SIM Internasional is a small booklet. It translates your Indonesian driving license so police in other countries can read it.

• Issued by: Korlantas Polri (the Indonesian traffic police)
• Valid for: 3 years
• Cost: Rp 250,000 for a new one, Rp 225,000 to renew
• Accepted in: 92 countries

Important: it works only together with your Indonesian license. Alone, it is not valid.

No. You need an Indonesian driving license first, plus an Indonesian ID card (KTP) or a permanent stay permit (KITAP).

A tourist has none of these. There is no way around it.

What you need instead is an International Driving Permit from your home country. See our IDP guide.

No. This surprises many people who live here.

The rule says KITAP, not KITAS. KITAP is permanent residency. You usually need several years on a KITAS before you can get a KITAP.

So most foreigners living in Bali cannot get a SIM Internasional, even after many years. No agent can change this. And there is also no need for it. In most cases, expatriates still have there national driving license from their home country and can get an IDP (International Driving Permit) in their home county.

If you still need one and you are a KITAP holder, you need all of these:

• A valid Indonesian driving license (SIM A, BI, BII or C)
• KTP if you are Indonesian, or KITAP if you are a foreigner
• A valid passport
• A recent photo
• Your signature on white paper, written with black ink
• Your old SIM Internasional, if you are renewing

The photo rules are strict. Most applications are refused because of the photo. It must be:

• On a white background
• In colour, not black and white
• Without glasses and without contact lenses
• Facing the camera, with no teeth showing, no smiling
• Not wearing a white shirt or white hijab

The whole process is online. You cannot apply in person.

1. Register on the Korlantas website, or use the Digital Korlantas app
2. Fill in the form and upload your documents
3. Choose delivery, or collection in Jakarta
4. Give your bank details, in case they refuse your application and refund you
5. You receive a payment number, then you pay
6. You receive your registration number by email

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 15:00 WIB. Closed on weekends and national holidays. Outside these hours the website shows a “closed” message. This is normal.

Delivery to Bali works well. It costs around Rp 51,700 with tracking.

• SIM A – cars up to 3,500 kg
• SIM C – motorbikes up to 250cc
• SIM C1 – motorbikes 250cc to 500cc (you must have held a SIM C for at least 1 year)
• SIM C2 – motorbikes above 500cc

Most people in Bali need SIM C. A normal Scoopy, Vario or NMAX is well under 250cc.

You need a KITAS or a KITAP.

This is the important difference: for an Indonesian license, a KITAS is enough. For SIM Internasional, it is not.

Tourists cannot apply. If you are here on a tourist visa, use an International Driving Permit.

Where: Polresta Denpasar, Jl. Gunung Sanghyang No. 110, Denpasar Barat 80117.

What happens:

1. You hand in your documents
2. Health check (eyes, colour blindness, blood pressure)
3. Psychological test
4. Theory test on a computer, about road signs and traffic rules
5. Practical riding or driving test
6. Photo and fingerprints
7. You usually receive your license the same day

Bring: your passport, your KITAS or KITAP, your foreign driving license, passport photos, and a black pen.

Tips: plan a full day. Come early in the morning. Avoid the end of the month, because that is when many local people renew. If you can, bring a friend who speaks Indonesian.

The theory test is available in English at some offices, including Denpasar. Ask before you go.

This is the real, official price. There are agents who help you through the process and charge a fee for this. That can be a really helpful service to consider.

Yes, you will see offers to arrange your license for you and assist you with the process for s fee.

Part of that surcharge is real help. Someone prepares your documents, speaks Indonesian for you, and you wait less. If a full day at a government office in a language you do not speak sounds hard, paying for help is reasonable.

Not in Indonesia. Your Indonesian license is all you need here.

You would only need an IDP or a SIM Internasional if you want to drive in another country.

Yes, absolutely, this is mandatory and the police will check this document when you get stopped. Everybody who rents a motorized vehicle, including scooters like the Honda Scoopy, Honda Vario, Yamaha NMAX or a Vespa, needs to have both their national driver’s license and an INTERNATIONAL DRIVING PERMIT.

Your national license alone is not legally sufficient in Indonesia. The alternative is a local Indonesian licence: SIM C for motorbikes, SIM A for cars, which only makes sense for long-stay residents.

A genuine IDP can only be issued in the country that issued your license. What travelers use instead is a privately issued translation booklet, for example from the International Drivers Association, delivered to your accommodation in Bali. They also offer a digital copy, but we suggest the printed version.

