Indonesia Plans to More Than Double Its Visa-on-Arrival Fee — and Charge Extra for Skipping the Online Form

Indonesia's Directorate General of Immigration says it plans to more than double the price of a visa on arrival, splitting the fee into two tiers that reward travelers who apply online before they fly and penalize those who wait until they land. Director General of Immigration Hendarsam Marantoko announced the change at a press briefing on August 12, 2026: the current flat fee of Rp500,000 (about $31) would rise to Rp750,000 (about $46) for travelers who complete the electronic visa-on-arrival (e-VOA) process before departure, and Rp1,000,000 (about $62) for those who apply after arriving at the airport. The change would affect a large share of visitors to Indonesia, a country that draws long-stay travelers, retirees and digital nomads as well as short-term tourists, many of whom currently use the on-arrival option rather than applying ahead of time.

Background

Indonesia introduced its current Rp500,000 visa-on-arrival fee several years ago, covering citizens of more than 90 countries who want a short tourist or business stay without applying for a visa at an embassy beforehand. The e-VOA option, which lets travelers complete the paperwork and payment online before their flight, was added to speed up arrivals processing and cut queues at major airports like Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta and Bali's Ngurah Rai. According to Marantoko, that flat fee has not kept pace with the rupiah's depreciation against the dollar, and immigration officials now consider it too low relative to comparable countries in the region.

What exactly changed

The plan splits the current single fee into two: Rp750,000 for travelers who finish the e-VOA application, including payment, before they arrive in Indonesia, and Rp1,000,000 for travelers who instead complete the process in person at the airport. Marantoko framed the roughly 33% price gap as a deliberate incentive to push more travelers toward the online channel, which immigration officials say reduces bottlenecks in arrival halls. He also linked the increase to a state-revenue target: Indonesia's immigration service is aiming for Rp8.5 trillion in non-tax state revenue (PNBP) in 2026, and officials say a Rp500,000 fee is too small to meaningfully contribute to that goal. As of this announcement, no government regulation or ministerial decree implementing the new fees has been published, and no effective date has been set.

Who it affects

The change touches anyone eligible for Indonesia's visa-on-arrival scheme who hasn't already secured a different visa type — tourists on a two-week trip, but also the growing population of remote workers and long-stay visitors who enter on a VOA and later extend it or convert to another permit. A traveler who books a last-minute trip to Bali and plans to apply at the airport, as many currently do, would pay roughly double what they pay today. Someone who instead spends a few minutes completing the e-VOA form before departure would still see a real increase, from Rp500,000 to Rp750,000, but avoid the steeper on-arrival rate.

What this means in practice

Because the fee change has been announced but not yet formalized in a regulation, travelers currently planning a trip to Indonesia will still pay the existing Rp500,000 rate for now. Anyone budgeting for a trip in the coming months should build in the possibility of a higher fee and, once the new tiers take effect, has a clear financial reason to complete the e-VOA application online rather than waiting until arrival. Longer-term movers weighing Indonesia as a base can find visa and residency context in our Indonesia country guide (/country-guides/indonesia); this fee change affects only the short-stay visa-on-arrival product, not longer-term permits like the second-home or work visas.