Living Here2 min read
Should you move to Bali?
Ask what you will actually do here first. The visa follows the activity, and most disappointment starts with that order reversed.
Most people plan this backwards. They decide to move, then look for a visa that lets them stay long enough.
Immigration works the other way round, and so does a life that lasts.
The first question is not "how long"
It is what will you actually do here?
Work for a foreign employer, invest in a business, join family, study, retire on savings, or simply visit. That answer determines your permit, your sponsor requirement and your legal basis. Length of stay falls out of it.
Choosing a visa by desired duration is how people end up on a status that does not permit what they are actually doing, which is an enforcement risk, not a technicality.
| What you will do | Route |
|---|---|
| Remote work, foreign employer | E33G, income-tested |
| Live on savings, no work | Second Home, deposit-based |
| Run a business here | Investor route via a PT PMA |
| Join an Indonesian spouse or family | E31 family |
| Just evaluating | Pre-investment visitor visa |
Three things people get wrong
Buying property does not give you the right to stay. They are unrelated systems. A villa creates no immigration status of any kind, and this is the single most common misunderstanding among foreign buyers.
Tax follows presence, not your passport or permit. Cross 183 days and you are an Indonesian tax resident, with obligations that attach regardless of visa category.
A tourist visa is not a soft landing. Using visitor status to work or run a business is not a grey area, and it is enforced.
The sequence that works
1. Decide what you will genuinely be doing
2. Identify the permit that matches, and confirm you meet its published criteria
3. Understand the tax position before you cross 183 days
4. Come for a long stay, ideally including a rainy season, before committing capital
5. Only then consider property, and only after the due diligence
The order that causes problems
Buy a villa → arrive → discover the permit does not cover the plan → discover the villa cannot legally be rented → discover you are a tax resident.
Each of those is recoverable alone. Together they are the reason people leave.
The question is not whether Bali is worth moving to. It is whether the version of Bali you are imagining is one the rules actually permit.
Got a specific situation?
Every deal in Bali has a detail that breaks the general rule. Send me the details and I'll tell you what I'd check first.
Kai, Bali property adviser
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