Flying into Indonesia is simple enough, but crossing overland from Timor-Leste is a different matter. Here is everything you need to know about Indonesian Visa.
Getting into Indonesia is mostly straightforward, assuming you've got the right visa sorted for.
Well, "straightforward" is a wide generalisation, since it would be very different if you're flying into major airports in Bali or Jakarta, versus cross overland in remote area, particularly from a neighbouring country like Timor-Leste or Papua New Guinea.
Here's everything you need to know, whichever way you're arriving.
Types of Indonesia Visas
Flying into Indonesia with e-VOA
Visa-Free Entry (Visa Exemption)
Staying Longer: C1 and B211A Visas
Overland Entry into Indonesia
Entering Overland from Timor-Leste
Extending Your Visa
Overstaying Your Visa
Indonesia Visa Tips
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Types of Indonesia Visas
Indonesia runs several visa categories for foreigners, and which one applies to you depends mostly on nationality, length of stay, and purpose of travel.
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Visa Exemption | Free entry for a short list of nationalities, no application needed, valid for up to 30 days and not extendable.
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e-VOA (B1 Visitor Visa) | The standard visa for most tourists, arranged online in advance, valid for 30 days and extendable once.
- C1 Visit Visa | For nationalities not eligible for the e-VOA, or for anyone wanting up to 60 days without dealing with an in-country extension.
- B211A Visa | A longer social/cultural visa, arranged in advance, typically used for stays beyond 60 days or for purposes like study, research, or extended family visits.
- B211B Business Visa | For meetings, conferences, and site visits that don't involve paid work in Indonesia.
- KITAS | A longer-term residence permit for work, investment, or extended stays, arranged separately and well beyond the scope of a standard holiday.
Most travellers reading this will only ever need the first two.
Flying into Indonesia (with e-VOA)
If you're arriving at Bali, Jakarta, or one of Indonesia's other major airports, the e-VOA is the simplest route for most nationalities, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and most of Europe.
It's arranged in advance through the official portal, molina.imigrasi.go.id (also referred to as evisa.imigrasi.go.id), and costs IDR 500,000 (roughly USD 30 to 35), valid for 30 days from entry.
You'll register with your passport details and travel dates, upload a photo page of your passport, and pay online by card.
The approved e-VOA arrives by email as a PDF, worth printing or saving offline in case you lose signal on arrival.
At the airport, you scan it at the automated gate or present it to the counter, and you're through.
Visa-Free Entry (Visa Exemption)
A shorter list of nationalities skip the e-VOA altogether and enter completely free of charge, for up to 30 days, with no online application required.
This list currently covers the ten ASEAN member states (including Timor-Leste), along with five additional countries: Colombia, Suriname, Hong Kong (SAR passport holders), Türkiye, and Brazil.
Unlike the e-VOA, this entry stamp cannot be extended.
If you think you'll need more than 30 days and you're on the visa-exempt list, plan around that limit rather than assuming you can stretch it once you're there.
Staying Longer - C1 and B211A Visas
If your trip runs longer than the e-VOA allows, or your nationality isn't eligible for it in the first place, two main options cover most cases:
- The C1 Visit Visa is an online e-visa built for a 31 to 60 day stay, arranged in advance rather than extended after arrival, useful if you'd rather skip the in-country extension process entirely.
- The B211A social/cultural visa covers longer stays still, commonly used for extended family visits, research, or study, and needs to be arranged ahead of travel with supporting documentation.
Anything beyond that, working in Indonesia, investing in a local company, or settling for the long term, moves into KITAS territory, which is a separate process well outside the scope of a standard trip.
Overland Entry into Indonesia
This is where the 'straightforward' Visa permit can be confusing, when you cross overland into Indonesia.
The e-VOA and visa exemption only apply at a specific, official list of land border crossings.
Means that if your crossing point isn't on that list, there's no visa facility available there at all, regardless of your nationality, and it can't be sorted out on the spot.
The current list of eligible land crossings is:
- Aruk and Entikong, West Kalimantan (Malaysia border)
- Tunon Taka, North Kalimantan (Malaysia border)
- Mota'ain, Motamasin, and Wini, East Nusa Tenggara (Timor-Leste border)
- Sota, Papua (Papua New Guinea border)
Crossing anywhere else on land means arranging your Indonesian visa in full before you travel, since nothing can be issued at the border itself.
