Bali Off Script

Visas

What does the Second Home Visa actually require?

A deposit in an Indonesian state bank or qualifying property, in exchange for five or ten years of residence with no sponsor.

The Second Home Visa is the route for people who want to live in Indonesia without an employer, a company, or an Indonesian spouse. It is bought with a financial commitment rather than an activity.

The threshold

The standard E33 tier is commonly cited at either:

Verify both figures at the point of filing. These thresholds are revised, and the version quoted to you by an agent may be the one that applied last year.

The deposit route is the one almost everyone uses. The property figure is high enough that it rarely applies to the villa purchases this site is usually about.

What you get

Five or ten years, depending on the tier — which is what makes it attractive compared with a one-year renewable permit. No sponsor is required. Immediate family can be included on some sub-indices.

It is renewable while the financial commitment is maintained. That word *maintained* matters: the deposit is not a one-time entry fee. Confirm whether it must be held continuously, and in what account type, before you move the money.

The sub-indices

E33 is a family, not a single visa:

IndexWho it is for
E33Standard financial-commitment tier
E33AGovernment-invited expert
E33BSpecialised-skills collaboration
E33CInternationally recognised figure, government-invited
E33DRecognised figure establishing a company
E33ESenior / elderly long-stay tier
E33FSenior / elderly — confirm the current distinction from E33E

The senior tiers carry a minimum age, commonly cited at 55 or 60 depending on the sub-index, with income, pension or deposit conditions instead of the full standard threshold. If you are over 55, ask specifically about these before defaulting to the standard tier.

What it does not let you do

Second Home status does not permit local employment or running an Indonesian business. It is residence, not work authorisation.

If you intend to operate a villa rental business, this is not the permission that allows it — that is a company, licensing and zoning question, and the classifications available to a new foreign-owned company in Bali narrowed sharply in July 2026.

The confusion worth avoiding

E33 and E33G sit in the same family and are frequently conflated. They are not interchangeable:

Different eligibility, different evidence, different duration. An agent who uses the terms loosely has not read the index.

Timeline

The visa stage is commonly reported at around 5 to 14 business days once documents are complete. Arranging the qualifying deposit is usually the longer part, and it happens before the clock starts.

Tax

A long stay makes you an Indonesian tax resident regardless of visa category — residence follows physical presence, not the permit in your passport. A large Indonesian bank deposit also carries its own reporting implications.

That is a conversation with a tax adviser before the money moves, not after.

Kai, Bali property adviser

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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