Arriving at Bali Airport (DPS): Visa, Levy, SIM Cards and Transfers

Almost every trip to Bali starts at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, usually shortened to DPS. It sits just south of Kuta, close to the southern beaches and a longer drive from Ubud or the north. Arriving is straightforward once you know the order of things, and most of the paperwork can now be done on your phone before you board.

This guide walks through that order, from visa and levy to a working phone and a ride to where you are staying. Indonesian entry rules change often, so we say "as of October 2026" wherever a figure or process could shift. Check the official sites before you rely on any detail here.

Before you fly: three things to do online

1. Your visa: e-VOA or visa on arrival

Citizens of a long list of countries can enter Indonesia as tourists on a Visa on Arrival. As of October 2026 the official immigration e-Visa site lists 87 eligible countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, most of Europe, China, India and Japan. Citizens of most ASEAN countries can enter visa-free for short stays instead. If your country is not on the list, you need to apply for a visa before you travel.

There are two ways to get the Visa on Arrival:

• e-VOA (electronic Visa on Arrival): you apply and pay online before you fly and receive the visa by email. This is faster at the airport and is what lets most travellers use the automatic gates.
• Visa on arrival at the airport: you pay at a counter in the terminal before immigration, then queue for an officer.

The key facts, as of October 2026:

• Fee: IDR 500,000 per person, the same for both versions. The online application adds a service fee, and your card issuer may add its own charges.
• Length of stay: 30 days, single entry. It can be extended once for another 30 days, up to 60 days in total. Arrange the extension before your first 30 days run out, through the official e-Visa system or at an immigration office.
• What you need: a passport valid for at least six months from your arrival date, a scan of the photo page, a passport photo, a return or onward ticket, and a Visa, Mastercard or JCB card. Every traveller needs their own visa, including babies and children.
• When to apply: the official site currently says you can apply from 14 days before travel and advises doing it at least 48 hours before departure.

In August 2026 the Director General of Immigration announced plans to raise the fee to IDR 750,000 for the e-VOA and IDR 1,000,000 for a visa bought on arrival. As of early October 2026 no start date had been set and the official site still showed IDR 500,000. Check the fee on the day you apply.

Apply only on the official immigration website, whose address ends in imigrasi.go.id. Lookalike sites charge far more than the real price, and some deliver nothing at all.

2. The All Indonesia arrival card

Since October 2025, every international arrival in Indonesia uses a single digital declaration called All Indonesia. It combines the immigration, customs, health and quarantine questions that used to sit on separate forms, and it replaced the old electronic customs declaration (e-CD).

• Fill it in on the official All Indonesia website or app within three days before you land. It can be done on arrival, but airport wifi and queues make that a poor plan.
• It is free. Anyone asking you to pay for it is not the government.
• When you submit, you get a QR code. Take a screenshot so you can show it offline.
• It is not a visa and it does not cover the Bali levy. You still need both.

As of October 2026 each traveller can bring in personal goods worth up to USD 500 without duty, and each adult can bring up to 200 cigarettes (or 25 cigars or 100 grams of tobacco) and one litre of alcohol. Under rules in force since June 2025, tobacco and alcohol over those limits can simply be destroyed. Cash worth IDR 100 million or more, in any currency, must be declared. Declare food, plants, seeds and animal products honestly, and keep prescription medicines in their original packaging with a copy of the prescription.

3. The Bali tourist levy

Bali charges foreign tourists a provincial levy of IDR 150,000 per person (as of October 2026). It is separate from the visa and is collected by the Bali provincial government.

• Pay on Love Bali, the provincial government's website and app, whose address ends in baliprov.go.id. Card, bank transfer, virtual account and QRIS are accepted.
• You receive a voucher with a QR code by email. Keep it on your phone.
• It is paid once per trip to Bali, not per day.
• There are payment counters at the airport if you have not paid, but paying ahead is quicker.
• KITAS and KITAP holders, student and family visa holders, diplomats and transport crew are exempt and just show their card. Golden visa holders and some other visa types must apply for the exemption through Love Bali before arriving.

In 2026 the province asked international airlines to announce the levy on flights to Bali, so you may hear about it on board. Pay only on the official site: copycat sites and "agents" charge well over the real amount.

Landing at DPS: what happens, in order

Signs are in English. Expect this sequence.

1. Visa counter (only if you have no e-VOA). Pay at the Visa on Arrival counters before immigration and keep the receipt.
2. Immigration. If you have an electronic passport (look for the chip symbol on the cover) and an approved e-VOA or other e-Visa, you can usually use the autogates. They check your passport, face and fingerprints in about a minute. People who bought a visa at the airport and those with older passports use staffed counters, and families with young children may be sent there too. Officers may ask for your return ticket and where you are staying.
3. Baggage claim.
4. Customs and levy. Show your All Indonesia QR code. Bags may be x-rayed. Officers may also scan your Love Bali voucher.
5. Arrivals hall. Expect drivers holding name boards and plenty of offers of "taxi, transport". If you already have a plan, a smile and "sudah, terima kasih" (already sorted, thank you) works well.

