Bad news to all those expats who're hiding out in Bali on a 90-day tourist visa and doing their three-monthly departure-and-return routine: Bali Immigration is now strictly limiting visa-free and visa-on-arrival use by foreign visitors to just TWO in any 12-month period.
In response to complaints from the Island’s tourism industry made to the Island’s House of Representatives (DPR-Bali) about illegal foreign workers, the head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration office has issued written instructions that will impact dramatically on frequent visitors to Bali.
Yosep H.A. Renung Widodo’s decree issued to take immediate effect on October 20, 2015 stipulates that visitors to Indonesia utilizing visa-on-arrival or visa-free facilities more than twice in any 12-month period will be denied entry to Indonesia.
Those wishing to visit more than twice in 12 months should obtain a visa from their nearest Indonesian embassy or Consulate beforehand.
The decree mentions that foreigners with temporary resident permits (ITAS), permanent residency (ITAP), diplomatic visas, service visas (Visa Dinas) and multiple visit visa will remain unaffected by the new two-visit rule.
In a general crackdown on foreign nationals working illegally in Bali, Widodo instructs that those discovered to be working illegally should be apprehended and placed on an immigration blacklist barring future visits to Indonesia.
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