Bali’s auto-gates are officially up and running. The newly installed auto-gates can be found in both the international arrival and departure terminals.
Tourists from ASEAN nations and those using the eVoA will be able to speed through the airport.
The new auto-gates have been slowly and steadily installed across Bali Airport since late last year.
The new auto-gates are part of a bigger nationwide effort, but the Directorate General of Immigration, Silmy Karim, is to level up immigration services and digitalize operations as much as possible for both citizens and foreigners.
On average, Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport welcomes 18,000 tourists every day; this increases up to 36,000 during the peak season.
This puts huge pressure on the immigration services at the airport. So when Director General Karim took over the role last year, he vowed to ensure that Indonesia’s immigration services would reach the ‘gold standard’ level across the board.
In total, ninety auto-gates have been installed. Sixty in the arrivals halls and thirty in the departure halls.
These are the same auto-gates that have been up and running in Jakarta Airport for the past few months with huge success.
At the moment, only tourists who tick all the right criteria boxes will be able to use the autogates on Arrival and departure.
Those who are using the eVisa on Arrival, those from ASEAN nations, and only those who have an electronic passport. It’s easy to know if you have an electronic passport; there’s a small golden square beneath the national emblem on the form that has a circle in the middle.
This means that the ID page of the passport can be read by automated scanners like those now installed at Bali Airport.
All tourists visiting Bali, or Indonesian more broadly, are being encouraged to arrange their eVisa on Arrival prior to touching down in the county.
The eVoA costs exactly the same as paying on arrival but can help speed up the arrival process for tourists since everything is already in place before flying.
It should be noted that there is only one official website for arranging the Indonesian eVoA; this is https://molina.imigrasi.go.id/ – tourists should not use any other website that claims to offer an expedited process or that charges more than the IDR 500,000 the eVoA costs.
Unlike the new Love Bali website, the official e-visa website for Indonesia is reliable and easy to use. It seldom crashes, is available to use in English, and is very clear to use.
Tourists who are granted an eVoA for 30 days are also able to extend their visa online by using the same site. For tourists traveling as a couple, family, or group, eVoA applications can be made for up to five people at a time.
The application process is simple; follow the steps on the screen: select the passport country first, the purpose of visiting (general, family, social), follow the sub-purpose (tourism, family visit, and transit), and select B1 Tourism Visa on Arrival.
The next step is to upload the travel documents, follow all the instructions on the screen, and proceed to payment.
Once everything is completed and the visa approved, applicants will receive their eVoA document via email. The PDF document can be printed out or saved as a file on a smartphone.
The QR code for the visa and the corresponding passport must be easily accessible on arrival to put through the scanner if tourists wish to use the auto-gates.
Tourists traveling on ASEAN passports do not need to apply for an eVoA due to the common travel agreement.
The eVoA is separate from the tourism tax voucher, which can also be applied for before arriving in Bali.
However, since the Love Bali app and website have been experiencing technical issues since its launch two weeks ago, officials have recommended tourists pay their tourism tax levy on arrival at the dedicated desk in the arrivals hall.
