Indonesia does not have a single “Bali visa.” Instead there is a tiered system that scales with your intentions: short tourist stamps for a holiday, longer visit visas for an extended trip, limited-stay permits for living and working, and multi-year residency for those putting down roots. Each tier is governed by its own rules on duration, extension and what you are legally allowed to do once you arrive.
The framework rests on a handful of regulations. Law No. 6 of 2011 on Immigration is the foundation; Government Regulation PP No. 28 of 2019 sets the official fees; and Permenkumham No. 11 of 2024 refreshed the visa categories and the index-coded permits you will see throughout this guide. Applications and extensions now run largely online through the official portal at evisa.imigrasi.go.id, with in-person steps such as biometrics tracked through the government’s MOLINA app. Read on for each tier in turn, then a plain-language section on choosing.
For a holiday, the two simplest routes are visa-free entry and the Visa on Arrival (VOA). A growing list of nationalities can enter visa-free for short tourism, but the option most travellers use is the VOA: it costs IDR 500,000, grants 30 days from the date of entry, and can be extended once for a further 30 days, giving up to 60 days in total. You can buy it on arrival at the airport or, increasingly, pre-purchase the electronic version (e-VOA) online before you fly.
The trade-off for this convenience is scope. A VOA is strictly for tourism, transit, family visits and the occasional business meeting — it does not permit paid work, and it cannot be extended beyond that single 30-day renewal. Overstaying carries a fixed penalty of IDR 1,000,000 per day, so anyone planning to stay longer than two months should move up a tier rather than risk the count.
When two months is not enough but you are not yet living here, the B211 visit visa (and its B211A variant) is the workhorse. Issued before travel and sponsored by an Indonesian individual or company, it typically grants an initial 60-day stay that can be extended in stages — commonly twice for 60 days each — stretching a single visa to around six months without leaving the country.
The B211 family covers a range of single-entry purposes: extended tourism, social and family visits, certain business and pre-investment activity, and short non-employment engagements. It remains a visit visa, not a residence or work permit, so it does not entitle you to take a salaried job in Indonesia. For many remote workers, repeat visitors and people scoping a longer move, though, it is the natural step between a tourist stamp and a full stay permit.
To actually live in Bali — to work, run a company, retire here or join a family member — you need a KITAS (Kartu Izin Tinggal Terbatas), the limited-stay permit. Under the current index system each purpose has its own code: E23 for work, E28A for investors, E33G for the digital-nomad remote-worker permit, plus dedicated routes for retirement and for spouses and family. A KITAS is usually valid for one to two years and is renewable, and it can serve as the foundation for permanent residence later on.
What separates a KITAS from the visit visas above is legal standing: it makes you a temporary resident with a registered address, the ability to open local bank accounts and, where the permit allows, the right to work or direct a business. Because each type carries different sponsor, capital and document requirements, the KITAS tier is where professional guidance saves the most time — and where a mistake is most costly.
For people committed to Indonesia for the long term, two premium routes grant multi-year residency without tying you to an employer. The Second Home Visa (E33) offers a 5 to 10 year stay for applicants who can demonstrate substantial funds or assets, and is popular with retirees and financially independent residents. The Golden Visa (E28B), launched in 2024, similarly grants 5 to 10 years and is aimed at significant investors, company founders and high-value individuals, with tiers keyed to the size of investment.
Both options trade a higher threshold for stability: longer validity, multiple entries and far less paperwork churn than annual permits. They are residency rather than work authorisation in the conventional sense, so anyone whose goal is a salaried local job still needs the appropriate work permit alongside — but for retirement, passive investment or simply the freedom to come and go for years at a time, they are the most comfortable seats in the system.
The honest shortcut is to start with purpose, not duration. A holiday of up to two months is a VOA; a longer trip with no work is a B211. If you intend to work remotely for clients abroad, the digital-nomad E33G KITAS or a Creator/remote-worker visit visa fits best. If you plan to build a business or invest in Indonesia, the investor KITAS (E28A) or, at scale, the Golden Visa (E28B) is the path. For retirement there is a dedicated retirement KITAS and, for the well-funded, the Second Home Visa.
Three questions resolve most cases: How long do you want to stay? Will you earn money, and from where? And how much certainty do you want about renewals? Map those answers against the tiers above and the right category usually picks itself. Where two options overlap — and they often do — the deciding factor is your nationality, budget and how quickly you need to be settled, which is exactly where a short conversation with a specialist pays for itself.
You should not have to decode immigration law to take a trip or make a move. Here is what working with our desk gives you.
We match your purpose, nationality and timeline to the correct category — so you never pay for the wrong permit or hit an avoidable wall.
No generic checklists. You receive the exact papers your chosen visa needs, in the order immigration expects them.
We prepare and submit via evisa.imigrasi.go.id and schedule any biometric step, keeping your application moving from day one.
Every recommendation is grounded in current regulation, so your stay holds up to scrutiny long after the stamp is in your passport.
For most nationalities the Visa on Arrival is ideal: IDR 500,000 for 30 days, extendable once for another 30. If your country qualifies for visa-free entry and you will stay only a short time, that can be simpler still. For anything beyond 60 days you should look at a B211 visit visa instead.
A VOA or standard visit visa is meant for tourism and social visits, not work. If you earn income while based in Bali — even from clients abroad — the cleaner route is the digital-nomad E33G KITAS or a dedicated remote-worker visa, which are designed for exactly this and keep you on the right side of the rules.
A KITAS is a one-to-two-year limited-stay permit usually tied to a purpose such as work, investment or family, and it is renewed regularly. The Second Home (E33) and Golden (E28B) visas grant 5 to 10 years of residency in one go, with multiple entries and far less paperwork — better suited to retirees and significant investors who want long-term certainty.
Indonesia applies a fixed overstay penalty of IDR 1,000,000 for each day beyond your permitted stay, payable on departure, and lengthy overstays can lead to more serious consequences. The simple fix is to extend in time or move to a longer-term visa before the count begins — both of which we can arrange well ahead of your expiry date.
