaid). What I mean by unpaid work is making advertisements or content as an influencer without getting paid by, for example, a hotel or restaurant. For immigration, this is also seen as working. So be careful and make sure you have the right visa before traveling to Indonesia.
Most of the visas below can be applied for online through the official Indonesian immigration website, evisa.imigrasi.go.id. This is the official platform, so it’s the safest and easiest place to start, rather than going through random third-party sites.
If you are planning on visiting Indonesia as a tourist, you don’t have to worry about this. As a tourist, you have different options, depending on how long you are planning to travel through Indonesia.
Visa on Arrival (B1 visa) The visa on arrival is the easiest way to get a visa for Indonesia. You can get this visa at the airport, or you can get it online (not available for all nationalities). This visa is valid for 30 days and costs 500,000 IDR (around 25 euros). It is possible to extend this visa by 30 more days for the same price. The extension request can be done online; afterward, you are asked to go to the immigration office closest to the address you provided, to have your fingerprints and photo taken.
C1 Visa This is the visa I used for the past few months. It is still a tourist visa, but instead of staying in Indonesia for 2 months, you can extend it up to 6 months. You can arrange and extend the visa online, but for the extension you have to go to immigration to take a photo. Note that this visa requires a sponsor, in my case, Alex is my sponsor. I read online that it’s also possible to extend this visa without a sponsor, but then you need a visa agency to help you.
Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa (D1) (1, 2, or 5 years) This visa is valid from issuance for 90 days, and once you enter, it’s valid for 1, 2, or 5 years depending on what you apply for. Each visit is valid for 60 days, and you can extend it twice within that period, so 60 plus 60 plus 60 days. For this visa you need a bank statement from the past 3 months, showing a minimum balance of 2.000 dollars, and you also need a return or onward ticket.
Remote Work Visa / Digital Nomad Visa (E33G) (KITAS) This is a multiple-entry visa, valid from issuance for 90 days, and once you enter, it’s valid for 360 days. It’s extendable, and the extension gives you another 360 days, but this can only be done onshore. With this visa you are allowed to open a bank account, get a driver’s license and buy a car or motorbike, and lease land or property. To qualify, you need a yearly income of at least 60.000 dollars and an employment contract with a company outside Indonesia.
Student Visa (C316/KITAS) This is the one you need if you are planning to study in Indonesia (language courses, university, yoga teacher trainings longer than what a tourist visa allows, etc.). You need a sponsor for this too, usually the school or institution you’re studying at arranges this for you. The visa is valid for the duration of your study program, so this can be 6 months, 1 year, or up to 2 years, and you’ll need a sponsor letter from the educational institution. It’s extendable as long as you remain enrolled, and you’ll also need to register at the local immigration office once you arrive.
Note: this visa does not allow you to work, so if you’re doing an internship alongside your studies, check whether you need an extra permit for that.
Work Visa (C312) (KITAS) If you are actually getting employed by an Indonesian company (so not working remotely for a company abroad, like with the E33G), this is the visa you need. It’s sponsored by the employer, who first has to arrange the RPTKA and IMTA (work permit), and it’s valid for 6 months, 1, or 2 years, depending on what the company arranges. This visa ties you to that specific employer and job, so if you switch jobs you need a new one. It also requires a lot of paperwork on the company’s side, so this can take a while to arrange. In my experience, it is very difficult to get this visa.
Investing in Indonesia If you are planning on investing in Indonesia, different rules, regulations, and visa options apply. Right now, I’m not there yet myself, so I don’t have all the information on this to share with you. Once I know more, I’ll update this section.
So basically, depending on why you’re going to Indonesia, there’s a visa for it: tourist, student, work or investment. The only thing you shouldn’t do is figure it’s “easier” to just enter on a tourist visa and do something else anyway. With the current checks going on, it’s really not worth the risk, you can get fined, deported, and even blacklisted from entering Indonesia again.
If you’re not sure which visa applies to your situation, it might be worth contacting a visa agency; they usually know the ins and outs better than the general information you find online (and things change often, so double-check dates before you book anything).
If you need any help figuring this out, feel free to contact us, we’re happy to help too.
