Visas to other countries from Indonesia
Updated: 27 August 2026 · Verified by the Malina Visa team
You live in Bali and you are heading somewhere else — a holiday, family, work. The first question is not "which documents" but something simpler: will they accept an application here at all, given you are not an Indonesian citizen.
The answer varies widely by destination: some take applications from anywhere, some only from residents, and for some a visa is no longer needed at all.
Where you can file from Indonesia
| Destination | Filing from Indonesia | KITAS required | Where | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | yes, no conditions | not required | Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya | around 3 weeks |
| Australia | yes, no conditions | not required | online | 13–35 days |
| India | yes, online | not required | online, consulate in Bali | from 4 days |
| Schengen | yes, with a condition | mandatory | Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya | 15 days by rule, often longer |
| United States | yes, with a condition | mandatory | Jakarta, Surabaya | 2 weeks to 1.5 months |
| Japan | yes, with a condition | mandatory | Denpasar, Jakarta | 5 working days |
| China | no visa needed | — | visa-free until 31.12.2027 | — |
| South Korea | no visa needed | — | visa-free, 60 days | — |
The China and Korea rows apply to Russian citizens. Other passports have different terms — tell us yours and we will check.
What you should not be paying for
Starting with what saves you money today. Two destinations are sold as a service although no visa is required.
- ✓China. The unilateral visa waiver for Russian citizens has run since September 2025 and was extended to 31 December 2027 — notice from the Chinese foreign ministry dated 20 May 2026. Ordinary passport, up to 30 days, for tourism, business, family visits and transit. Yet agencies still write that no waiver exists and offer a transit workaround.
- ✓South Korea. The visa waiver agreement with Russia has been in force since January 2014, 60 days. No visa is needed — only the K-ETA electronic authorisation. Korean visas are nonetheless sold for sums around four million rupiah.
- ✓India. The 30-day electronic visa has been free for Russian citizens since 1 January 2026. The form takes a quarter of an hour. The only thing worth paying for is having it checked before submission: refusals over a typo in a passport number are routine.
Where they will not take you without a KITAS
Three destinations deal only with people legally resident in Indonesia. This is a written rule, not an official's whim.
The EU Visa Code requires filing with the consulate of the country where you are legally resident. The visa centre in Indonesia accepts foreigners holding a valid KITAS or KITAP. Without one an application can be declared inadmissible, and the fee is not refunded.
The appointment system explicitly offers a "citizen or resident of Indonesia" category, where the KITAS and KITAP are named as proof. A non-resident can formally book, but lands in the worse queue, and the State Department itself warns that qualifying will be harder.
The consulate general in Denpasar puts it directly: it accepts foreigners residing on a KITAS or KITAP, and does not accept those present on a short-stay visa — tourist, business or visa on arrival.
The practical conclusion: if you plan to travel from Indonesia to Europe, the US or Japan, residence status pays for itself beyond its own merits. It opens consulates that will otherwise not talk to you.
Traps nobody warns you about
- !The Netherlands does not accept tourist applications from Russian citizens living outside Russia — a KITAS does not override it. Only visits to close relatives and non-tourist purposes are allowed. The Netherlands was for years the best-trodden route from Bali, so people head there out of habit. A fee refused at intake is not returned.
- !Indonesia has no biometric collection centres for Australia. Filing is simple and entirely online, but if your application triggers a fingerprint request, the nearest centres are Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. The Australian side says as much: you may need to travel to another country. Budget for that risk in advance.
- !The Japanese fee rose fivefold. Since 1 July 2026 a single-entry visa costs IDR 1,650,000 against the previous 330,000. Some agencies still display the old figure.
- !For the US, Surabaya is roughly three times faster than Jakarta. On official waiting figures: Jakarta around a month and a half, Surabaya under half a month. The flight from Bali takes fifty minutes. Regulars know this; first-timers do not.
- !A UK visa costs more on Bali than in Jakarta. Intake in Jakarta is free; on Bali there is an additional charge of roughly £76. That is about the price of the flight — work out which suits you.
What we actually do
We do not promise a "guaranteed visa" — nobody can, and anyone promising it does not intend to answer for the outcome. What we do:
- ✓Check whether your documents will be accepted at all — before you pay the consular fee
- ✓Assemble the file for the specific consulate, not off a generic checklist
- ✓Book the appointment and tell you where the queue is shorter
- ✓Tell you honestly when your passport needs no visa at all
Frequently asked questions
I hold a tourist visa, not a KITAS. Where can I still file?
The United Kingdom, Australia and India — none of them imposes a residence requirement. For Schengen, the US and Japan, filing without residence status is not worth attempting: at best the file is refused at intake, at worst accepted and refused on the merits, and the consular fee is lost either way.
How long must my KITAS be valid at the time of filing?
The widely repeated "at least six months" requirement appears in no official source we could find. What actually matters is that the status covers your travel dates and ideally remains valid for some time after your return — the consulate wants to see that you have somewhere to come back to.
Is it true that Russian citizens are not being granted visas right now?
They are, but conditions have tightened and differ by country. Some restrictions run on nationality and residence does not override them — Dutch tourist applications, for instance. Elsewhere it is business as usual: Japan on Bali works from the standard checklist, the only difference being two sets of forms instead of one. This has to be checked country by country, not by general mood.
What about consular fees?
They change, sometimes sharply: the Japanese fee rose fivefold in July 2026. So we quote the amount on the day of filing rather than lifting a figure from last year's article. For the US, keep in mind that an additional fee exists in US legislation which is not yet charged in Indonesia but could be switched on.
Can I file in a country where I neither live nor hold citizenship?
Formally possible in some cases, but practically the worst option available. For Schengen the rules explicitly name "a long queue at home" as an insufficient reason to file in a third country. The deeper problem is different: you end up having to prove ties to two countries at once — your country of citizenship and your country of residence. A typical refusal reads exactly that way: neither set of ties established.
Tell us where you're going — we'll check whether they'll take your file
Name the country and your status in Indonesia. We answer before you pay the fee, and we say plainly when you need no visa at all.