Bali Immigration Office Outlines Do’s And Don’ts Of Most In-Demand Tourist Visa Categories

Some may come purely for vacation, others will come to visit family and friends, while others may come to volunteer, to create content, conduct a few business meetings, and take the time to add on some extra leisure days to make the most of the trip.

What Changed: Official Regulations & Decrees

While these all feel pretty similar at first glance, for Indonesian immigration, each of these activities is very different indeed and requires a different visa category for each stay.

Here at Regional Travel Monitors, we have been reporting all year about Indonesia’s Immigration’s mission to crack down on visa violations. In fact, there has been a concerted effort from the Indonesian Immigration to tackle immigration crime since borders opened after the pandemic.

Over the last 6 months, there has been a real focus on unpaid work. Indonesia Immigration has been working to eliminate any violations that have fallen in the so-called ‘grey area’ of unpaid work, with a specific focus on content creators and influencers, freelance service providers, and stay-for-free style skills exchanges.

There has been a separate focus to eliminate violations of the pre-investment and investment visas, as well as cracking down on those violating the terms of the remote worker visa, aka the digital nomad visa.

Indonesia Immigration and the regional immigration offices across Bali have been sharing updated information this week for tourists, travellers, and foreigners planning on coming to the island for these kinds of stays.

Through a series of helpful information, Indonesia Immigration has made it crystal clear for foreigners, and there are hopes that now that this information is spread even more widely, all foreigners will enter the country on the correct visas and honor the conditions of their stay permits.

None of this information is new; it has been widely available and easy to find on the Official Indonesia Immigration website, and available in English, French, Mandarin, and a number of other languages.

It is evident that the Indonesian Immigration wants to leave tourists with no excuses for not knowing the rules by sharing this information in its clearest and simplest form on social media.

Who It Applies To & Verification Checkpoints

The Do’s and Don’ts Guide for Indonesian Visas covers the C5A, C6, and E33G. Before we dive into the nuances of the C5A, C6, and E33G, here at Regional Travel Monitors, we thought now is a good moment to review the tourist visa on arrival.

The standard Tourist Visa on Arrival, known as the B1 and referred to as the eVOA, is a single-entry stay permit that is valid for stays of up to 30 days.

It costs IDR 500,000 per person and can be extended one time for an additional 30 days via the Hybrid Application Process.

The C1 is another category of tourist visa; it is a single-entry visa that allows for stays of up to 60 days. The D1 Tourist Visa is ideal for those who travel to Indonesia regularly for family and leisure travel purposes, with sub-categories offering validity of 1, 2, and 5 years.

For most tourists who are visiting Bali or other areas of Indonesia for vacations and travel, these are the most appropriate visa categories.

The C5A, C6, and E33G are for those who want to stay in Bali for a number of different reasons. The C5A Content Creation Visa is specifically for influencers and content creators.

The list of do’s and don’ts for this visa category is very simple. Do: engage in activities related to social media content creation. Engage in activities related to tourism, purchasing goods, and visiting family and friends.

The Don’ts are just as clear. On the C5A Content Creation Visa, foreigners must not: overstay the visa or stay permit period in Indonesia; engage in the sale of goods or services; receive salaries, wages, or rewards from individuals or companies in Indonesia; create social media content related to journalism or filmmaking that requires special permits.

Digital Entry & Application Channels

The C6 Social Activities Visitor Visa is designed for those visiting Indonesia to ‘engage in social, humanitarian aid, and volunteer activities in Indonesia’.

The Do’s are also very simple: engage in activities related to social work, providing humanitarian aid, related to volunteer programs, related to tourism, purchasing goods, and visiting families.

Much like the C5A, the C6 visa stipulations are very straightforward; do not overstay and do not engage in the sale of goods or services, receive salaries, wages, or rewards from individuals or companies in Indonesia.

The E33G Remote Worker Special Residency Visa is designed for remote workers who are employed by companies based outside of Indonesia and perform their work within the Indonesian territory.

The Do’s as outlined by Indonesia Immigration state that visa holders must conduct work activities only related to overseas companies, are allowed to bring family to live in Indonesia in compliance with immigration regulations, are permitted to enter/exit Indonesia during the validity of their visa, and can travel for leisure purposes, purchase goods, and visit family and friends.

The Don’ts for the E33G are simple: no overstaying, no selling of goods and services, and no performing activities other than those authorized by their activity description unless they have applied for concurrent activities or a change in activity type.

Foreigners who are seeking support from the Indonesian Immigration can find plenty of useful information on the Official Indonesia eVisa website, across the social media accounts, and via the live chat available on the website.

What Visitors Should Expect

Securing visas or tourism levy vouchers via official government portals prior to departure expedites arrival clearance at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. Always verify entry conditions through accredited channels to avoid third-party markups and ensure compliance with provincial regulations. Complete immigration fee schedules, extension rules, and step-by-step application walkthroughs are detailed in our dedicated Indonesia Visa & Entry Guide.