Indonesia is fully reopened to tourism without any proof of Covid vaccination requirements. You can now also get an Indonesian tourist visa online.
Gusti at Magic Rock swimthrough, Raja Ampat © chris@divehappy.com
As of June 2023, Indonesia has dropped all Covid requirements for tourists to enter the country. No proof of vaccination is required. No proof of travel insurance is required either. No proof of vaccination is required to board domestic flights in Indonesia either.
Before you fly to Indonesia, remember your passport needs to have six months validity and two blank pages otherwise you may be refused entry into the country. Officially you are also required to have proof of your return flight for departing Indonesia, although this is rarely requested to be seen by immigration officials.
Indonesia Visa On Arrival – Save Time By Applying Online
Most visitors to Indonesia can get a visa on arrival. You can apply for this online to save you time queuing up in the airport when you arrive. Visit the official Indonesian Immigration site to apply and pay for the evisa. You can apply for 30 days or 60 days.
As of January 2024, the procedure for getting your visa online has changed a bit. I’ve just been through the process at the end of July 2024 and here’s how it went.
Here’s what you’ll need to hand before you start:
- A JPEG or PNG of your passport data page
- A passport style photo of yourself
- a PDF of your return flight details
- a PDF of your passport data page (yes, even though you’re uploading an image file of the same info)
- The address of where you’re staying, particularly the post code
- A credit or debit card to make payment
When you arrive on the home screen of the Evisa website, select your country, then General, Family Or Social, then Tourism, Family Visit and Transit
Under the “I want to explore & choose a visa” option, select the option “B1 – Tourist (Visa On Arrival)” on the drop down menu for the standard 30 days single-entry Tourist visa. This visa costs 520,000 Indonesian Rupiah.
(This visa up until January 2024 used to be called B213 but the name has changed without much notice. if you’ve used the online visa service before January 2024 this can be somewhat confusing).
If you want to stay in Indonesia longer than 30 days, select Tourist Single Entry Visitor Visa – 60 Days. This visa costs 1,500,000 Indonesian Rupiah, so you don’t want to select it by mistake.
Fill in the next screens with your info, uploading a JPEG of your passport and a passport photo of yourself. The screen after that will ask you for the address of your hotel. Entering the post code of the hotel on its own will populate all the other address fields, so easiest to do that. (You can look up the hotel on Google Maps to quickly find the post code).
You’ll also be asked to upload a PDF of your passport despite just uploading the JPEG of it. The final document is uploading your return flight details.
You’ll get pop ups asking you if you want to proceed through each screen – click yes, obviously. You’ll get a final screen asking you if you’re sure you want to submit – click the green Submit button. There will also be a Payment button – click that to make payment. The payment system is straightforward. Once your payment is confirmed, your visa will be delivered by email.
Processing time supposedly takes 5 working days, but each time I’ve applied, I have received my evisa instantly by email after my credit card details have been accepted and purchase confirmed. That said, it’s probably wise to apply a few days before you’re due to fly.
Once payment is completed, you receive an email saying your visa is ready with a nice big Download button.
However, when you click the Download button, you might get a Page Not Found error. Luckily I realised that’s because there was a typo in the weblink leading to my visa. Instead of reading evisa.imigrasi.go.id, it said evis.imigrasi.go.id (missing the “a” on evis). Once I added the a back in and my visa magically displayed on screen. I’m not sure if this is a recurrent problem or if I was just unlucky but thought it worth mentioning.
Presenting Your Evisa To Immigration Officials On Arrival In Indonesia
You will receive an email with a link to a PDF which is your evisa. Make sure you keep a screengrab of the evisa on your phone. Don’t rely on having an internet connection in the airport to download or open it.
When you approach passport control, you may be asked by staff if you have an evisa or a B1 (this the formal name of the tourism visa on arrival). This is because they are checking to make sure you have an evisa or a visa on arrival before you get to the immigration officer. (If you don’t have either, you need to go to the visa on arrival queue and pay for the visa). At passport control, you may need to show your evisa screengrab as well to the officer.
Bali Airport Automated Passport Gate © chris@divehappy.com
Automatic Passport Gates At Bali Airport – A Huge Timesaver
At Bali Airport, as of March 2024, automatic passport gates have been installed. These are similar to the gates seen in many other international airports. If you have already had your visa issued online, you can go straight to the passport gate, scan your passport and your face, and then you’re straight through into baggage reclaim. No need to see an immigration officer or get your passport stamped.
A couple of minutes after you’ve gone through the gate, you’ll receive an automated email confirming the activation of your visa on arrival. (Getting an eSim card for your phone to work in Indonesia is way easier than waiting to get a physical sim card on arrival. It works as soon as your plane touches down in the country).
Bali Airport Automated Gate Advice © chris@divehappy.com
This is a huge timesaver, as the queue for getting your passport manually checked by immigration officers is usually very long. So it’s definitely worth bothering to get your visa online before you arrive.
If you’re from an ASEAN country and don’t need an Indonesian visa (see country list below), you still need to go through the online visa portal to get an A1 – Visa Exemption Tourism visa issued so that you can use the passport gates. Unfortunately you cannot just rock up with your ASEAN passport to the gates and go through. It’s possible to get the A1 Exemption in the airport on arrival, but as with the normal visa, there will be queues, so easier to do it online before flying. Once you have the exemption, you can use the gates and beat the immigration queues.
Indonesian Customs Declaration Form – Submit Online
Once you pass through immigration, you will also be required to fill in an electronic customs declaration form. This has replaced the previous paper forms. You can save time by filling in the customs declaration form online before you leave home up to 3 days before your flight. See the official Indonesian customs site to fill in the customs declaration. Remember to screengrab the QR code it will show you as your receipt. You then show that to customs officers to be scanned before you pass through into the Arrivals area. If you don’t fill in the form online before you leave home, you can simply do it on your phone before you go through customs – there is wifi provided to access and submit the customs form.
Free Visa on Arrival in Indonesia For Some Nationalities
You’re entitled to a visa-free entry if you’re a citizen of one of these countries:
- Brunei Darussalam
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
Otherwise you buy a visa on arrival in Indonesia or apply online as noted above. It’s around 500,000 IND for a 30 day visa but the cost is dependent on your nationality.
You can use USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and other major currencies in cash to pay as well as Indonesian Rupiah. You can’t use a credit or debit card to pay at the airport visa on arrival counter. You can of course use a credit card to pay for the visa if you apply online.
Reef, Neptune Sea Fan, Raja Ampat © chris@divehappy.com
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Raja Ampat Diving Guides and Info
For an overview of what to expect when diving Raja Ampat and useful tips on how to get there and what to bring with you, see our Diving Raja Ampat: A Quick Guide and listen to the Divehappy podcast episodes on Raja Ampat. Misool Eco Resort and Triton Bay. For practicalities on getting there, see How To Get To Raja Ampat, Sorong Airport Guide and the Liveaboard Packing List
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