Articles
Guides and rule changes
Indonesian immigration policy changed materially in 2024, in 2025 and again in July 2026. We rewrite the guides each time rather than publishing once and leaving them up, which is why there are fewer of them here than you might expect and why each one carries the date it was last checked.
Do I need a visa at all?
Nineteen jurisdictions enter free for thirty days, around eighty more can buy one on arrival, and everyone else applies before travelling. It depends entirely on your passport.
Check your nationality →
Which index covers what I’m doing?
Immigration classifies by activity, not by duration. Negotiating is C2, speaking is C10, running a stand is C11, and installing the machine you sold is neither.
Answer six questions →
What does the sponsor sign up to?
Every C, D and E index needs an Indonesian sponsor, and sponsorship is a legal responsibility rather than a signature. Employers and organisers carry it for their people.
For companies →
Before you travel
Whether you need anything at all, and what to do if you do.
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A1
Visa exemption
Tourism, meetings, corporate trips, conventions, exhibitions, family visits and transit, for the nineteen exempt jurisdictions. No hands-on work of any kind.
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B1
Visa on arrival extension
Extend your VoA once without leaving the country. Apply before it expires, not after.
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C1
Tourism & family visit visa
Longer than a VoA, for holidays, visiting relatives and transit. Extendable.
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C2
Business visit visa
Negotiations, and visits to offices, factories or investment sites. Not for doing the work itself.
Business, conferences and exhibitions
The C2 / C10 / C11 / C11A split, which is the thing most people get wrong.
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C10
Event speaker visa
For speakers, lecturers and presenters invited to a conference or exhibition. Convertible to a stay permit with the same sponsor.
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C11
Exhibitor & MICE visa
For operating at a MICE event — running a stand, exhibiting. C11A applies to calling-visa nationalities.
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C11A
Exhibitor visa, calling-visa nationalities
The C11 route for passports that require additional clearance. Same activity, materially longer lead time — start earlier than you think you need to.
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D2
Multiple-entry business visa
Meetings, purchasing and site visits, over one, two or five years. Site visits were added in the 2025 revision. It usually beats single-entry visas from about the third trip in a year.
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D17
Multiple-entry audit & inspection visa
Audits, quality control and inspections at company branches, over one, two or five years.
Living and working here
The permits, and the obligations that come with each of them.
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E23
Work KITAS
The only route that permits employment and payment by an Indonesian entity. Includes RPTKA and the Kemnaker steps.
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E28A
Investor KITAS
For shareholders in a PT PMA. No work permit levy, but the company must exist first.
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E31A
Spouse & dependent KITAS
Sponsored by an Indonesian spouse. Requires the marriage to be registered in Indonesia first.
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E33G
Remote worker permit
The proper route for laptop living, replacing the grey-area use of old visit visas. Your income must come from outside Indonesia.
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E33
Second Home visa
Long stay without an employer, subject to the deposit requirement. Suits retirees and the self-funded.
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KITAP
Permanent stay permit
The step after qualifying years on a KITAS. Fewer reporting obligations and a much longer horizon.
What the restructure changed
These codes no longer exist. They are still the codes people search for, and still the codes some agents are still selling — each page explains what replaced it and, where a category was split by purpose, which of the replacements is yours.
Longer pieces are on the way
The written archive — policy updates, the arithmetic behind sponsoring a first foreign hire, event timelines counted backwards from a date — opens once the guides above are complete. We would rather publish six pieces we keep current than sixty we do not.
If there is a question you cannot find an answer to here, ask it and the answer becomes the next piece.
Can’t find your situation?
Describe what you’ll be doing in Indonesia, who’s paying and how long. We’ll name the index and the lead time — and tell you if the answer is that you need nothing at all. Free, no sign-up.