Bali Tourists Encouraged To Use E-Visa Service Before Arrival

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Immigration officials in Bali are calling on tourists to start the electronic visa-on-arrival system as much as possible.

While visa on-arrival will be available to arrange at Bali Airport for the foreseeable future, officials are encouraging tourists to use the e-VoA service to help reduce queues. 

At a special event held at the Hilton Garden Inn on Tuesday, 12th December, officials from the Ngurah Rai Special Class I Immigration Office shared more details with tourism leaders about how and why the use of Electronic Visa on Arrival (e-VoA) is the way forward. 

The Head of the TPI Ngurah Rai Special Class I Immigration Office, Suhendra, told reporters that the Directorate General of Immigration, Silmy Karim, wants to maximize the use of technology throughout the department’s operations to create a modern and efficient immigration service. 

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Suhendra explained, “In the future, gradually the use of manual Visa on Arrival will switch to e-VoA using the Molina system as a platform for the online payment process.”

Suhendra has not suggested that the manual visa on arrival will be scrapped any time soon, but the transition is certainly underway.

He added, “Along with the increasing number of foreign visits to Bali, the Directorate General of Immigration will also activate electronic immigration checks via the auto gate device at the Ngurah Rai Airport Immigration Checkpoint.”

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“The use of the Autogate device will make the immigration inspection process faster, more accurate, effective and efficient, without compromising aspects of supervision and security.”

It was confirmed in November 2023 that 90 new auto gates will be installed at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. 

Officials initially reported that 60 auto gates would be installed at the international arrivals terminal and 30 in departures. There is scope for auto gates to be installed in domestic terminals shortly too. 

Suhendra said, “With this auto gate machine, we can streamline and speed up the immigration inspection process without interacting with immigration officers directly.”

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Suhendra continued to explain, “This step is to provide convenience in the immigration inspection process at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport.”

The move to promote the use of the eVoA service comes from maximizing the benefits of the automated system. 

As Suhendra explains, “In the context of immigration monitoring and security, the auto gate device uses FRIS (Face Recognition Identification System) technology.“

“This system will take photos of passengers directly for verification with the data contained in the passport as well as visa or residence permit data.”

Suhendra said, “This is all to provide the best service to tourists. The implementation of e-VoA and the auto gate device is expected to improve the quality of immigration services in line with the government’s efforts to provide a more comfortable travel experience for international travelers.”

Tourists are reminded that there is only one official website to buy the Indonesian e-Visa on Arrival.

There are dozens of scam sites online or visa agent sites that claim to provide a priority or premium service and charge way over the odds for something tourists can very easily arrange for themselves. 

The only e-VoA website is – https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/ – tourists can apply for their e-VoA up to 48 hours before they depart for Indonesia.

The visa costs IDR 500,000 per person plus banking fees. The visa is valid for up to 30 days and can be extended one time for an additional 30 days via the same website or at an immigration office within Indonesia. The visa must be extended before the original has expired.

It remains the case that tourists from 97 countries must pay for their visa on arrival to travel to Indonesia.

The Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno, last week suggested that the visa on arrival may be scrapped for travelers from 20 countries, including Australia and the UK.

However, no legislative changes have been made as of yet. 

Bali’s tourism tax will be introduced on the 14th of February and will be charged at IDR 150,000 per person.

This new tourism tax differs from the visa-on-arrival fee, often referred to as the ‘Bali tax’.

Funds generated by the visa-on-arrival fee go to the central government of Indonesia’s immigration department.

Bali’s tourism tax fees will be received by the Bali provincial government when introduced in 2024.