My Guide Abroad

Bali, Indonesia

ENTRY & VISA

Bali Entry & Visa Guide

Everything you need before boarding: how to choose the right visa, prepare your documents, complete the arrival formalities and enter Bali with confidence.

Updated October 2026

9 min read

Contains affiliate links

Your Bali entry checklist

A passport valid for at least six months

The correct Indonesian visa, or a visa exemption

A return or onward ticket

Your All Indonesia arrival declaration

Your Bali Tourist Levy receipt, where it applies

The address of your first accommodation

Take it with you

The same checklist as a one-page PDF, so you have it at the airport without signal.

Download the checklist

IN THIS GUIDE

Do I need a visa for Bali?

Visa on Arrival and e-VoA

Staying 30 to 60 days

Long-stay visas

Passport requirements

Return or onward ticket

Documents to save offline

All Indonesia declaration

Bali Tourist Levy

What immigration may ask

Arriving at the airport

Common mistakes

Frequently asked questions

Bali does not have its own immigration system. When you travel to Bali, you enter Indonesia. The right option depends on your nationality, the purpose of your trip and the number of days you intend to stay.

WHERE TO START

Not sure which visa applies to you? Our partner works it out from a few questions, and we earn a commission if you go ahead with them.

Find the right visa

Do I need a visa for Bali?

Start with three questions: which passport do you hold, why are you travelling, and how long will you stay? Do not rely on an old blog post or a friend’s previous trip — eligible nationalities, visa categories and immigration procedures all change.

Up to 30 days

Eligible travellers commonly use a Visa on Arrival or an electronic Visa on Arrival. Some nationalities may qualify for a visa exemption under specific conditions. Always verify your own eligibility before departure.

31 to 60 days

Eligible travellers may use a Visa on Arrival or e-VoA and extend it once, or choose another suitable visitor visa before travelling.

More than 60 days

Repeated visits, business activities, remote work, employment, study, investment, family reasons or relocation all call for a purpose-specific visa. This is the point to talk to a specialist.

IF YOU ARE UNSURE

Categories change, and the wrong one tends to surface at the counter rather than at home. A specialist checks your case against the rules as they stand today.

Check my visa options

Immigration hall — asset to generate

The arrivals hall at Ngurah Rai seen long and low: the queue, the booths, the ceiling lights. Letterbox crop, 3:1, muted colour.

3:1

The queue at Ngurah Rai is the one part of the trip nobody photographs. Fifty minutes is normal at the wrong hour.

Visa on Arrival and e-VoA

Most people reading this need one of two things: a Visa on Arrival, or its online twin.

Both are for short stays. The government fee is IDR 500,000, you get thirty days, and you can extend once for thirty more. That is the whole product.

Do it online. The ten minutes at your kitchen table buy back forty at the airport.

The only real difference is where you buy it. The e-VoA is arranged before you fly. The Visa on Arrival is bought at the airport, in a queue, after a long flight, alongside several hundred people who also did not do it online.

I would always do it before. Not because the airport version fails — it works — but because the extension later is noticeably simpler when your application already exists in the system.

What you need to hand

A passport with six months left on it. A clear photo of the biodata page. A recent portrait. Your onward ticket. An email address, a card, and the address of wherever you are sleeping the first night.

Why an agent is usually worth it

An agent reads your situation before you submit it, rather than after immigration queries it.

That sounds like a small thing. It is not. The errors that cost people their trip are boring ones — a photo that fails the crop, a passport that expires five months and three weeks after arrival, a visa category that quietly does not cover the work they were planning to do. An agent catches those on a Tuesday afternoon instead of at a counter in Denpasar.

the arrivals queue is real — I have watched it eat fifty minutes

WHERE TO APPLY

We work with a visa agent who handles the application end to end, and we earn a commission if you use them. You can also do it yourself, for the government fee alone, on the official portal.

Apply with our visa partner

Official e-Visa portal

Not at the airport. Early enough to fix a passport detail, replace a photo that fails the crop, or sort out a card that gets declined. Check every field against your passport before you confirm.

Staying between 30 and 60 days

If you plan to stay in Indonesia for more than 30 days, decide before departure whether you will extend a Visa on Arrival or e-VoA, or get a different visitor visa altogether. The better route depends on your nationality, your purpose and your total planned stay.

