Corona Update

News: Plans to introduce Visa on Arrival (VoA) and scrap the quarantine

New regulations have been announced. Click here for IMPORTANT UPDATES ON THIS TOPIC.

5th March 2022

Major good News for Bali – IF they get confirmed: The governor of Bali is pushing for following travel regulations to be changed

allow the Visa on Arrival for 23 countries starting as early as 7th of March.
scrap the quarantine in designated hotels, but instead: self-quarantine in hotel for 3 (or 4 nights), and a PCR test on day 3.

However, the central government has not yet confirmed these plans, even though international media outlets are reporting these changes as if they are already confirmed.

Further, and this is CONFIRMED, the quarantine for travellers with now 2 or 3 vaccinations is 3-24h (2 nights / 3 days).

The media has been writing about major upcoming changes in travel regulations

Bapak Wayan Koster, Governor of Bali, has issued several minutes meetings where he announced the plans to re-introduce the Visa on Arrival for 23 countries and also stop the mandatory quarantine requirements as early as 7th of March, some say 16th of March.

However, none of these major changes, that would finally be worthy of saying: “Bali is open again”, are confirmed by the responsible ministries in Jakarta. We are still waiting for an official response, until then the current regulations (B211A Visa and mandatory quarantine in a certified hotel), are in place.

The quarantine hotels, who should be the first to know, so far have not been instructed to change their protocols.

VISA ON ARRIVAL PLANS:

For now, the plan is to allow a visa on Arrival for following countries. THIS WOULD ONLY APPLY FOR TRAVELLERS ARRIVING DIRECTLY IN BALI – not Jakarta or other airports:

Australia
USA
Canada
UK
Germany
Netherlands
France
Qatar
Japan
South Korea
Italy
New Zealand

Turkey
UAE
Malaysia
Singapore
Brunei
Thailand
Vietnam
Laos
Myanmar
Cambodia
Philippines

QUARANTINE CHANGES THAT MIGHT COME:

It is uncertain at this point, what the exact plans are regarding the quarantine regulations. The rumours are, that travellers will have to self-quarantine in a hotel for 3 (or 4) nights. 1st PCR test at the airport and second PCR test on the 3rd day. The hotel will then be able to release the traveller next day, if the test is negative.

How this would be handled in real life so to speak, and if the hotels can manage such a protocol on such a short notice, is unclear. And as it seems, that would still be some sort of quarantine.

Impact on Travel Planning

“Bali” hopes, that any of these new regulations will be implemented soon, so that the tourism industry can gradually recover from the shutdown since March 2020.

For now, travel planning is still difficult for anybody who wants to come, particularly within the next few weeks, because none of these announcements have been confirmed. We expect that more announcements will come soon. If you can wait a bit with your visa and quarantine hotel decisions, please do so.

What has been confirmed already, which is already an important step, that travellers with also 2 doses of vaccine only have to quarantine for 3×24 hours.