Entering Overland from Timor-Leste
We need to specifically mention the overland border crossing from Timor-Leste into Indonesia (West Timor), since it's fairly confusing.
At the time of writing (September 2026), there are only THREE official Indonesian checkpoints that allows e-VOA or visa-exemption processing from Timor-Leste to West Timor, Indonesia:
- Wini (between Oecusse Enclave in Timor-Leste and West Timor in Indonesia)
- Mota'ain (between Mainland Timor-Leste and West Timor in Indonesia, in the northern route). This is the border crossing often used to travel from Mainland Timor-Leste (Dili) to Oecusse Enclave, through Indonesian West Timor.
- Motamasin (also between Mainland Timor-Leste and West Timor in Indonesia, in the southern route)
Worth mentioning that Bobometo border crossing (in the southern border of Oecusse Enclave) does not appear on Indonesia's official list, and travellers arriving there without a visa already arranged risk being turned back on the spot.
A few points specific to this route:
- Timor-Leste passport holders enter Indonesia visa-free, as part of the ASEAN exemption list.
- Other nationalities need an e-VOA, C1, or equivalent visa arranged in advance if crossing at Wini, Mota'ain, or Motamasin, or a full visa arranged before travel if crossing anywhere else.
- For itinerary to/from Mainland Timor-Leste and Oecusse Enclave through Indonesian West Timor, note that Timor-Leste's visa on arrival is not available at those crossings either, so both sides of the trip need pre-arranged paperwork.
Extending Your Visa
The Indonesian e-VOA can be extended once, for another 30 days, bringing your total stay to 60.
Apply through molina.imigrasi.go.id, ideally at least seven days before your visa expires, don't leave it until the last day.
The extension itself costs IDR 500,000, and since 2025 the process also requires an in-person biometric appointment at an immigration office, so budget a few extra days for that step even if the application is submitted online.
One important limit: the e-VOA can only be extended once. After 60 days, you have to leave the country, and it can't be converted into a different visa type from inside Indonesia.
If your trip runs longer than that, the C1 visit visa is the better option from the start.
Overstaying Your Visa
Indonesian immigration takes overstays seriously.
Fines run at IDR 1,000,000 per day (roughly USD 60), even deportation and a ban on re-entry.
If you do overstay, sort it out at an immigration office before attempting to leave the country, rather than at the airport on your way out.
Indonesia Visa Tips
- Apply for the e-VOA online in advance rather than waiting to sort it out at the airport, it's faster and avoids the queue.
- Your passport needs at least six months of validity remaining from your entry date, with at least one blank page.
- Proof of onward or return travel may be requested at the border, so have something ready to show.
- If you're entering overland from Timor-Leste, confirm you're crossing at Wini, not Bobometo, well before you travel.
- Always check the official Directorate General of Immigration site, imigrasi.go.id, for the latest requirements, since Indonesian visa policy has changed more than once in recent years.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What's the easiest way to enter Indonesia? Flying into Bali or Jakarta with an e-VOA arranged in advance through molina.imigrasi.go.id is the simplest route for most nationalities.
- Do I need a visa if I'm from an ASEAN country? No. ASEAN passport holders, along with citizens of Colombia, Suriname, Hong Kong, Türkiye, and Brazil, get visa-free entry for up to 30 days.
- Can I get a visa on arrival at any land border? No, apply for the e-VOA before crossing. It can only be processed at the specific crossings on Indonesia's official list, currently Aruk, Entikong, and Tunon Taka for Malaysia, Mota'ain, Motamasin, and Wini for Timor-Leste, and Sota for Papua New Guinea.
- What's the safest way to cross from Timor-Leste into West Timor? Only three possibilities to cross into Indonesia. From the mainland Timor-Leste: cross at Mota'ain or Motamasin. From Oecusse Enclave: cross at Wini, with your Indonesian e-VOA or visa exemption already confirmed. Bobometo is not an equipped checkpoint for visa processing.
- Can I extend my e-VOA? Yes, once, for another 30 days, through molina.imigrasi.go.id, with a biometric appointment required as part of the process.
- What documents do I need for the e-VOA? A passport valid at least six months with one blank page, your travel dates, a photo page upload, and payment of IDR 500,000.
Koryo Tours
Group Tours to Timor-Leste
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