How to get the 5 Year Indonesian Visa

While there is a lot of talk about a digital nomad Indonesian visa, in reality it has not yet really come to pass. And this is a real shame because Indonesia is legit one of the best digital nomad destinations.

The good news though is that they do offer a 5 year multiple entry visa, which while it will require visa runs gets you through the airport super quickly.

Different types of Indonesian visas

Indonesia has a whole alphabet soup of visas, but for the average tourist, expat or digital nomad, there are a few that matter.

Visa on Arrival: 30 days for IDR 500,000 / US$31, extendable once for another 30 days. This is available to citizens of eligible countries.

Single Entry Tourist Visa: 60 days for IDR 1,500,000 / US$93, with extensions allowing a total stay of up to 180 days.

Multiple Entry Tourist Visa: Available for 1, 2 or 5 years. The 5 year version costs IDR 10,000,000 / around US$625 in government fees and allows multiple entries, with up to 60 days per visit.

Multiple Entry Business Visa: Also available for 1, 2 or 5 years, although obviously this is aimed at business travellers rather than tourists.

KITAS: This is where you get into actual Indonesian residence permits, with different versions for work, investment, retirement, family and other purposes. These can run from 6 months through to several years.

If you do the Visa on Arrival coming into Bali, or Jakarta, it can be a nightmare. Therefore I supremely suggest getting your visa beforehand, regardless of if you do the 5 year, or not.

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How to get the 5 year Indonesian Visa

The visa you are looking for is the D1 multiple entry tourist visa. This is not a digital nomad visa and you cannot use it as a sneaky way of getting an Indonesian work permit. It is basically a long-term multiple entry tourist visa, which is exactly why it works so well for people who want to spend a lot of time travelling around Indonesia.

The current five year version allows you to enter Indonesia multiple times during the five year validity period. Each entry gives you 60 days, which can then be extended twice for another 60 days each time. That means you can potentially stay for up to 180 days on each visit before leaving Indonesia and coming back in.

The basic process is:

1. Apply online through the Indonesian e-visa system, or use an Indonesian visa agency to handle the application.
2. You need a passport with the required validity, a photograph and the relevant supporting documents.
3. For the D1 multiple entry tourist visa, you need to be outside Indonesia when applying.
4. Submit the application and pay the fee.
5. Once approved, you receive the electronic visa and can enter Indonesia.
6. When you leave Indonesia, the visa remains valid, meaning you can simply come back using the same five year visa.

The official government fee for the five year multiple entry visitor visa is currently IDR 10,000,000 / around US$625.

If you use an agency, obviously you will pay more because they are doing the application for you.

Click to read about the best nomad cities in South-East Asia.

Using a visa agency

Personally, this is the route I would take because Indonesian immigration is one of those things where paying someone else to deal with the bureaucracy is generally money well spent.

Bali Visas currently lists the 5 year D1 Multiple Entry Tourist Visa at IDR 13,800,000 / around US$860 for regular processing, or IDR 15,050,000 / around US$935 for priority processing. Regular processing is listed as up to 14 business days, while priority is up to 7 business days.

There is also Ace Bali Consulting, which is a Bali based visa agency listed in the Bali provincial tourism directory.

I have also used Service Bali Visas, who have emailed me whenever I have been in the country, so they are another option if you want an agency to handle the paperwork rather than fucking around with immigration yourself.

The main thing to remember is that the agency price is not the Indonesian government fee. You are paying the extra for them to process the application, deal with the paperwork and generally save you the headache.

And that’s basically it. Get the five year D1, come and go as you please, and when your 60 days are getting close to expiring you either extend it or get the fuck out of dodge when you need a visa run.

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