Bali Digital Nomad Visa: Indonesia's E33G and Other Remote-Work Options

The short answer

Indonesia does have a visa for remote workers. Immigration lists it as the E33G, a limited stay visa for people who work remotely for employers or clients outside Indonesia, and it leads to a limited stay permit (ITAS, still widely called a KITAS) rather than a tourist stamp. Indonesia also offers a long-term Second Home Visa for people with substantial funds. What you cannot do is work, even remotely, on a Visa on Arrival or a C1 tourist visa: the official conditions for both say holders may not sell goods or services or receive payment.

The current income threshold, fee and processing time for the E33G change from time to time and are published by the Directorate General of Immigration. Check the official site, evisa.imigrasi.go.id, before you apply. Everything below comes from Indonesian government (.go.id) pages, and where a figure could not be confirmed there, we say so.

Why "digital nomad visa" is the wrong search term

There is no visa officially called the Bali digital nomad visa. Bali is a province of Indonesia, so every permit is issued nationally by Indonesian immigration, and visas are known by index codes: B1 for the Visa on Arrival, C1 for the single-entry tourist visa, E33G for remote work. Agencies and blogs use friendlier names, and some still refer to the B211A, the old label for what is now the C1 tourist visa. When you read about a "nomad visa", find the index code, then look that code up on the official portal. If a website will not tell you the code, be wary of it.

The E33G remote worker visa

The E33G is the route built for people who earn their living from abroad and want to base themselves in Canggu, Ubud or Pererenan for longer than a holiday. In broad strokes, from the official listings:

• What it is: a limited stay visa (the E-series covers these), which turns into an ITAS on arrival. That is a residence permit, not a visit visa, so you are not on the 30- or 60-day tourist clock.
• Who it is for: foreigners employed by, or working for, companies and clients outside Indonesia.
• What it does not allow: working for Indonesian companies or selling services to the local market. If your income starts coming from inside Indonesia, you need a different permit.
• Income threshold, bank statements, fee and length: set by immigration and updated periodically. We could not confirm the current figures on a .go.id page at the time of writing, so check the official site before you go rather than trusting numbers repeated on blogs and agency pages.

Applications run through the official e-visa portal. Many people use a licensed agent to prepare the paperwork, which is fine, but the visa itself should always be issued through evisa.imigrasi.go.id.

The Second Home Visa

The Second Home Visa is aimed at foreigners who want to live in Indonesia long term and can show serious savings. When immigration launched it in October 2022, the official circular set out these requirements:

• Stay: five or ten years.
• Funds: proof of at least IDR 2 billion (roughly US$120,000) in a bank account in the applicant's or a guarantor's name.
• Passport: valid for at least 36 months.
• Follow-up: holders must present original proof of funds, such as a statement from an Indonesian state-owned bank, to an immigration office within 90 days, or the permit can be revoked.

The visa is not designed as a work permit, so it is not a back door to taking local clients. Fees and conditions may have changed since launch, so check the official site before you go.

What a tourist visa allows, and what it does not

Plenty of people still try to live in Bali on back-to-back tourist visas. The rules are clear:

• Visa on Arrival (B1): IDR 500,000 for 30 days, extendable once to a maximum of 60. Holders are prohibited from selling goods or services or receiving wages or similar payment.
• C1 tourist visa: IDR 1,000,000 for 60 days, extendable to a maximum of 180 days, applied for online before arrival. The same work prohibition applies, and holders may not appear as speakers at events either.
• Multiple-entry visit visas: exist for frequent visitors on business or family matters, with stays of up to 60 days per visit. Check the current index, validity and fee on the official portal.

Answering a few work emails on holiday is one thing. Running your business from a Canggu cafe for six months on a C1 is exactly what these visas are not for, and immigration in Bali does deport foreigners for working on the wrong permit. For the full entry picture, including the e-VOA, see our Bali visa and arrival guide.

Working KITAS and other routes

A remote worker permit is not the same as permission to work in Indonesia. Immigration's own guidance is that only a working KITAS, issued with employer sponsorship, allows employment in the country; investor, student, retirement and similar permits do not. If you plan to open a cafe, teach yoga classes for paying local students or sell villas, you are in working-permit or investor territory and need proper legal advice.

Practical tips before you apply

• Start with a visit visa. Most people scout Bali for a month or two on an e-VOA or C1, decide on an area, then apply for the E33G from home.
• Get your documents in order early. Employment contracts, recent bank statements and health insurance take longer to gather than the application itself.
• The tourist levy is separate. Visitors pay Bali's IDR 150,000 levy through the official Love Bali portal, lovebali.baliprov.go.id. KITAS and KITAP holders are exempt.
• Think about tax. A residence permit does not settle where you pay tax. Spending more than half the year in Indonesia can create obligations here, so talk to a qualified advisor in both countries.
• Keep checking. Indonesian visa rules shift, sometimes with little warning. Bookmark evisa.imigrasi.go.id and check it again before every application.

For the lifestyle side, from rents in Pererenan to coworking in Ubud, read our guide to moving to Bali as a digital nomad.