Bali Visa on Arrival for Indian Citizens (And Others)

Covid Update Jan 2024: Indonesia is now open for all travelers. As per the latest regulations, visitors do not need COVID-19 vaccine certifications either. Do check the official tourism website of Indonesia at the time of travel for the most recent updates.

The beautiful pictures of Bali and other islands of Indonesia that I had seen made Indonesia a must-visit destination in Southeast Asian countries.

But gorgeous azure-green pictures weren’t the only things that had enticed me to fly to Bali. If you are an Indian reader, you would know how much we struggle with visas on our Indian passports. Given my never-ending wanderlust, I am always looking for countries who offer a visa on arrival or a visa-free entry to Indians.

As soon as I read about the hassle-free Bali visa on arrival for Indian citizens (and other almost 170 nationalities), I bought a one-way ticket to Bali.

Suggested Read: Find more countries that give visa on arrival for Indian passport holders.

Of course, I didn’t want to see only Bali in Indonesia and planned to explore more of this interesting archipelago of islands. But that didn’t happen for I fell from a scooter fifteen days into the trip and had to stay put for two weeks in Bali. By the time I could move long distance, I had to leave as the Bali visa on arrival was only valid for 30 days. (We will talk about getting the Bali visa extension and visa runs in later parts of this guide.)

Related Read: Malaysia eVisa Guide for Indian citizens

When I landed at the Denpasar international airport in Bali, I got a thirty-days Indonesia visa on arrival stamped on my passport, without any hustle. Though I paid (instead of taking the free option) for the Indonesia tourist visa (for reasons I will explain later), another traveler I met on the flight got a free visa.

In this Bali and Indonesia visa guide, we will go through both the free and paid versions of the visa.

Before moving on to the FAQ’s about Indonesia visa for Indians (and Others), let me clear the confusion around Bali being a separate country.

Bali is a part of Indonesia, a Southeast Asian country that has become really popular in the recent few years. Millions of travelers visit Bali every year, more so than other parts of Indonesia. But Indonesia has many more gorgeous islands — about 18000 to be precise — where you can swim with stingrays, chill on beautiful pink beaches, see Komodo dragons, learn to dive, climb volcanoes, sit in the courtyards of beautiful temples, and stay as disconnected with the world as you want to.

As you can see in the map above, the islands from the west: Sumatra until the east: Papua all belongs to Indonesia. I don’t think it is even possible to see all of these 18000 islands that all differ in geography, history, wildlife, culture, and traditions.

Related Read: An evening spent well on Nusa Penida island.

I hope now we are clear that Bali is not a separate country, and Indonesia is not just Bali.

FAQ’s about Bali/Indonesia Visa on Arrival – For Indians and Others

1. Is Bali tourist visa different from Indonesia tourist visa? 

No. As I said above, Bali is one of the 18,000 islands in Indonesia. If you get a travel visa to Indonesia, you get a travel visa to Bali. If you have to leave Bali, it implies that you have to leave Indonesia. Bali comes under the jurisdiction of Indonesia.

2.  Is Bali visa on arrival different from Indonesia visa on arrival?

No. You can get a visa on arrival to Indonesia at a designated list of seaports and airports — Bali is just one of those ports.

Even if you landed at Jakarta airport instead of Bali and got your visa on arrival stamped in Jakarta, you can enter Bali or any of the other islands of Indonesia. Vice-versa is also true.

3. Is a Bali visa for Indian citizens different from Indonesia visa for Indian citizens?

No.

I think now you must have understood what I am trying to clarify with these questions.

Bali visa for Indians and Indonesian visa for Indians is the same thing.

Please Note: From now on whenever I refer to a Bali travel visa or Indonesian travel visa— I imply the same visa. I will use Bali and Indonesia interchangeably.

4. Do I need a visa for Indonesia? 

Are you traveling to Indonesia for tourism purposes and plan to stay there for less than 60 days? Then you do not need to apply for an Indonesian visa.

Make sure your country is ion the list of 169 Indonesia visa-free countries — the countries that get a free visa on arrival for Indonesia for a stay of up to 30 days. You can see the list on the Wikipedia page here.

If you want to stay in Indonesia for more than 60 days or are traveling for business purposes, you require a visa. Please refer to the later sections for clarification on the same.

Please Note: As most of the countries are eligible for a visa, we can safely assume that the procedures/requirements for Indonesia visa on arrival for Indian passport holders are the same as the procedures/requirements for Indonesia visa on arrival for all these nationalities. I won’t mention the nationality every time. 

5. Do Indians need a visa for Indonesia?

India is one of the 169 countries I mentioned above. If you are traveling to Indonesia for tourism and want to stay there for less than 60 days, you can get a free visa on arrival to Indonesia.

6. Who is eligible for an Indonesian visa on arrival?

You can check the list of (almost) 169 countries that are eligible for on arrival visa for Indonesia here.

7. What are the ports where tourists can get a visa on arrival in Indonesia?

Please access the list of ports here.

8. How much is the Indonesia visa on arrival fees?

Indonesia arrival visa is free — but only if you plan to stay in Indonesia for 30 days.

9. What do I do when I land in Indonesia to get a visa on arrival?

For those who want to stay in Indonesia (or Bali) for less than 30 days — When you arrive at an Indonesian airport — straight head to the immigration counter (which would most probably have a long queue). Keep your passport handy, tell the immigration officer that you will be traveling in Indonesia for a couple of weeks, and show them your return ticket (we will discuss this later). They will stamp your passport with a visa on arrival for free. 

