Indonesia Expands Visa-On-Arrival & Drops Arrival Test

Indonesia has now officially implemented the visa-on-arrival and on arrival PCR-RT changes that were communicated late last week.

Visitors with visa-on-arrival can arrive at seven airports, including Jakarta, and the on-arrival PCR-RT test has been dropped from those considered fully vaccinated. There is still a pre-departure PCR-RT test requirement. Visitors are no longer required to book specific hotels for the first night or duration of their stay in the country.

You can access the Indonesia Tourism website here.

Immigration

The visa-on-arrival is available for 43 nationals. There is a separate visa exemption for ASEAN nationals, but it is not extendable.

On-Arrival Testing

This has now been removed for those considered fully vaccinated. Visitors are still required to have a pre-departure PCR-RT test. There is health screening upon arrival, and those higher than 37.5 Celsius temperature are required to take a test.

Download (PDF, 230KB)

Conclusion

Indonesia has been all over the map with its entry requirements that have been significantly relaxed over the past few weeks.

For a while, “tourists” were allowed to enter Bali if they arranged business visas using local agents. However, Indonesia and Bali were surprised when zero tourists arrived for months (no flights) because the entry requirements were too draconian. And at one point, the governor of Bali said that they should pivot away from tourism to agriculture.

I would rather have a pre-departure PCR-RT test than an arrival one (I caught an asymptotic infection before traveling to Thailand in January) but wish we could soon move away from them if fully vaccinated.

Next month, I plan to visit Bali (I have tickets in and out) to see how the island is doing and check a couple of hotels that have opened since my most recent visit.