Indonesia's e-VOA: the visa on arrival you should get beforehand, how to extend it by 30 more days, and the Bali levy you pay separately

👤 Who needs it?

Indonesia splits our twenty-eight nationalities into three groups, and the most repeated mistake is believing that «everyone pays for the visa on arrival». We read Immigration's two official lists on 23/09/2026. GROUP 1 — ENTER WITHOUT A VISA AND WITHOUT PAYING ANYTHING, under the Bebas Visa Kunjungan list (A1 visa): BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, PERU and SURINAME. That is 30 days, and here is the fine print that hurts: that exemption CANNOT BE EXTENDED OR CONVERTED. Verbatim from the A1 sheet: «Izin Tinggal dari fasilitas bebas visa ini tidak dapat diperpanjang dan tidak dapat dialihkan menjadi izin tinggal lain». GROUP 2 — CAN USE THE VOA/e-VOA, because they appear on the official list of countries subject to Visa on Arrival: ARGENTINA, CHILE, ECUADOR, VENEZUELA, SPAIN, ITALY, MEXICO, GUATEMALA, UNITED STATES, GERMANY, ANDORRA, DENMARK and AUSTRALIA. That is 30 days for IDR 500.000, extendable once by 30 more. Watch out for a nice detail: Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Suriname are on BOTH lists, so they can choose. If they are going for less than 30 days, they are better off entering visa-free and for free; if they plan to stay longer, they are better off paying for the e-VOA, because it is the only one of the two that can be extended. GROUP 3 — NOT ON EITHER LIST and therefore CANNOT use the e-VOA: BOLIVIA, COSTA RICA, CUBA, EL SALVADOR, GUYANA, HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, PARAGUAY, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and URUGUAY. That is eleven, and they have to apply before travelling for the C1 visit visa, online, on the same portal evisa.imigrasi.go.id. Two more exclusions that do not depend on the country: stateless persons and holders of travel documents other than a national passport —titre de voyage, certificate of identity, laissez-passer or similar— cannot apply for the e-VOA. Emergency and temporary passports can, but with 12 months of validity instead of 6.

🧭 The step by step

📋 What you need at hand

• Passport valid for at least 6 MONTHS from arrival (12 months if it is an emergency passport, a temporary passport or any travel document other than a national passport)
• Scan of the passport's biographical data page
• Recent colour photo, from the last year: full face, front-facing, plain light background (Indonesia does not publish dimensions or a maximum file size)
• Return or onward ticket to another country: it is a written requirement and the airline checks it at the check-in desk at your point of departure
• Mastercard, Visa or JCB credit or debit card, or payment via SIMPONI
• Valid email address: the e-VOA is sent there within 24 hours
• The downloaded e-VOA, on your phone or printed
• All Indonesia arrival declaration with its QR code, completed within the 3 days before arrival, one per passenger including children
• Proof of payment of the Bali tourist levy (voucher with QR), if your destination is Bali
• For the extension: scan of your valid passport, written statement of the reason and purpose of your stay, and proof of the sponsor's guarantee if you used one
• For the eleven nationalities without access to the VOA (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay): C1 visit visa applied for before travelling on the same portal, which does ask for a bank statement
• No travel insurance: Indonesia does not require it to enter as a tourist. Take it anyway, but it is not an immigration requirement
• No vaccination certificate: it is not among the requirements of any of the tourist visas. The health declaration is part of the All Indonesia form

⚠️ The mistakes that cost you

• Believing that «everyone pays the 30-dollar visa on arrival». Of our 28 nationalities, 4 enter free, 13 can use the VOA and 11 cannot use it and have to get the C1 visa before travelling.
• Holding citizenship of Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic or Uruguay and turning up at the VOA counter. They are not on either of the two official lists: without a C1 visa arranged beforehand, you do not get in.
• Being from Brazil, Colombia, Peru or Suriname, entering with the free exemption and then wanting to stay more than 30 days. The exemption CANNOT be extended or converted: «tidak dapat diperpanjang dan tidak dapat dialihkan menjadi izin tinggal lain». You have to leave the country.
• Getting the e-VOA four months in advance. It is valid for 90 days from issue: if you do not enter within that period, it expires unused and you have to pay for another one.
• Confusing the visa's validity with the days of stay. The portal itself warns about it: «Harap diperhatikan bahwa masa berlaku visa berbeda dengan masa tinggal». It is 90 days to enter and 30 to stay.
• Travelling with a passport about to expire. Indonesia requires 6 months and the filter is at the check-in desk at your departure airport: the airline will not board you.
• Travelling with an emergency or temporary passport with 8 months' validity. For those documents the requirement rises to 12 months.
• Not carrying a return or onward ticket. It is a written requirement of both the VOA and the exemption, and the airline checks it before issuing the boarding pass.
• Not completing the All Indonesia declaration. You will not be turned away, but you lose the autogate and get checked manually at the counter. The minister himself said so: «Tanpa itu, perjalanan akan lebih lama karena pemeriksaan harus dilakukan manual di konter».
• Trying to complete All Indonesia a week in advance. The window is three days before arrival, not a day more.
• Paying a website to «handle» the arrival declaration. It is free and is done at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id or in the official app.
• Landing at an airport that is not on the list of entry points authorised for the e-VOA. The visa you bought is no use there.
• Not budgeting for the Bali tourist levy. It is IDR 150.000 per person, paid once per trip, not collected by Immigration, and it also applies if you arrive in Bali from another Indonesian island or by cruise ship.
• Wanting to pay the Bali levy in cash. «Payment must be done cashless through electronic payment facilities»: electronic payment only.
• Leaving the extension until the last day. The official window is 14 days before expiry at the earliest and before it expires at the latest.
• Applying for the extension and not checking your email. If a document is missing, Immigration gives you TWO DAYS to correct it and then rejects the application.
• Believing you can extend twice. It is a single extension, capped at 60 days in total. For longer, the published route is the bridging visa.
• Having the VOA on paper (sticker) and looking for the extension online. That one is only extended in person, at the Immigration office nearest to where you are staying. Only the e-VOA can be extended online.
• Selling things, giving paid classes or charging an Indonesian company with this visa. It is expressly prohibited.
• Applying for the VOA with a travel document other than a national passport (titre de voyage, certificate of identity, laissez-passer) or as a stateless person. It is not allowed.

🔎 Where this comes from

• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Official fact sheet for the B1 visa (Visa on Arrival): cost Rp 500.000, 30 days, single extension to 60, e-VOA validity of 90 days, three application methods and prohibitions
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Official A1 fact sheet (tourist visa exemption): Rp 0, 30 days, «cannot be extended or converted»
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Official list of countries subject to Visa on Arrival
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Official list of countries with visit visa exemption (Bebas Visa Kunjungan)
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Entry points authorised for e-VOA holders (16 airports, land crossings and seaports)
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Izin Tinggal Keimigrasian: requirements, deadlines and window for extending the visit permit
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Biaya Keimigrasian: official fee table (30-day ITK, Rp 500.000 per application)
• Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi — Official announcement: from 1/10/2025 the arrival declaration goes through the All Indonesia app, up to 3 days before
• Official Indonesia e-Visa portal: steps, payment methods, simultaneous application for 5 people and arrival card notice
• All Indonesia — official arrival declaration portal
• Love Bali — Bali Provincial Government, official FAQ on the tourist levy: Rp 150.000 per person, once per trip, electronic payment only and exemptions