It is a multilingual translation of your license, not an IDP issued in your home country, and the company states this in its own terms.

In practice it does the job.

The rental operators we work with have put tens of thousands of riders on the road with it and report no issues at police stops. Officers use it to read your license details, which is exactly what the booklet is for. If you are already here without one, or you can’t get an IDP in your home country in time, it is the practical option.

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International Drivers Association

When you get stopped by Bali traffic police, you must show 3 documents:

• vehicle registration (STNK), the rental company must provide you that document (ensure they give it to you and don’t lose it)
• your national license (an absolute must)
• your IDP, International Driving Permit (required in Bali and Indonesia overall)

Checks are most frequent in Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta, Uluwatu and around Ubud, usually in the morning and at the major junctions.

Yes, and this is the mistake we see most often. An IDP carries the same vehicle categories as your national licence.

• Category A covers motorcycles and scooters.
• Category B covers cars.

If your IDP only shows category B, it does not cover you on a 125cc Scoopy or a 155cc NMAX, even though the booklet itself is valid. Check the stamped categories before you travel, and if your trip includes both a car and a scooter, make sure both appear.

Yes. If stopped by Bali traffic police, and any of the required documents are missing you will be fined. Some police officers will just give a verbal warning, but don’t count on it.

These are the on-the-spot fines (tilang) issued at roadside checks. Amounts vary by officer and location, so treat these as the working range.

Fines are cumulative. Missing all three documents at one stop can mean three separate penalties.

Carry the printed booklet. In practice, many travelers report that Bali police accept a digital copy on a phone, because the officer is mainly checking that they can read your license details.

But they are not obliged to accept it, and the issuing bodies themselves state that Indonesia recognises the printed form. If you only have a digital copy, you are relying on the officer’s discretion, which on the road usually goes fine but is not something to plan around.

Yes, you can, simply because most of the rental services won’t care. BUT technically, this does not legally entitle you to drive a motorized two-wheeler for which you actually do not have a national license. Usually 50cc scooters are the max you can drive with a car license.

For your medical insurance to cover you in a scooter or motorbike accident, your national licence must actually entitle you to ride one. This is about your national license category, not about the IDP. Rental companies may hand over a 125cc scooter on just a car licence, but in an accident it can void your medical cover. We recommend choosing only a vehicle you’re properly licensed to ride.

Often they don’t want to see it. More and more do, and it’s a good sign if they ask, because it usually means you’re dealing with a more professionally managed rental shop. The reality in Bali is a bit mixed, though. There are still many small rental shops that won’t ask at all – they leave it up to you to face the police if you get stopped. They might only want to see your passport and take a photo of it. And they won’t even care if your national licence allows you to rent for example a 125cc bike.

Indonesia operates under the 1949 Geneva Convention, so the matching format is the 1-year booklet.

If you hold a 3-year 1968 Vienna IDP issued in an EU country, it is generally accepted in practice, but the 1949 form is the safer match. Only your home country can issue either one, and only before you travel.

An International Driving Permit (IDP) is a standardised translation of your driver’s licence, created under United Nations road traffic conventions. It accompanies your original licence and translates it into a form the local authorities in Indonesia (and usually worldwide) understand. In Indonesia it is sometimes called a SIM Internasional.

That means your licence can be read and accepted here in Bali by the local police. This allows foreign visitors to legally drive a private vehicle such as a car or scooter.

What the IDP is not:

• It is not a licence. It is worthless on its own and must always be shown together with your valid national licence.
• It does not replace your national driving license.
• It’s not a local Indonesian driving license (SIM A or SIM C).

An IDP is only valid together with your original domestic driver’s license. It is an international travel document, not a standalone license and not a legal ID like a passport. Carry both when you drive in Bali.

• 1949 Geneva IDP: maximum 1 year from issue.
• 1968 Vienna IDP: maximum 3 years from issue.

Either way, it expires when your national licence expires, if that comes sooner.
It is never valid in the country that issued it, it is for foreign travel only.
Issuers cannot extend these periods.

No, the SIM Internasional is not the International Driving License that you would need as a tourist to rent a scooter or motorbike. The SIM Internasional is the Indonesian equivalent to the IDP – for people who hold an Indonesian Driving License and want to use it OUTSIDE of Indonesia.