Visa regulations for Bali

Tags:

Bali Fire Dance Retreat Travel Travel Guide Travel info Visa

Planning your trip to the Bali Fire Dance Retreat? Then there’s one piece of admin to get right first: your visa. 🛂

Today, 19 nationalities get in for free, and almost everyone reading this will need to buy a visa on arrival. The good news: it takes about ten minutes online, costs around €25 / $30, and gives you plenty of time for the retreat. 🌴

⚠️ Read this first · 🛂 e-VOA (most people) · 🌏 Visa-free (19 countries) · 🗓️ Extending · 🎫 Arrival card · 🏝️ Bali levy · ✅ Passport rules · 🔗 Official links

⚠️ READ THIS FIRST — CHECK IT YOURSELF

We keep this page as accurate as we can, but immigration rules change, sometimes with very little notice. Indonesia has changed its visa policy several times in the last two years.

🔎 So please do this: before you book anything, check your own nationality against the official Indonesian government websites listed at the bottom of this page — and against your own country’s foreign ministry travel advice. Nothing on this page overrides an official source.

🚨 And beware of scam websites. There are a lot of lookalike “visa” sites that charge you three times the real fee. The rule is simple:

Official Indonesian government sites always end in .go.id
The only official visa portal is evisa.imigrasi.go.id
The only official Bali levy portal is lovebali.baliprov.go.id
Anything ending in .com, .net, .org or .info is not the government. 🚫

🛂 MOST VISITORS — THE VISA ON ARRIVAL (e-VOA)

If you hold a passport from the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Norway or most of the rest of the world, this is you. 👋

The Visa on Arrival (VOA / B1) is the standard tourist visa. Roughly 90 nationalities qualify. You can get it two ways: apply online in advance (e-VOA, strongly recommended) or buy it at the airport counter when you land.

📋 The essentials:

💰 Cost: IDR 500,000 (≈ €25 / $30) per person — including children and babies, at full price. You can get it at the airport, or apply for the e-VOA online before departure.
🗓️ Length of stay: 30 days, counted from your arrival day
🔁 Extendable: yes — once, for another 30 days (60 days total)
🎯 Purpose: tourism and fun holidays — perfect for the retreat!

💻 Applying online (the easy way)

Go to evisa.imigrasi.go.id — and nowhere else.
Create an account and verify your email (do it promptly — the link expires quickly).
Upload your passport bio page and a passport-style photo.
Fill in your arrival date and your accommodation details. You can use the retreat resort — you’ll find the exact address in the email you receive after registration.
Pay by Mastercard, Visa or JCB (3D Secure required).
Download your e-VOA once approved and save it to your phone and print it. 📄

⏱️ When to apply: at least 48 hours before departure. Approval often comes within minutes to a few hours, but don’t leave it to the airport taxi. Your e-VOA stays valid for 90 days from issue, and your 30 days only start counting on the day you arrive — so applying a few weeks early is completely fine. 👍

✅ Why bother with the online version? Because when you land, you walk straight into the dedicated e-VOA lane instead of queueing at the payment counter and then queueing again for immigration. After a 20-hour journey, this is worth a lot.

🛫 Or buy it at the airport

You can also just pay on arrival at Denpasar. Head for the VOA counter before immigration, pay IDR 500,000 (≈ €25 / $30) in cash (rupiah) or by major card, then join the immigration queue with your receipt. It works perfectly well — it’s simply slower.

🌏 VISA-FREE ENTRY — ONLY 19 NATIONALITIES

Indonesia grants free, 30-day visa-exempt entry to citizens of just 19 countries and territories:

🌏 ASEAN member states:
🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam · 🇰🇭 Cambodia · 🇱🇦 Laos · 🇲🇾 Malaysia · 🇲🇲 Myanmar · 🇵🇭 Philippines · 🇸🇬 Singapore · 🇹🇭 Thailand · 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste · 🇻🇳 Vietnam

🌎 Plus:
🇧🇾 Belarus · 🇧🇷 Brazil · 🇨🇴 Colombia · 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR · 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · 🇲🇴 Macao SAR · 🇵🇪 Peru · 🇸🇷 Suriname · 🇹🇷 Türkiye

⚠️ The important catch. Visa-free entry is 30 days maximum, it cannot be extended, and it cannot be converted into any other permit once you’re in the country.

