Indonesia Visa on Arrival & e-VOA: Complete Guide (2026)

What is Indonesia's visa on arrival (and the e-VOA)?

Indonesia's visa on arrival — officially the B1 visa — lets citizens of 97 countries enter for tourism or short business visits without applying at an embassy. It costs IDR 500,000, is valid for 30 days from the date of arrival, and can be extended once for another 30 days, giving a maximum stay of 60 days (Directorate General of Immigration, B1 visa page).

The e-VOA is the exact same visa applied for online before you fly. Same fee, same 30 days, same extension rights — the only difference is where you get it: at a website in advance (e-VOA) or at the immigration counter after landing (regular VOA). This guide covers both and helps you pick.

First: do you need a visa at all?

Before paying IDR 500,000, check Indonesia's visa-free (BVK) list. As of July 2026 it covers 20 entries, including all ASEAN neighbors (Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and more), Colombia, Suriname, Hong Kong SAR — and, new since 9 July 2026: Turkey, Brazil, Peru, Kazakhstan, Macao SAR and Belarus (official visa-free country list).

Visa-free entry is 30 days, cannot be extended, cannot be converted to another stay permit, and applies only to ordinary national passports (immigration A1 page). That creates one counterintuitive case: if your country is visa-free but you want to stay up to 60 days, the paid visa on arrival is still the better tool, because only the VOA can be extended.

Everyone else — including passport holders from the US, UK, EU countries, China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and Mexico — falls under the 97-country VOA list (official VOA country list). If your country is on neither list, you need a regular visitor visa instead.

VOA vs e-VOA: which should you choose?

• Choose the e-VOA if you want to skip the purchase queue at the airport and pay by card. You apply online, pay with a Mastercard, Visa or JCB credit card, and land with the visa already issued. The official advice is to apply at least 48 hours before departure; once granted, the visa is valid for entry within 90 days of issue (official e-VOA information page).
• Choose the counter VOA if you decide late or prefer paying on the spot. You buy it at the immigration counter after landing. The official pages do not list accepted counter payment methods in detail — travelers commonly report cash and cards are taken at major airports, but bringing IDR (or USD) cash is the safe play.

One caveat on the e-VOA: payment must be completed within a 120-minute window after confirmation, a bank surcharge applies, and the fee is not refundable — including if the application is refused or the visa goes unused (official e-VOA page).

Requirements

• Passport valid for at least 6 months on arrival (emergency or temporary passports: 12 months)
• Passport bio-data page scan (e-VOA)
• A recent color photo taken within the last year — for the e-VOA upload: JPG/JPEG/PNG, maximum 200KB
• Return or onward ticket
• A valid Mastercard, Visa or JCB credit card for e-VOA payment — the card does not need to be in your own name

There is no proof-of-funds requirement for the visa on arrival (B1 requirements; e-VOA requirements).

How to apply for the e-VOA online

1. Go to one of the two official channels: evisa.imigrasi.go.id (the government portal) or indonesiavoa.vfsevisa.id (the VFS Global platform, launched as an official channel in January 2025). Both are listed on the immigration B1 page.
2. Create an account, fill in your passport details and upload the photo and bio-data page.
3. Pay by credit card within the 120-minute payment window.
4. Receive the e-VOA by email, save it on your phone, and present it at immigration on arrival.

Beware of look-alike sites. The immigration directorate warns that numerous websites charge service fees to "assist" with Indonesian visas and are "not endorsed by or associated with the Indonesian government" (official warning). A practical rule of thumb, based on the channels the government itself lists: if the domain is not imigrasi.go.id or vfsevisa.id, treat it as a paid intermediary at best.

Arriving: entry points and the arrival card

e-VOA holders can enter through 16 designated airports — including Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, Bali Ngurah Rai, Medan Kualanamu, Surabaya Juanda and Yogyakarta — plus 95 seaports and 11 land border posts (official entry-point list).

Separately from the visa, everyone entering Indonesia — including Indonesian citizens — must submit the free All Indonesia electronic arrival card within 3 days before arrival, according to the official portal (mandatory since 1 October 2025). It generates a QR code you show at the border. The arrival card is not a visa: you need both.

Extending your 30 days

The VOA can be extended once, for 30 more days, at a cost of IDR 500,000. Since 29 May 2025, the procedure is no longer fully online: after registering, uploading documents and paying via the e-visa portal, you must appear in person at your local immigration office for a photo and interview (regulation SE IMI-417.GR.01.01/2025 — the official announcement explicitly states this applies to visa on arrival holders; see the immigration press release).

Note that many older articles — and even an earlier official news item still online — describe a fully online extension. That rule was replaced in May 2025; follow the current procedure above and check the portal for your local office's instructions.

What you can and cannot do on a VOA

Permitted purposes across the two official pages: tourism, visiting family, government visits, business meetings, MICE events, purchasing goods, and transit (B1 page; e-VOA page).

Not permitted: working in Indonesia, and — in the words of the B1 page — selling goods or services or receiving payment or wages while in the country.

Overstay penalties

Overstaying costs IDR 1,000,000 per day, and can lead to detention, deportation and a ban on future entry (official e-VOA page). With extensions capped at 60 days total, plan your exit flight before you land.

Official sources

• e-VOA official information — Directorate General of Immigration
• B1 visa on arrival — imigrasi.go.id
• 97-country VOA list
• Visa-free (BVK) country list
• All Indonesia arrival card

Facts verified against official sources on 20 July 2026. Visa rules change — always confirm on the official portal before booking. VisaField is not affiliated with the Indonesian government.