For those who want to stay in Indonesia (or Bali) for more than 30 days —

When you arrive at an Indonesian airport — find the Visa on Arrival counter before the immigration line. Now you will have to tell the immigration officers that you want to pay the USD 35 fee for a 30-day visa on arrival because you want to get your visa extended later. The officer would then stamp your passport with an extendable 30-days visa on arrival.

When I paid for the visa, the immigration office only asked me for the duration of my stay. I told him around 45 days.

On Bali airport, there is an ATM near the counter if you want to take out cash as the system didn’t accept cards.

10. How much does the tourist visa to Indonesia costs if I plan to stay in Indonesia for more than 30 days?

You pay USD 35 when you arrive. But when you extend the visa you would have to pay more. We will discuss the visa extension process later.

11. How many days is the Indonesian tourist visa valid for?

This visa on arrival is valid for 30 days — the day of entry and exit both are included in these 30 days. The visa is a single entry visa. If you leave Indonesia, your passport would be stamped again.

Remember — 30 days, not a month.

12. How many times can I extend my visa if I pay for an Indonesian visa on arrival?

Only one time. You will get a 30-day extension. So overall you can stay up to 60 days on a paid Indonesian visa on arrival.

13. What if I didn’t pay for a visa on arrival when I arrived in Indonesia, but I want to stay for more than 30 days?

You cannot. If you don’t pay and enter Indonesia visa-free, you would have to leave the country within 30 days.

If you are reading this guide when you are already in Indonesia on a free visa on arrival but want to stay more, I am sorry but you cannot do anything apart from leaving the country.

14. What are Indonesia visa on arrival requirements?

The immigration officers who processed my friend’s visa and mine didn’t ask us anything apart from the duration of our stay. Indonesia visa on arrival requirements are simple.

Carry your passport — that should be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of your return from Indonesia.

Return Ticket from Indonesia — If you have a confirmed ticket, that’s good. If you don’t have a confirmed ticket, you can show the print out of the itinerary as well.

I carried the print out of my itinerary, but the officers didn’t ask me to show it.

I carried the below documents also though the official immigration page of Indonesia don’t ask for these —

Hotel bookings — Printouts of the first few days of our stay. But we were not asked to show any proof of stay.

You can always reserve a place on Booking for the first couple of days. Make sure to do a booking for which you do not need to pay or a booking that is fully refundable until a certain time so that if you change your mind you can cancel and rebook.

Proof of Sufficient funds — Proof of funds that shows that the traveler can support herself financially during her stay in Indonesia. I carried bank accounts statements for the past two months but wasn’t asked to show.

These are all the standard documents you carry to avail any visa on arrival. Even though the immigration might not ask for any of these (apart from the passport), I always consider it safer to carry the proof of stay and funds.

Have a look at the Indonesia visa requirements at the official immigration website of Indonesia here.

15. What if I want to stay in Bali (or Indonesia ) for more than 60 days?

If you plan to stay for more than sixty days, then you should apply for a visa for Indonesia.

Or you should leave the country after 60 days and then go back — A standard thing that many travelers do. When you leave any country because your visa is expiring but only to come back, this is called a visa run.

16. How to apply for Indonesian visa?

If you are not going to Indonesia for travel purposes or plan to travel/stay in Indonesia for more than 60 days, you would have to apply for a visa.

You can either get a Social or Cultural visa to Indonesia — need a sponsor from Indonesia or a Multiple Entry visa for Indonesia (60 days valid for up to a year) — get it from an embassy outside Indonesia.

Please have a look for the procedure on Indonesia immigration website.

17. How to apply for Indonesia tourist visa for Indian passport holders?

You can apply for a visa for Indonesia for Indian passport holders from here — Indonesia visa application.

18. What if I overstay in Indonesia?

For each day you overstay, you will have to pay a penalty of IDR 1,000,000 or $70 per day.

19. What is the process of getting the extension of the tourist visa for Indonesia?

The travel agent that I contacted to understand the extension process told me that the extension would take at least ten days.

Instead of applying for the visa extension in Bali and waiting for ten days (along with the extension process that sounded cumbersome), I flew from Bali to Malaysia and thought that I would go to Indonesia later. But I never went back and returned to India for I had already been traveling for a few months.

You can also get the visa extended yourself but you would have to visit the immigration office in Denpasar at least three times.

The travel agent said that if I apply with them I will have to visit the immigration office in Denpasar once to provide fingerprints, signature sample and take a photo.

If you work with an agent, you would need to give them your passport, and they will prepare the rest of the documents. After the agency submits your passport for the visa extension, you have to visit the office a few days later.

They told me that the passport comes within 10-12 working days after the process is completed, which I find a bit hard to believe.

The agency delivers your passport in and around Ubud. For other parts, you can pay more and get it at home.

If you want to use a travel agent to apply for your extension, I suggest you enquire well before hiring one.

Cost of visa extension in Indonesia — 650, 000 IDR per person as quoted by the travel agent.

20. When should you start the visa extension process?

Ideally, you should start at least seven to ten days before your visa expires. if you try to apply too early, the immigration would send you back.

But as long as you start your extension process before your visa expires, you should be good.

Indonesia is a gorgeous country with an easy visa policy. I hope you are now clear on the visa on arrival process for Indonesia and visit this azure collection of islands soon.

Follow Up Read: My Bali travel guide.

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