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Do you need to show your return ticket to get an Indonesian visa on arrival at the airport? Do you need any other documents apart from your passport?

How long does it take to get it (waiting time in the queue)?

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  • You DO need a return ticket, otherwise the airline won't give a you a boarding pass. You most likely will NOT need to show your return ticket at arrival. Queues can be quite long but vary a lot.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 11:59
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    If you are concerned about waiting time, you can apply for an electronic Visa on Arrival in advance and skip the VOA queue (but not, obviously, the immigration queue) at the airport. The process is fairly quick and easy.
    – mlc
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 21:49
  • @Hilmar: not if you have an e-visa. You only present the e-visa, which requires submitting the return ticket PDF, and that ticket can be cancelled after you get the e-visa (on the order of minutes for the 30-day eVoA)
    – Dan Dascalescu
    Commented Jul 26 at 6:22

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Officially, you are required to have a ticket out of Indonesia:

Visa on Arrival for Tourism Purpose can be issued accordingly with the following requirements:

  • Passport (diplomatic/official/ordinary) that is valid for a minimum of 6 (six) months,
  • A return ticket or passing ticket to continue the trip to another country, and
  • Proof of payment for Visa on Arrival revenue of 500,000 IDR (if applying for a Visa on Arrival for Tourism Purpose).

In practice, I have never been asked for anything at all at Indonesian visa on arrival counters (sample size: Jakarta, Bali, Batam and Bintan), all you need is your passport and some money, preferably exact change.

However! The visa on arrival (VOA) counter is typically completely separate from the actual Immigration counter, and if you get asked any questions, it will happen at Immigration and not VOA. What's more, the most likely place to get asked is at airline checkin, before you even get on the plane to Indonesia.

Waiting times will vary wildly depending on how many other people are applying. In my experience, the VOA counter itself is reasonably fast, the problem is that you still have to queue up at the actual Immigration counter and 5 minutes of waiting for the VOA means you're now at the end of the line behind the rest of the plane/ferry.

I'd suggest just purchasing a throwaway "return", you can get eg. a Batam-Singapore ferry ticket for ~US$30 or some cheap AirAsia/Lion/Batik fare for less if you book early enough.

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  • Thanks for your answer, so do the Immigration counter ask for a return ticket? For maximum flexibility, I prefer to buy my return ticket later when I spend some time in the country. Tickets that have change date flexibility are considerably more expensive.
    – Real Dreams
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 11:34
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    @HandsomeNerd You're missing my point: it's highly likely that you'll be asked for the return ticket when checking in, long before you arrive in Indonesia, and if you don't have one, you may be refused boarding.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 11:54
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    VOA = pay the money. That seems to be a more of a fee an actual Visa.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 12:00
  • @lambshaanxy is this like a requirement for airlines? any link to legislation?
    – Real Dreams
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 2:50
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    @HandsomeNerd The kemlu.go.id link I point to earlier is from the Foreign Ministry of Indonesia (Kementerian Luar).
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 4:05

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