Why the dates matter
Visas are the subject where stale information costs the most: a fine, a lost day at the immigration office, or a denied boarding. The pages that dominate search belong to agencies whose business is selling assistance, and many still describe the pre-2025 procedures. Every claim below carries its date and checks out against the official channels (imigrasi.go.id and the evisa.imigrasi.go.id portal). When a rule moves, this page moves, with the review date at the bottom.
Before the plane: the All Indonesia declaration
For arrivals in 2026, every international traveler must complete the All Indonesia arrival declaration through the official channel, up to 72 hours before landing. It merges the old customs and health forms into one QR code shown on arrival. It is free, it lives on the official channel, and forgetting it means filling it out in the queue, on your phone, at Ngurah Rai after a long flight. Do it when you check in online for the flight; the habit sticks.
Short stays: e-VOA over the airport counter, every time
The short-stay visa, code B1, costs IDR 500,000, about USD 30, grants 30 days, and extends exactly once for another 30. Hard ceiling: 60 days, with arrival and departure days each counting in full. The list of eligible passports lives on the official portal and moves with policy; France and most of Europe, the UK, the US, Canada and Australia are on it. Check the current list before booking.
The same visa exists in two forms, and the difference is paid in hours of your life. The electronic version, the e-VOA, is applied for on the official portal before departure, and the official page states it is normally issued within 24 hours of payment. Apply at least 48 hours out anyway: a payment failure, a rejected passport image or a manual check are poor reasons to miss a flight. You land with the visa in hand, and when the time comes, its extension starts online. The counter version, bought on arrival, means the purchase queue, a sticker in the passport, and an extension with more in-person friction and no online head start. Same price. The only reason to take the counter is having forgotten to plan.
The rule most pages missed: June 2025
Since circular IMI-417.GR.01.01/2025, in force from June 2025, every extension of a visit or stay permit concludes with an in-person biometric step at the immigration office, the photo and the fingerprints. Fully online extensions are over, the e-VOA included: its extension still starts online, which remains a real advantage, but it finishes at the biometric counter. Budget the half day at the office that covers your declared address, and if your time is worth more than a serious agent's fee, the agent prepares the file and reduces the friction, without removing the mandatory attendance.
A season on the ground: the C1 visitor visa
For serious scouting, a longer personal stay or a season of due diligence that needs more than 60 days, the single-entry C1 visitor visa grants 60 days, extendable twice in 60-day blocks, 180 days maximum. It is applied for before departure on the official portal, with proof of funds and, for most eligible nationalities, no local sponsor. Working remotely for a foreign employer is not what this visa is for: that route is the E33G, further down. For people who repeat trips rather than stay long, the D-series multiple-entry visas exist, with a stay limit per entry: multiple entry does not mean residency.
One point immigration enforces without humor: you cannot apply for a new visitor visa from inside the country once yours has expired. You leave, reapply, return. Building a life in Bali on chained tourist visas is not a status, it is a countdown.
A visa run is not a residency plan. It is a countdown with better scenery.
Living in Bali: the E-series
Residency runs through the temporary stay permits, the KITAS, now indexed as the E-series. The main categories are these: E23 for local employment, E28A for the investor holding at least IDR 10 billion in shares of an Indonesian company, E30 for study, E31 for family reunification, E33 for second home and retirement, E33G for remote work serving a foreign employer. Retirement under E33F requires age 55 and roughly USD 3,000 a month in documented income. Some KITAS categories can later qualify for the KITAP, the permanent permit, once their own duration and conditions are met; it is not an automatic next step for every holder.
The wealth routes: E33 and the golden visa
Two routes matter specifically for people planning real presence without local employment. The second home E33: an initial stay of up to five years, extendable within a ten-year total, no sponsor, against proof of IDR 2 billion, about USD 130,000, held in an Indonesian state bank, or the purchase of a condominium or apartment unit worth at least USD 1 million. Read that wording twice: the property route points at apartments, not villas, so for villa people the deposit is the practical path. Spouse, children and parents can follow on dependent visas aligned with the holder's term. The E33 is not a local-employment visa: any work activity has its own framework, with a dual-activity report to the issuing office.
Higher up the ladder, the golden visa: a qualifying passive investment of USD 350,000 in Indonesian government bonds, shares or funds opens the application for five years, USD 700,000 for ten, with tiers at 2.5 and 5 million for those establishing a company. What those amounts actually buy, and above all what they do not settle at all on the property and tax side, is the subject of our second home note.
The numbers that sting
Overstaying costs IDR 1 million per day, about USD 60, payable at the airport counter before the duty-free zone, and a history of overstays can later complicate, or block, future applications. The classic mistake is miscounting by a day or two: count the arrival day as a full day.
Questions we get asked directly
How long can I stay in Bali without resident status? 60 consecutive days on an extended e-VOA, 180 on a C1 extended twice. Beyond that, or to repeat stays without a countdown, you need an E-series permit.
Does the e-VOA really extend online? The request starts online, which is its advantage over the counter version. But since June 2025, extensions of visit or stay permits covered by the biometric rule conclude with an in-person immigration visit: the application can begin online, but mandatory attendance remains.
Which visa do I need to buy or build a villa? None confers ownership: stay and tenure are two separate systems. A plain e-VOA is more than enough for diligence and visits. What decides everything is the holding structure, and the nominee route is now banned by regional law: what changed in February 2026.
Do I need an agent? For an e-VOA, no; the official portal is enough and third-party sites charge more for the same thing. For more complex extensions or E-series applications, an agent can prepare the file and reduce administrative friction. Mandatory attendance, where required, remains.
last reviewed: july 2026
Related: A second home in Bali · Living in Bali with a family · Can you still build in Bali?
Sources: Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration, official B1, C1, E28A, E33 and E28C pages on imigrasi.go.id and the evisa.imigrasi.go.id portal, consulted 10 July 2026, including the stated 24-hour e-VOA issuance and the E33 terms (initial five years within a ten-year total; IDR 2 billion state-bank deposit or a condominium or apartment unit of at least USD 1 million); circular IMI-417.GR.01.01/2025 on in-person attendance for extensions, as implemented since June 2025 and communicated by immigration offices; golden visa tiers per the Ministry of Law, USD 350,000 to 700,000 in passive investment; the All Indonesia arrival declaration system, in force for 2026 arrivals. Amounts and procedures move: verify the official page before paying anything. This note is an information synthesis, not immigration advice.