💡 So if you’re visa-free but want to stay longer than 30 days — to travel around Indonesia after the retreat, for example — don’t use the exemption. Buy the e-VOA instead. It costs IDR 500,000 (≈ €25 / $30) but it extends to 60 days. Choosing the free option and then wanting more time is the classic mistake. 🙃

🇪🇺 Not on the list? That's normal

If you’re from the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or South Korea — you are not visa-free any more, even though you may remember Bali being visa-free on a previous trip. Those countries were removed when Indonesia cut the list from 169 countries down to a handful.

You’re not stuck, though — all of those nationalities are on the VOA list. Just get the e-VOA as described above. 🙂

📋 ON NEITHER LIST? APPLY BEFORE YOU TRAVEL

If your nationality appears on neither the visa-free list nor the VOA list, you must apply for a visit visa before you travel — usually a single-entry visit visa (C1), or the social-cultural visit visa often called B211A. Some nationalities fall under Indonesia’s “calling visa” rules, which need extra approval and take longer.

👉 Check your status on the official immigration country lists, then apply at evisa.imigrasi.go.id or at your nearest Indonesian embassy or consulate.

⏳ Start early — these take weeks, not hours. And tell us if you need any supporting documents from our side; we’re happy to help. 🤝

🗓️ GOOD NEWS — THE RETREAT FITS EASILY IN 30 DAYS

You can come to the Bali Spirit Festival plus the full retreat with the visa! So whichever route you take — visa-free or e-VOA — a single 30-day permit covers the retreat with plenty of room to spare. 🎉

You only need to think about extensions if you want to stay on and travel afterward:

Up to 30 days total → visa-free (if eligible) or e-VOA. Done.
30–60 days total → e-VOA, then extend it once.
More than 60 days → you need a different visa class. Sort that out before you travel.

⏳ EXTENDING YOUR VISA ON ARRIVAL

A VOA or e-VOA can be extended once, for another 30 days, giving you 60 days total. The extension costs another IDR 500,000 (≈ €25 / $30).

🖥️ You start the process online at evisa.imigrasi.go.id — but be aware that it is no longer a purely online process. After you apply and pay, you have to attend an immigration office in person for a photo and biometrics. The office is assigned based on the postcode of the address you enter, so enter the address you’ll actually be staying at.

⏰ Start early — this is the bit people get wrong. Official guidance on the exact window has changed more than once, and processing can take several working days (longer around Indonesian public holidays). Don’t leave it to the last week. Aim to begin your extension about two weeks before your permit expires, and confirm the current timing rules on the official portal.

📍 If you’re extending after the retreat, use the immigration office for the area you’re staying in (we can help you find it) — but if you’ve moved on to Canggu or Sanur by then, use an office near your new address.

🚫 DO NOT OVERSTAY

Indonesia fines overstays at IDR 1,000,000 per day (≈ €50 / $55), per person. 😬

A longer overstay is far more serious than a fine — it can mean detention, deportation and a re-entry ban. Immigration enforcement in Bali has become noticeably stricter.

✅ So, simply:

Note your exact expiry date the moment you get your entry stamp — count your arrival day as day 1. There’s no grace period.
Set a phone reminder for two weeks before it expires.
Keep the immigration slip they give you together with your passport.

🎫 THE ARRIVAL CARD & CUSTOMS DECLARATION

A visa isn’t quite the whole story — Indonesia also wants a digital arrival form from every traveler. This is free, and it takes a couple of minutes. But you can also easily do it at the airport.

📝 Complete the All Indonesia arrival card at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id shortly before you fly (within about 3 days of arrival), then save the QR code to your phone and screenshot it. This single form has taken over from the separate paper arrival card, customs declaration, and health declaration that older guides describe.

