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Resty Woro Yuniar

Indonesia has intensified supervision of digital nomads, lifestyle influencers and travel content creators on the resort island of Bali, warning that even unpaid barter deals with local businesses would be classified as illegal work if they visit the country on tourist visas.
For years, the Hindu island has been popular among players of the aesthetic economy, thanks to its beaches, unique rituals and lavish resorts.
Indonesian businesses also collaborate with foreign content creators, who exchange social media posts for free products, luxury resort stays, or spa treatments instead of money.
The Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration has cautioned foreigners that accepting free goods or services in exchange for promotional social media posts is considered illegal work if done on a standard tourist visa.
“It’s not always about payment,” the office said in a social media post on May 7. “Immigration authorities may look at the purpose of [foreigners’] stay, the type of activity, and whether there is economic value behind it.”
Such activities included offering professional services – for example, make-up artists or photographers, product endorsement and business promotion on social media – and “work-like activities that involve benefits, even unpaid”, the office said.

The warning came after authorities set up a new immigration patrol in Bali named Dharma Dewata in April, aimed at monitoring foreigners on the island and maintaining order, following a spate of criminal activity involving tourists.
Officials say the 100-strong patrol team has been deployed in areas with high concentration of tourists to target those who are “exceeding their stay permit limits, providing false data to obtain visas, working without permission”, among other immigration violations.
The Bali immigration office said it had deported 165 foreigners and detained 62 between January 1 and April 12.
Confusion and questions
The latest warning has sparked confusion among the island’s creators, holidaymakers, and local businesses, who have publicly voiced puzzlement over where the legal line falls.
Content creators that This Week in Asia approached did not respond to requests for or declined to comment on the matter – even anonymously.
Zsolt Zsemba, a Canadian content creator in Bali, pointed out the challenge of enforcing the regulation.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how they enforce it. If someone eats a meal and posts about it, do they automatically assume it’s paid advertising?” he said in a social media post on May 24.
“Social media influencers spread mostly good vibes about Indonesia and Bali. This may hinder some of the social media coverage of the island.”
He agreed, however, that influencers getting paid to do something “should have the proper visas”.

Some online users have called for more details on the new measure.
“If I do some pictures and videos for myself is it also illegal? Purely for touristic purposes and memories. Be very specific, please,” one wrote.
Another said he was “curious to learn if Bali businesses will be punished too when contracting a creator with a tourist visa for the work”.
Rai Suryawijaya, head of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association in Bali’s Badung regency, said he “does not see the urgency” of tightening immigration rules for foreign content creators.
“If they’re just making vlogs or videos to show off that they [stay] in a good place, I think that’s fine. Content creators aren’t committing any criminal offences. In fact, they’re helping our businesses gain recognition. We have a mutually beneficial relationship with them,” he told This Week in Asia.
Visa hurdle
While the legal definitions have tightened, the technical infrastructure to support compliance is trailing behind.
Earlier this year, Indonesia introduced the C5A single-entry visa for foreign creators filming monetised content for social media.
However, this visa option has yet to be integrated or accessible on the official immigration application portal, according to Philo Dellano, managing partner at PNB Immigration Law Firm.

“There is a lack of clarity regarding visas for foreign content creators. In practice, the C5A visa is not yet available, leaving foreigners confused. This creates a grey area for foreign content creators,” Dellano said.
Foreigners can also apply for a digital nomad visa to work in Indonesia, but they will have to show proof of an annual salary of at least US$60,000 and a work contract with companies overseas.
“I do not recommend using the digital nomad visa for content creators who receive payments from Indonesia, unless they were paid by a foreign company to create content in Indonesia, then the digital nomad visa can be used,” Dellano said.
He agreed with the immigration office’s definition of profit for content creators, which includes “non-cash rewards or compensation in the form of goods or facilities”.
Dellano noted that enforcing the new rule would not be easy as the large number of foreigners in Bali would make conducting checks on all of them “a bit overwhelming”.


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The new regulation has sparked confusion among content creators and local businesses who wonder where the legal line falls


The new regulation has sparked confusion among content creators and local businesses who wonder where the legal line falls.


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Indonesia’s Bali cracks down on digital nomads, influencers working on tourist visas

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The new regulation has sparked confusion among content creators and local businesses who wonder where the legal line falls

The new regulation has sparked confusion among content creators and local businesses who wonder where the legal line falls