A Visa on Arrival or e-VoA is generally extendable once, allowing a maximum of 60 days by this route. Start the extension well before the first 30 days are up. The procedure may involve online steps, document verification or an immigration appointment.

EXTENDING

Extensions are where timing catches people out. Our partner handles the paperwork and watches the dates for you.

Get help with an extension

Long-stay visas for Bali

If you want more than 60 days, a long-stay or purpose-specific visa is almost always better than stringing together repeated short visits. The right route depends on what you will actually be doing in Indonesia.

A tourist visa does not become a work visa because the work is remote.

Longer tourism stays

A visitor visa designed for a longer stay. A specialist can compare the options and explain the permitted duration, the extension rules and the entry conditions.

Business visits

Meetings, sourcing, conferences or negotiations may need a business-appropriate visa. A business visit visa does not by itself authorise employment or an Indonesian salary.

Multiple-entry travel

Suits travellers who expect to enter Indonesia several times during the visa validity. Each entry can carry its own maximum stay, so the grant conditions matter.

Remote work, employment, investment, study, family

These need careful selection and may involve sponsorship, permits or supporting documents. Do not assume a tourist visa covers remote work. Explain your real situation to a qualified specialist.

Why use an agent for a long-stay visa?

Long-stay applications are a different order of complexity from a standard e-VoA. A specialist identifies the right category, gives you the document list, checks sponsor requirements, watches the deadlines, coordinates extensions and helps you answer immigration.

LONG STAYS

A long stay needs the right category from the start — changing it later is far harder than choosing it correctly. We work with a specialist, and we earn a commission if you use them.

Find my long-stay visa

Speak to a specialist

Portrait — asset to generate

Vertical shot, 4:5: a desk at home with a passport, a laptop and a coffee, mid-application. Warm, domestic, unstyled.

4:5

Street scene — asset to generate

Vertical 4:5 as well so the pair aligns: a Balinese street at eye level, scooters and a warung sign. This is what the visa is for.

4:5

Left: ten minutes at the kitchen table. Right: what those ten minutes are actually buying.

Passport requirements

Your passport should normally be valid for at least six months from the date you arrive in Indonesia. It should be in good condition, with a readable biodata page. Airlines and immigration can refuse a damaged passport even when the expiry date looks fine.

Temporary and emergency travel documents are treated differently. If you are not travelling on a standard ordinary passport, confirm the rules with an Indonesian embassy and with your airline before departure.

Six months of validity from the day you land, and a biodata page that still scans.

Return or onward ticket

Carry proof that you are leaving.

Your airline will often ask before they let you board, and immigration can ask again on arrival. The destination has to be somewhere you are allowed to enter, and the date has to sit inside your permitted stay. A ticket out on day thirty-five of a thirty-day visa proves nothing at all.

Full-bleed opener — asset to generate

Wide Bali landscape at the hinge of the article — rice terraces, a coastline or a road through the interior. It has to contrast with the airport opener, so: daylight, green, no aircraft, no terminal. 21:9, shot wide and calm.

21:9

Halfway down. The paperwork above, the island below — and between them the drive from the airport, which is longer than the map suggests.

Documents to save offline

Airport Wi-Fi fails and roaming data takes a while to connect. Screenshot all of this before you fly.

Passport and visa

The biodata page, plus your visa or grant notice.

Flight itinerary

Including your return or onward flight.

First accommodation

Name and full address — immigration may ask for it.

Travel insurance

Policy number and the emergency contact line.

All Indonesia QR code

The confirmation from your arrival declaration.

Bali Tourist Levy receipt

The QR proof of payment, where it applies.

The All Indonesia arrival declaration

All Indonesia is the government’s integrated digital arrival declaration for international passengers. It brings together the information used for immigration, customs, health and quarantine. It is free.

Complete it through the official website or app within the window the platform shows — generally up to three days before arrival. You will need your personal and passport details, your travel information, your address in Indonesia and the required declarations. Save the confirmation and QR code until you have cleared every arrival formality.

OFFICIAL, AND FREE

The arrival declaration costs nothing and needs no agent. Go straight to the government platform — anyone charging you for this is not helping.

Complete All Indonesia

The Bali Tourist Levy

Foreign tourists visiting Bali are generally required to pay a levy of IDR 150,000 per person. It is separate from the Indonesian visa fee, and it funds the protection of Bali’s culture and environment.