In early 2026 Bali's governor floated checking visitors' finances, including bank statements. As of October 2026 we found no such check in force, but keep your return ticket and first booking handy.

Money: ATMs, cash and cards

You will want some cash in your first hours. Drivers, small warungs, parking attendants and many shops work in cash, and by law prices in Indonesia are paid in rupiah.

• ATMs: there are machines in the arrivals hall. Withdraw enough for a day or two rather than a large sum. If the screen offers to charge you in your home currency, decline and choose rupiah: the conversion rate offered is usually worse.
• Money changers: Bali's 2025 rules for tourists say to change money only at licensed money changers, which display their Bank Indonesia authorisation. Count your notes at the counter before you walk away, and be wary of booths offering rates far better than the banks.
• Cards: hotels, larger restaurants and supermarkets take cards. QRIS, Indonesia's national QR payment system, is accepted almost everywhere, and some foreign banking and wallet apps can now pay with it.

SIM cards and eSIMs

Mobile data makes everything easier, from ride-hailing to WhatsApp, which most drivers, villas and businesses here use instead of phone calls.

• Airport counters: Telkomsel, XL and Indosat all have booths in the arrivals hall selling tourist packages. They cost more than in town but take minutes. Staff register the SIM to your passport and your phone's IMEI number.
• Why the IMEI matters: Indonesia blocks phones that are not registered. A tourist SIM registration lets a foreign phone work on local networks for a limited period, 90 days at the time of writing. The All Indonesia form asks about registering a phone; that is mainly relevant if you plan to live here or use the phone on a local SIM long term.
• eSIMs: international eSIM apps let you buy a data plan before you fly and switch it on when you land. XL sells a tourist eSIM online, and Telkomsel lets you pre-order a tourist SIM to collect on arrival. Check that your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked before you leave home.

Download Grab, Gojek and an offline Google Map of Bali before you land.

Getting out of the airport

Official airport taxi

The official taxi counters are in the arrivals hall. Tell staff where you are going, pay the fixed fare for that zone, and you are given a voucher and a driver. Keep the voucher until you arrive. As a rough guide, fares quoted in mid 2026 were around IDR 150,000 to 200,000 to Kuta and IDR 200,000 to 300,000 to Seminyak, with Canggu and Ubud costing considerably more.

Grab and Gojek

Both apps work at DPS, but pick-ups happen at designated points rather than at the kerb outside the arrivals doors. Follow the signs for the Grab lounge or the Gojek pick-up point, or ask the app's ground staff. The fare is shown before you book and is usually cheaper than the taxi counter, though prices rise late at night, in heavy rain and on holidays. Check the number plate before you get in.

Pre-booked drivers and hotel transfers

For a late arrival, a family with luggage or a long drive north, a pre-booked driver is often the calmest choice. Your driver waits outside arrivals with a name board. Agree the price in advance, including any toll and parking fees, and save the driver's WhatsApp number. Bali's 2025 rules ask visitors to use licensed transport, so book through your accommodation or an established company.

Typical travel times

Traffic around the airport is the main variable, especially in the late afternoon and on holiday weekends. Typical car journeys:

• Kuta and Tuban: 15 to 30 minutes
• Nusa Dua: 20 to 40 minutes, using the toll road
• Sanur: 25 to 45 minutes
• Seminyak: 30 to 60 minutes
• Uluwatu: 45 to 75 minutes, longer around sunset
• Canggu: 45 to 90 minutes
• Ubud: 1.5 to 2.5 hours

Leaving Bali: departure tips

• Allow time. Most airlines open check-in about three hours before international flights. Leave early enough to absorb a traffic jam, especially from Canggu, Ubud or Uluwatu.
• No departure tax at the desk. The airport charge is included in your ticket price.
• Overstays are settled at immigration. If you have stayed beyond your permit, the fine is IDR 1,000,000 per day, paid before you can leave. Longer overstays can mean detention, deportation and an entry ban, so extend in time instead.
• Autogates work on departure too for eligible passports.
• Pack thoughtfully. Do not take coral, turtle shell or other protected wildlife products. Spend or change leftover rupiah before you go, as rates abroad are poor.
• Nyepi. The airport closes for 24 hours on Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, which usually falls in March. In 2026 it was on 19 March. Check the date if you are travelling around then.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Paying a lookalike visa or levy site instead of the official one.
• Not screenshotting the All Indonesia QR code and the levy voucher.
• Accepting the first transport offer in the arrivals hall without knowing the going rate.
• Underestimating the drive to Ubud or Canggu after a long-haul flight.