Bali Immigration Reveals Most Common Reason Why Tourists Are Denied Entry To Island 

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Bali Immigration has released updated figures for deportations and refusals of entry to Indonesia.

The stats make for interesting reading and can help Bali tourists stay on the right side of the law by not making the same mistakes as fellow travelers.

While many deportations have been carried out on foreigners who have carried out objectively criminal acts, some people have been sent home for mistakes that are easy to make. 

In these latest updated figures, which cover from January 2024 to the end of June 2024, Ngurah Rai Immigration has refused entry to 561 foreigners.

Head of Immigration Ngurah Rai, Suhendra, told reporters, “The most common reason for rejection is because they don’t have a visa.”

He continued to explain that based on data gathered by Ngurah Rai Immigration, there were 243 foreigners who did not have a visa and were not eligible for a visa on arrival and 52 people who had a passport validity period of less than six months.

A total of 28 people were on the banned list, 20 people were detected as being wanted by Interpol and 212 people were on the criminal list for other immigration reasons.

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All foreigners arriving in Indonesia are required to have at least two blank pages in their passports and a validity of at least six months left on their travel documents. All tourists must ensure that their passport is in pristine condition.

Over the years, Bali Immigration officials have been known to be amongst the most diligent in the world when it comes to spotting damage to passports.

Tourists must ensure that their passport is free from any rips, tears, watermarks, ink stains, or bends and folds on the ID page before they arrive in Indonesia.

Indonesian immigration officials are known to be so hot on passport some that tourists have even been turned away from their flights at their home airports when airline staff have detected even the most minor of damages to their travel documents. 

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While 561 people were denied entry to Indonesia via Ngurah Rai Immigration, the immigration posts were increasingly busy.

Suhendra explained that 2.94 million foreigners passed through the Immigration Checkpoint (TPI) at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport during the first half of 2024, which equated to an increase of 24% compared to the same period in 2023.

There has also been a rise in the number of deportations of foreigners in Bali in the first half of 2024. While Ngurah Rai Immigration has not deported the highest number of foreigners out of all immigration offices nationwide, it does fall in the top three. 

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On Monday, 23rd July, the Ngurah Rai Special Class I Immigration Office confirmed the arrest of 24 foreign nationals who violated immigration regulations and were caught following a series of surveillance operations.

During a press conference held in Jimbaran on Monday afternoon, Immigration officials confirmed seven of the arrestees have already been deported, nine have been transferred to the Denpasar Immigration Detention Center, and eight are undergoing a pro-justice process.

Speaking at the press conference, Pramella Yunidar Pasaribu, the Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Bali, explained that the first raid of this ongoing operation was carried out on 28 May 2024 at a guesthouse in the Kuta area.

The Immigration Intelligence and Enforcement Section arrested three males from Nigeria who were foreigners and were immediately taken to the Ngurah Rai Immigration office for further examination. One of them could not produce travel documents.

The second raid was carried out on the 29th of May, 2024, at a housing complex in the West Denpasar area. In this operation, the Inteldakim team arrested a further 21 foreigners, including 19 Nigerians, one Ghanaian, and one Tanzanian individual. Pasaribu said, “They are known to have overstayed, with seven of them unable to show their travel documents.”

Suhendra also revealed that eight other foreigners are currently being investigated following public complaints submitted online.

It is suspected that these eight individuals have been breaking the conditions of their tourist visas and conducting work activities in the country. 

Suhendra said, “During supervision, eight people could not show their documents, and they are still being examined. The rest have overstayed their residence permits; on average, they have overstayed for several months. It seems like they just move around, and we managed to find them through close monitoring.”

He added, “We are currently investigating the cases of those who do not have documents. Therefore, we are processing them to the pro-justice stage to find out whether they have a wider network and are carrying out illegal activities in Bali.”