Share The Article
Bali Airport is committed to leveling up passenger experience across domestic and international terminals.
Since late 2023, new autogates have been installed to help speed up the immigration process, and more are in the pipeline.
Last week, Bali Airport apologized for any upcoming inconvenience caused by the installation of the next 30 autogates at the international arrivals terminal.
However, strict instructions have been given from the top authorities to speed up the process so that everything is up and running before the high season for Australian holidaymakers really kicks off.
The Head of the Bali Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Pramella Y Pasaribu, told reporters, “I am giving directions so that the process can be completed more quickly than expected.”
After the Eid festival is over, there are also plans to install 20 autogates at the international departures terminal, bringing the total number of autogates at Bali Airport to 80.
The installation of the autogates has helped speed up the arrivals process for tens of thousands of tourists so far.
The speed of processing through Bali Airport is a serious focus point for airport managers since every year, during the high season, queues and delays build up.
Bottlenecks always form at the immigration counters. Especially since the vast majority of tourists now need to pay for their visas upon arrival.
Before the pandemic, tourists from Australia, New Zealand, most European countries, and the United States were granted visa-free travel. Now, tourists from over 90 countries must apply for a visa on arrival, which costs IDR 500,00 for their 30-day stay.
The new autogates help speed up the arrival and immigration process in just a matter of seconds. The autogates can be used by Indonesian citizens, and foreign nationals who have electronic passports, and those who old the e-Visa on Arrival or any other electronic visa category.
Foreigners entering Bali on a KITAS, KITAP, or BVK who have registered on the Indonesian E-Visa page can also use the autogates at Bali Airport and at Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta International Airport.
The autogates use a combination of facial recognition technology and border control management systems to quickly and efficiently process arrivals into the country.
Tourists planning their vacations in Bali during the high season, between late May and early September, are advised to arrange their e-visa on arrival before arriving in Bali.
The electronic visa on Arrival costs the same amount as a normal visa on arrival and can be applied for entirely online.
For families and groups of travelers, it is possible to apply for the e-VoA for up to five passengers at a time, and children need a visa, too.
The visa costs IDR 500,000 per person and must be paid on a debit or credit card in Indonesian Rupiah.
There is only one official website for evisas for Indonesia, and that is https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/ – many sources refer to evisa.imigration.go.id, but the ‘Molina’ site is the one that actually works and the evisa link times out frequently.
Tourists planning to apply for their evisa in the coming days should be aware that the website and visa issuing services may be experiencing some delays due to the Eid al-Fitr holidays.
A statement published by the Immigration Department confirms, “Visa processing will be temporarily closed from the 8th to the 15th April 2024 due to the public holiday and collective leave of the Hari Raya Idul Fitr 1445 Hijriaj.”
“However, visa exemptions and visa-on-arrival services are still accessible. We will resume regular operations on the 16th of April, 2024.”
The statement concludes, “Visa applications received on the 6th (Saturday) and 7th (Sunday) of April 2024 will start to be processed on the 16th of April 2024 (Tuesday).” Immigration offices will also be closed.