Indonesia adjusts the travel regulations gradually

Indonesian Task Force has officially announced to reduce quarantine from 7days / 6 nights now down to 5 days / 4 nights for FULLY VACCINATED travellers, starting 1st of February.

An official decree has been finally released (Surat Edaran Nomor 4 Tahun 2022)

This announcement comes just days after Singapore Airlines has decided to fly directly to Bali starting 16th of February.

Additional changes:

– The negative PCR test that you need to show upon arrival to Indonesia, can not be older than 2 x 24h (taken before departure from your country of origin.

– You still need the mandatory medical insurance upon arrival that must cover covid related expenses. However the minimum amount of expenses it needs to cover is reduced to USD 30,000 instead of USD 100,000.

So is Bali really open?

These changes, together with the announcement that Singapore Airlines will fly to Bali starting16th Feb, are a great step into the right direction. But more things need to be changed to be able to even consider to say “Bali is open”. Yet the government is cautious and takes it step by step.

For the “normal” holiday makers that might understandably be frustrating. Because, a quarantine of 4 nights is still very long for someone who plans to come for 2 or 3 weeks. And, all travellers still need to apply for the Visit e-Visa B211A.

These are hurdles and additional costs that for many are simply too high.

Further, as per current travel regulations, anyway only 18 nationalities are allowed to arrive directly in Bali from abroad (full list below this article). Th others still need to enter via Jakarta and quarantine there. This list was established by the government pre-omicron and therefore is not reflecting the current situation and will probably be updated and expanded soon.

More changes will come

At this point there are ongoing talks between the Indonesian COVID Task Force, the coordinating Ministry, and the Immigration officials. discussing following changes:

• Singaporean citizens visa-free (travel bubble)
• Extending the list of nationalities that can arrive directly in Bali
• Select new list of appointed Quarantine in Hotels (will probably be only a few 5star resorts at first)

List of Nationalities that are allowed to arrive directly in Bali – at the moment

We expect this list to be updated and extended soon. This is the latest regulation: NATIONALS with following PASSPORTS are technically allowed to take flights directly to Bali and quarantine in Bali in a hotel certified by the government (List of Quarantine Hotels in Bali) –