Business, conferences & exhibitions
Which business visa do you actually need?
Indonesia reduced its visa system from 133 types to 110 and made the purpose codes far more specific. Coming to negotiate, to speak at a conference, and to exhibit at a trade show are now three different visas. Picking the wrong one is the most common reason a business trip goes wrong at the counter.
If someone is still quoting you a “B211A”, they’re working from old information. That index was retired in the restructure. Single-entry visits are now C1 for tourism and C2 for business, visa exemption is A1 and visa on arrival is B1. What happened to the B211A →
Start here
Tell us what you’ll be doing in the room
Immigration classifies by activity, not by how long you’re staying or how important the trip is. Pick the closest description of what you personally will do.
Reference
Every business-related index, in one table
C-index visas are single entry. D-index visas are multiple entry, issued for one, two or five years. E-index means a limited stay permit — a KITAS — which is the only route that allows actual employment.
| Index | Purpose | Entries | Stay | Our fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Tourism, meetings, corporate trips, conventions, exhibitions, family visits and transit, for the nineteen exempt jurisdictions. No hands-on work of any kind. | Single | 30 days | No fee |
| B1 | Extend your VoA once without leaving the country. Apply before it expires, not after. | Single | +30 days | Quoted per case |
| C1 | Longer than a VoA, for holidays, visiting relatives and transit. Extendable. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C2 | Negotiations, and visits to offices, factories or investment sites. Not for doing the work itself. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C10 | For speakers, lecturers and presenters invited to a conference or exhibition. Convertible to a stay permit with the same sponsor. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C11 | For operating at a MICE event — running a stand, exhibiting. C11A applies to calling-visa nationalities. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C18 | Operational tests and work trials — proving a process or a line before it goes live. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C20 | Installing, repairing or commissioning equipment. This is the index people miss when they send an engineer on a business visa. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C11A | The C11 route for passports that require additional clearance. Same activity, materially longer lead time — start earlier than you think you need to. | Single | 60 days | Quoted per case |
| C22B | A structured internship with an Indonesian company, for placements running from a couple of months to two years. | Single | 60 days – 2 yrs | Quoted per case |
| C12 | Feasibility work and due diligence before establishing a PT PMA. Sequence this before the investor KITAS. | Single | 180 days | Quoted per case |
| D1 | Tourism, family visits, meetings, corporate trips, conventions and exhibitions, over one, two or five years. | Multiple | 1 / 2 / 5 yrs | Quoted per case |
| D2 | 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. | Multiple | 1 / 2 / 5 yrs | Quoted per case |
| D12 | Repeated feasibility and due-diligence trips before establishing a PT PMA, over one, two or five years. | Multiple | 1 / 2 / 5 yrs | Quoted per case |
| D17 | Audits, quality control and inspections at company branches, over one, two or five years. | Multiple | 1 / 2 / 5 yrs | Quoted per case |
| D7 | Art and cultural performers, over one or two years. A new index in the restructure. | Multiple | 1 / 2 yrs | Quoted per case |
| D8 | Sports participants invited by government or international bodies, over one or two years. A new index in the restructure. | Multiple | 1 / 2 yrs | Quoted per case |
| E23 | The only route that permits employment and payment by an Indonesian entity. Includes RPTKA and the Kemnaker steps. | Stay permit | 12 months | Quoted per case |
| E28A | For shareholders in a PT PMA. No work permit levy, but the company must exist first. | Stay permit | 12–24 months | Quoted per case |
Our fee is quoted per case. Immigration charges are passed through at cost and itemised on your invoice, separately from our fee — never marked up. Ask what yours would cost →
Indexes and conditions are reviewed monthly against the current regulations.
Get this wrong and the trip fails
The three mistakes we’re called about most
Speaking on a visitor visa
Your company sends you to present at a conference in Jakarta and someone books you a B1 visa on arrival. Presenting at an organised event is a C10 activity with a named sponsor. The organiser usually discovers this a week before the event, when there’s no longer time.
