Bali is one of the most popular travel destinations and one of my favourite places in the world. If you’re planning a trip and need information on how to get a visa for Bali, keep reading for a full guide on the different types of visas and how to decide which is the right one for you.
With its beautiful scenery, friendly locals and affordable cost of travel and living, Bali is a popular destination with holiday makers and digital nomads. One of the most important parts of travelling to any country is making sure that you have the right visa for your trip. In this blog post, I’ll delve into the different types of visas, the cost of each, and what documentation is needed in order to obtain your visa.
Throughout the post, I will be referring to how to get a visa for Bali. The regulations and visa types I will be describing apply not just to Bali, but to all of Indonesia.
Click here for my 2 week Bali itinerary
There are three basic visa options when travelling to Bali. These are visa exempt, visa on arrival (VOA), and the B211A visa.
Visa Exempt
There are currently 9 countries which are visa exempt and can enter Bali for up to 30 days for free. This list used to be much longer pre-Covid, and hopefully more countries will be added to the list again. For now though, the countries whose passport holders are visa exempt are:
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
If you hold a valid passport from one of the countries on the list and plan on staying for less than 30 days, then you are visa exempt and you’re ready to go! If you want to stay for more than 30 days however, you will need to apply for one of the other types of visa.
Visa on Arrival (VOA)
If you plan on visiting Bali for less than 60 days, then the Visa on Arrival is the best option for you. This visa is currently available to passport holders from more than 80 countries. Click here for an up-to-date list of nationalities who can obtain a Visa on Arrival.
The VOA costs 500,000 IDR (roughly €35/US$35) for your first 30 days, and can be purchased at the Visa on Arrival desk when you arrive at Denpasar airport. This visa can be extended once for a further 30 days, allowing you to stay 60 days in total.
Several currencies are accepted for payment. As well as paying in the local currency of IDR, you can also use EUR, AUD, USD, GBP or SGD. If you pay using a large note, you will receive your change in local currency. It is also possible to purchase an e-VOA before you travel, and this may save time at immigration when you arrive. Click here for more information on the e-VOA.
The VOA is a single entry visa, which means that you cannot leave the country and re-enter during the duration of the visa. If you leave Indonesia, your visa becomes invalid, and you will need to pay for a new VOA if you want to return. It is also purely intended for tourism, and is not a work permit. Visitors travelling to Bali using the VOA are strictly forbidden from undertaking any form of employment or paid work.
Extending the Visa on Arrival
If you are staying in Bali for more than 30 days, you will need to extend your VOA. You can do this once, and the extension allows you to stay for another 30 days, giving you a total of 60 days. This can be done independently through the immigration website, or you can pay a visa agent to organise it for you.
The process takes up to 10 working days, so you will need to apply for your extension around 2 weeks before your VOA expires. The cost for the VOA extension if you do it yourself is 500,000 IDR. Agency fees vary depending on who you use, but they typically range between 800,000 IDR and 1,300,000 IDR.
If you choose to handle the process yourself, you will need to visit immigration a total of 3 times. If you have a visa agent handle the process for you, you will only need to go to immigration once for your biometrics appointment. However, you will need to meet with your visa agent a couple of times, so make sure to choose one who has an office close to where you will be staying.
I have used Bali.com for my B211 visa application and extensions in the past, and I was very happy with their service. They also offer a VOA extension service. Click here to visit the Bali.com website.
Documentation required for the Visa on Arrival
- A passport valid for at least 6 months from your date of arrival.
- Proof of onward travel.
- Any necessary Covid-related documents e.g. proof of vaccinations.
B211A Visa
If you are planning on spending more than 60 days in Bali, then the B211A visa is ideal for you. It is also a great option for anyone who does not qualify for a Visa on Arrival. The B211A visa allows for up to 180 days stay in total, and is an offshore visa. This means that you cannot apply for the B211A once you are already in Bali on a VOA or a visa exempt stay. You need to apply for the B211A before you enter Bali.