🧾 If you’re asked for a separate customs declaration, the official system is ecd.beacukai.go.id. Things you must declare include more than IDR 100,000,000 (≈ €5,000 / $5,600) in cash, more than 1 liter of alcohol, more than 200 cigarettes, plants, seeds, animal products, and prescription medication (bring the doctor’s note). So for most flowmies, it’s easy — nothing to declare.

💡 Flow artists, take note: your props are personal sports equipment and are absolutely fine to bring. Fuel is not — never pack any. 👉 See the guide to flying with fire & LED props →

🏝️ THE BALI TOURIST LEVY — IDR 150,000 (≈ €7 / $8)

This one is specific to Bali and catches people out, because it’s separate from your visa. 🎟️

Every foreign visitor to Bali pays a one-time levy of IDR 150,000 (≈ €7 / $8) per person, per visit. It funds cultural and environmental protection on the island, and it has been in force since February 2024.

💻 How to pay:

Go to lovebali.baliprov.go.id — the official Bali provincial government portal. Note the .go.id. 🔒
Enter your name, email, passport number, nationality and arrival date.
Pay by card.
Save the QR voucher to your phone and screenshot it. 📲

✅ Pay before you travel. You can also pay at counters at the airport or at registered hotels and attractions in Bali, but doing it online in advance means you just scan and walk. It’s separate from your visa fee and is not included in your e-VOA payment.

👨‍👩‍👧 Traveling together? The portal handles group payments — one transaction, one voucher per person.

✅ PASSPORT & ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Whichever visa route you use, Indonesia expects:

📕 A passport valid for at least 6 months from your date of arrival — so for a 27 April 2027 arrival, valid until at least 27 October 2027. Check this now — it’s the single most common reason people get turned away at check-in. ⚠️
📄 At least one or two blank visa pages.
✈️ Proof of onward or return travel. You may be asked for it at check-in or at immigration, so have your return flight booked and saved.
🏨 Proof of accommodation — use the resort address.
🛂 Entry via an authorised international checkpoint — Denpasar (DPS) is one, so you’re fine.

💡 Take photos of your passport, visa and insurance and email them to yourself. It makes a lost passport a manageable problem rather than a disaster. 🙏

🔗 OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITES — CHECK THESE YOURSELF

These are the sources we checked to write this page — and the ones you should check for yourself before you book. All of them are genuine Indonesian government sites (.go.id). 🔒

🔗 Directorate General of Immigration — official VOA country list
The legally authoritative list of which nationalities can get a Visa on Arrival, plus the visa-free and “calling visa” lists. If your nationality is on this page, you’re eligible.

🔗 Official Indonesian e-Visa portal (apply for your e-VOA here)
The only official place to apply for an e-VOA or extend your stay permit online. Run by the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.

🔗 All Indonesia — arrival card
The official digital arrival card for foreign visitors. Complete it shortly before you fly and save the QR code.

🔗 Love Bali — the Bali tourist levy
The official Bali provincial government portal for paying the IDR 150,000 (≈ €7 / $8) tourist levy.

🔗 Directorate General of Customs and Excise — customs declaration (e-CD)
Indonesia’s customs declaration system and the rules on what you must declare.

🔗 Directorate General of Immigration — main site
News, regulations and immigration office locations.

🌍 Also worth checking: your own government’s travel advice for Indonesia — search for “[your country] foreign ministry travel advice Indonesia”. It’s written for your nationality specifically and is updated regularly.

🎉 THAT'S THE PAPERWORK DONE!

For most people it comes down to three things: an e-VOA (IDR 500,000 ≈ €25 / $30, ten minutes online), the Bali tourist levy (IDR 150,000 ≈ €7 / $8), and the arrival card (free). Do all three from your sofa before you fly, save the QR codes, and your arrival in Bali will be delightfully boring. 🌴✨

📚 More Bali Fire Dance Retreat guides:

⚠️ Final reminder: we’re flow arts teachers, not immigration lawyers. Everything here was checked against official Indonesian government sources, but rules change — always confirm your own situation on the official websites above before you book. 🙏