Exhibiting on a business visa
Attending an expo as a visitor and running a stand at one are different activities. Operating at a MICE event is C11, and if your passport is from a calling-visa country it’s C11A with extra clearance and a longer lead time.
Doing the work on a C2
C2 covers negotiating and inspecting. It does not cover installing the machine you sold, commissioning the line, or training the staff hands-on. That’s C20 or a work KITAS, and Imigrasi does check at industrial sites.
For organisers and corporates
Running an expo, conference or roadshow in Indonesia?
If you’re bringing in speakers and exhibitors, you’re not filing one visa — you’re filing twenty on a fixed deadline, across several indexes and several nationalities. That’s a different job, and we handle it as one project rather than twenty separate cases.
Event visa handling
One project manager, one document portal, one deadline tracked backwards from your event date. Speakers on C10, exhibitors on C11 or C11A, delegates on whatever their nationality allows.
- Applicants
- Bulk intake by spreadsheet or portal
- Sponsorship
- We act as sponsor, or work with your Indonesian entity
- Tracking
- Live status per attendee, shared with your team
- Lead time
- Start at least 8 weeks out; calling-visa nationals need longer
- Billing
- One invoice to the organiser, NPWP, IDR or USD
Standing corporate account
For companies with staff travelling to Indonesia repeatedly. Most of them are buying single-entry visas over and over when a D2 would be cheaper and faster.
- Frequent travellers
- D2 multiple entry, 60 days per entry
- Break-even
- Roughly the third trip in a year
- Auditors & inspectors
- D17 for branch audits and quality control
- Expiry tracking
- Calendar per employee, reminders at 60/30/7 days
- Billing
- Consolidated monthly invoice
FAQ
Business visa questions
What happened to the B211A?
It was retired in the visa restructure. The single-entry visit categories are now split by purpose: C1 for tourism, family visits and transit, C2 for business. Visa exemption became A1 and visa on arrival became B1. If an agent is still selling you a B211A in 2026, ask them when they last read the regulation.
I’m attending a conference, not speaking at it. What do I need?
Attending as a delegate is covered by the general visitor categories — A1 if your nationality is exempt, B1 on arrival otherwise, or C1 if you want the longer 60 days. C10 is specifically for the people on the stage: speakers, lecturers, presenters. If you’re in the audience, you don’t need it, and on an exempt passport you don’t need us either.
What’s the difference between C10 and C11?
C10 is for the individual delivering content — a speaker, lecturer or presenter invited to an event. C11 is for operating at a MICE event: manning a stand, exhibiting, running the activation. A company sending both a keynote speaker and three booth staff to the same expo needs both indexes in the same application batch.
What is a “calling visa” country and why does C11A exist?
Certain nationalities require additional security clearance before a visa is approved, which adds steps and time. C11A was introduced specifically so exhibitors from those countries have a defined route rather than being caught in a general category. If your delegation includes those passports, start considerably earlier than eight weeks.
Can I be paid by the Indonesian organiser for speaking?
Generally no on a C10 — the index is built around there being no employment relationship with an Indonesian party, and receiving wages or compensation from an Indonesian individual or company sits outside it. Reimbursement of travel is treated differently from a speaking fee. If money is changing hands, tell us the arrangement before the event rather than after.
When is a D2 worth it over repeated C2s?
Roughly from the third trip in a year, and sooner if the trips are unpredictable. D2 is issued for one, two or five years and now permits 60 days per entry, up from 30. It also removes the lead time before each trip, which is usually worth more to a business traveller than the fee difference.
Can I convert a visit visa into a stay permit without leaving?
It depends on the index and the sponsor. C10, for instance, can be converted to a temporary stay permit with the same sponsor — the conference organiser. Other routes require you to exit and re-enter. This is exactly the sort of thing worth asking before you book flights, because getting the sequence wrong costs you a trip out of the country.
Not sure which index fits your trip?
Describe the activity in one message — what you’ll be doing, who’s paying, how long, and how often. We’ll name the index and tell you the realistic lead time. Free, no sign-up.