Bali Visa children service

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Do my children need a visa to visit Bali?

It seems that in recent years many families have been on holiday or relocated to Indonesia and especially to the Island of Bali. Other such Islands as Flores and Lombok also offer beautiful weather and beaches which attract many visitors each year. The question that seems to be repeatedly asked by families is - how does the visa system work for my children? The following guidelines are for the Island of Bali.

Short Stay

On 1 February 2004 the new visa rules came into effect; the new rules state that if you are a resident of the following 11 nations Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Chile, Morocco, Peru and Vietnam and have a valid passport with 6 months remaining validity you will be given a 30 day stay permit without charge,

If you are a resident of one of the following 21 nations you are eligible to purchase a visa on arrival at the cost of $25 (USD) valid for 30 days. The United States, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Norway, France, Poland, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Taiwan. If you are travelling with children of whatever age they must purchase a visa. All ‘visas on arrival’ and ‘stay permits’ and non-extendable.

For countries not mentioned in the above lists or for travellers wanting to stay more than 30 days arrangements must be made with Indonesians Consulates or Embassies before travelling.

Long Stay

The rules regarding long stay visas and children are a lot more complicated. If you have an Indonesian wife and you have a child together it is possible to process your baby’s KITAS, which is a limited stay permit, within 60 days from the date of birth. You need a birth certificate from the civil registration office which you must take to immigration and they will process your baby’s passport. After you have the passport you can apply for the KITAS which will be valid for one year. If you then want to leave Indonesia on a short trip you must pay 1,000,000Rp for a re-entry permit.

If you plan to move to Bali and want to put your children into school - the reality of this situation is that you will most likely be moving to Bali for work and your company should be able to take care of all the things you need. Also there are several international schools in Bali and these schools can help you get the visas you need for your children.

I have read some questions from people about doing visa runs to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. These are ok for lone travels but as a family they become costly and hard-work. There are some loop holes in the Indonesian visa system and ways of playing the system to reduce costs. The truth of the matter is that the visa process for long stays is not simple and it is common to work with one of the many visa agents in Bali. In our case we use a company called Bali Krisna Service who provide all our Bali child care and Bali house keeping; they can also take care of our visas problems.

However there will always be the need to visit your nearest Indonesia Embassy and other government offices for signatures, photographs and photos.