The best way to get a B211A visa is to use a visa agent like Bali.com, who will handle the application process for you. The cost for the initial 60 day visa varies depending on which agent you use, but it is usually roughly €300. As with the VOA, this is a single entry visa, meaning that you cannot leave the country and re-enter using this visa.
The B211A is intended for social, cultural, tourism and business purposes. Even though it covers some business activities, it is not a work permit and does not allow any paid employment or work for a local business or employer while in Bali. It is intended for business meetings, networking, exploring investment opportunities and sourcing products.
If you plan on staying in Bali for between 30 and 60 days but want to avoid the process of a VOA extension, then the B211A visa would also be suitable, although it is a much more expensive option than a VOA plus an extension.
Extending the B211A Visa
The B211A can be extended twice, for 60 days each time, and there is a charge of around €190 for each extension. This process is also best handled by a visa agent who will liaise with the immigration department on your behalf. You will need to go to a biometrics appointment for each extension, and your visa agent will inform you of the time and date and location of these appointments.
You will be required to hand over your passport to immigration while your B211A extension is being processed. This is normal practice and is nothing to be worried about. Just you make sure to use a trusted visa agent with positive reviews and a good reputation.
My experience of the B211A extension process
When I applied for the first extension on my B211A visa last year, Bali.com, my visa agent, requested that I drop my passport to their legal office in Jimbaran. I was given a receipt for the passport which i needed to keep and hand in when the extension process was completed and I was collecting my passport.
As soon as my first extension was approved, Bali.com emailed me and informed me of my new visa expiry date. They also asked me at that point whether I wanted them to apply for the second extension right away. I asked them to go ahead and do so, and this meant that they continued to hold my passport while the second extension was being processed.
Documentation required for the B211A Visa
- A passport valid for at least 6 months from your date of arrival if you intend to stay for just the 60 days of the initial visa.
- A passport valid for at least 12 months from your date of arrival if you intend to extend the visa and stay for more than 60 days.
- Proof of onward travel.
- Any necessary Covid-related documents e.g. proof of vaccinations.
For proof of onward travel, most of the advice I have read online says that this should be within 60 days of arrival. When I travelled to Bali in 2022, I presented proof of an exit flight 5 months after my arrival and said that I intended to extend my B211A. This was accepted and I had no problems.
However, if you want to be 100% certain that your arrival will run smoothly, I advise booking a ticket out of Bali within 60 days of your arrival that has a free cancellation or flexible date change.
Staying for longer than 180 days
If you plan on staying in Bali for longer than 180 days, then there is an option to apply for a second B211A visa. This second B211A is an onshore visa, meaning that you do not need to leave the country to reapply. However, the onshore B211A is only available to visitors who already have an offshore B211A.
This means that if you are in Bali on a visa exempt visit, or a Visa on Arrival, you cannot apply for an onshore B211A. In this case, you will need to leave Indonesia and get an offshore B211A before re-entering the country.
You should apply for your onshore B211A AT LEAST 2 weeks before your offshore B211A expires, in order to ensure that your new visa will be approved in time. Once granted, the onshore B211A functions exactly the same as the offshore version, meaning that the initial visa allows you to stay 60 days. You can then apply for 2 extensions of 60 days each, just as with the offshore B211A.
Using an offshore B211A followed by an onshore B211A will give you a total of 360 days in Indonesia without needing to leave the country.
Overstaying your visa
There is a penalty of 1,000,000 IDR per day for overstaying your visa in Bali or Indonesia, so make sure to plan ahead to make sure that this does not happen to you. An overstay of more than 60 days will be subject to the 60,000,000 IDR fine, as well as deportation and being blacklisted from returning to Indonesia in the future.
Thank you for reading my guide to how to get a visa for Bali.
If you’re planning a trip to Bali, make sure to read my 2 week Bali itinerary. Here are some more Bali posts you might enjoy:
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