Pay through the official Love Bali website or app, or at an authorised payment point, and keep the receipt or QR proof. Some categories of traveller are exempt — check the official conditions if you hold a diplomatic, official, residence or other qualifying permit.

PAYING THE LEVY

Pay on the official Love Bali platform and keep the QR. No intermediary should be adding a fee on top of the IDR 150,000.

Pay the Bali Tourist Levy

Two payments, not one

The visa fee and the Bali Tourist Levy are separate. Paying one does not cover the other, and it is one of the most common surprises at the airport.

Bali ceremony photo — asset to add

A temple offering or a village ceremony. This is what the levy pays for, so it has to read as Balinese — not generic Asian temple stock.

16:9

keep the QR — they ask for it at the gate, not on the website

What immigration may ask on arrival

An officer may ask why you are visiting, where you are staying, how long you intend to remain, whether you have a return or onward ticket, and whether you have enough funds for the trip. Answer clearly, truthfully, and consistently with what you put on your visa application.

Arriving at Bali airport, step by step

Before you leave the aircraft

Have your passport, visa, onward ticket and QR codes ready and offline.

If you need a Visa on Arrival

If you are eligible and do not already hold an e-VoA, follow the signs to the designated payment point before immigration.

Immigration

Present your passport and visa. This is where the questions above come up.

Baggage, then customs

Collect your bags and clear customs using your All Indonesia declaration.

Arrivals

Only now do you meet your driver. Expect the whole process to take longer than you think.

Ngurah Rai arrivals photo — asset to add

The arrivals hall, the immigration queue or the walk from the gate at Denpasar. Must read as Bali, not as any airport.

16:9

Common mistakes to avoid

Using an unofficial lookalike website

Several sites imitate government branding. Check the address before you pay anything.

Choosing a visa that does not match the trip

The visa has to cover what you will actually do, not what is cheapest or fastest.

Counting your days from your flight ticket

Your permitted stay runs from your visa, not from your itinerary.

Starting an extension too late

Begin well before the first 30 days are up, not in the last few days.

Confusing the visa fee and the tourist levy

Two separate payments, two separate receipts.

The mistakes that ruin trips are never the dramatic ones.

Never overstay on purpose

Overstaying can mean fines and, in more serious cases, detention, removal or future immigration consequences. If an emergency affects your departure, contact Indonesian Immigration immediately rather than letting the date pass.

Square inset — asset to generate

Tight square, 1:1: a hand holding a phone with a QR code, at an airport counter. Shallow depth of field.

1:1

Screenshot it

Both QR codes — the arrival declaration and the levy — get asked for at points where there is no signal and no patience. A screenshot in your camera roll beats a tab you have to reload, every time.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a visa for Bali?

It depends on your passport, the purpose of your trip and the length of your stay. Bali follows Indonesian immigration rules — there is no separate Bali visa.

Can I obtain a visa when I arrive?

Eligible passport holders can generally obtain a Visa on Arrival at designated Indonesian entry points. Confirm your own eligibility before flying.

How long can I stay with a VoA or e-VoA?

Normally 30 days, with one extension of a further 30 days when you are eligible.

How much does the Visa on Arrival cost?

The government fee is currently IDR 500,000. An agent charges on top of that for handling the application, checking documents and tracking it.

Do I need a return ticket?

You should carry proof of return or onward travel within your permitted stay. Your airline or immigration may ask to see it.

Is travel insurance mandatory?

It is strongly recommended. Check whether your particular visa category carries a specific insurance requirement.

Is the All Indonesia declaration free?

Yes. The official government declaration costs nothing.

Is the Bali Tourist Levy included in the visa fee?

No. The IDR 150,000 levy is separate from your visa.

Can I work on a tourist visa?

No. You need a visa or permit that authorises the activity you will actually be doing.

READY FOR BALI?

Sort the paperwork once, then forget it.

Before you leave for the airport: check your visa, complete the All Indonesia declaration, pay the Bali Tourist Levy where it applies, and save every confirmation offline.

Apply with a visa agent

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

Some links in this guide are affiliate links. If you use one of them, My Guide Abroad may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. It never changes what we recommend.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This guide is general travel information, not legal or immigration advice. Visa and entry rules change. Confirm the latest requirements with Indonesian Immigration, Love Bali, an Indonesian embassy, your airline or a qualified visa specialist before you travel.