Visa on Arrival, Immigration, Departure Tax, Money Exchange – Travel tips for Bali

1. Visa on Arrival: Indonesia allows tourists to apply for Visa on Arrival. The recent VISA fee has been raised from USD 25 to USD 35 per person. People with the purpose of visiting the country for leisure, business or social visit purposes in Indonesia can apply for VOA at the arrival hall in Bali. The VISA allows a maximum length of stay for 30 days and that can be extended for another 30 days. Nationals of 63 countries are allowed VOA. Visit this website for more information: http://indonesiskaambassaden.se/visa/visa-on-arrival/ Although this website says it’s USD 25. I recently went to Bali in August 2014, when the new fee of USD 35 was applicable. While USD is said to be preferred, I had only enough USD to pay for one Visa. But immigration officers accepted SGD. There is small board at the VISA fee payment counter that displays the fee in other currencies such as Australian Dollar, Singapore Dollar, etc.
2. Departure Card: The immigration officers will keep one part of the Immigration Form with them and give you one part – which is the Departure Card. I will give you a small advice here: Keep the Departure Card properly, as this has to be submitted at the airport when you depart from Bali. I read somewhere that if you lose the card they will ask you to get another one from a counter at the airport. But sometimes the immigration officers might just create unnecessary problems for you. So, better be careful and keep the card safely.
3. Departure Tax: You have to pay a Departure Tax when you leave Indonesia. For Bali the revised tax is IDR 200,000 per person which is roughly or less than USD 20. I was advised that they only accept the departure Tax in IDR, so I kept it tucked away in a separate corner of my wallet. The Departure Tax varies for different parts of Indonesia.
4. Getting used to the Zeroes: Indonesian Rupiah has the second highest denominations in the world, the highest being that of Vietnam’s Dong. The highest denomination is 100,000. There are also denominations – 50,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 2,000 and 1,000. It will take a day for you to get used to it. And yes you will be a millionaire there when you convert your US dollars. You can have a meal for IDR 50,000 and a cab ride might cost you over IDR 200,000!
5. Money exchange: I converted my Sing Dollars in Singapore as I got good rates. But you can convert it in Bali as well. We converted some of our SGD in Bali too and got pretty good rates. Especially for USD, lot of online forums recommend you to convert it in Bali as you get very good rates. But make sure you go to an official/ registered money exchanger. Don’t get lured by good rates that are too good to be real. There will be hidden commission. These exchanges are supposedly the ones inside narrow alleys and not in the main roads. At the time I went to Bali (August 2014), the rates for USD was approximately – 1 USD = IDR 11,000 and 1 SGD = IDR 9,300.