Onshore vs Offshore Bali Visa Applications: Should You DIY or Use a Professional Agent?

Are you planning on making Bali your home long-term, or wondering how to extend your visa for Indonesia? If it's your first time processing a visa extension, or if you’re hoping to change to a different visa type, you might have some questions. Perhaps you’re wondering if you can extend your visa onshore or have to leave Indonesia and process your visa offshore, or whether you should bother using a visa agent if you can just do-it-yourself. In this article, we’ll explore your options and help you decide the best course of action. 

Onshore or offshore visa applicaton? Should you use an agent or go the DIY route? Here’s everything you need to know to choose the best option for your situation.

What Are Onshore and Offshore Processing?

Onshore processing means applying for and processing your visa in Indonesia. 

Offshore processing means processing your visa when you’re out of the country. 

If you wish to process your application onshore, this is possible in certain cases. For example, if you are already in Indonesia on a Visit Visa (C or D category) you can convert it to a KITAS residency permit through the ALTUS mechanism, or if you are extending your existing KITAS it is, in fact, required to be in Indonesia.

Additionally, in 2025 Indonesian Immigration introduced the Bridging Visa, which now makes it possible to switch onshore from a Visa on Arrival (VOA) to a KITAS, or from one type of KITAS to another. Previously, such conversions required leaving the country.

Most KITASes and visas can be extended onshore, but there are some exceptions, such as: 

• 6 months Artist/Entertainment Working KITAS is non-extendable 

• Visit Visas if you have to change your sponsor/agent 

The good news with onshore processing is that there is no international travel required. However, there are often longer processing times, as well as potentially more bureaucracy which can slow the process down. The administration fee is usually higher for onshore visa processing too. 

On the other hand, applying for offshore processing requires you to leave the country. The benefits of offshore processing are that your visa will be processed faster, visa processing fee will be significantly cheaper and the visa agent probably won’t have to deal with so much bureaucracy, meaning there’s little chance of rejection. At the same time, it also means you’ll have to pay for flights and accommodation in another country for the time it takes to get a new visa. 

Should I Process My Bali Visa Myself? 

While it’s possible to process your Bali visa on your own, many applicants find the process complicated due to language barriers and changing immigration regulations.

Doing your visa yourself is possible, even in complex cases like Investors KITAS. However, despite some of the potential savings, most expats report that it's particularly time-consuming and stressful. Unfortunately, what you might save in agent fees, you'll probably spend in time going to multiple government offices, and the process can become overwhelming quite quickly. If you can’t speak Indonesian or don’t have an Indonesian friend or colleague to help you, we’d strongly recommend getting professional help. 

DIY could work for: Simple spouse KITAS renewals where an Indonesian partner assists, or if you have considerable time to spend dealing with bureaucracy, as well as little to no income. 

DIY is challenging for: People applying for the first time, those processing an Investor KITAS, Retirement visas, or if you can’t speak Indonesian. If you have a Retirement KITAS, you need a sponsor, which means you can’t process the visa yourself. 

In reality, processing your own visa may require you to: 

• Visit many different immigration offices, police stations and municipal offices

• Get STM (police reports) and understand an array of different documents 

• Deal with language barriers and ever-changing requirements and regulations

• Risk making errors that might result in your visa being rejected

• Spend weeks or even months of your time without guaranteed success

Professional Processing: The Reliable Choice

If you’d like to streamline the process and guarantee the success of your visa application or KITAS renewal, your best bet is getting professional help. If you're applying for a visa for the first time, applying for a business/Investors KITAS, Retirement KITAS, Working KITAS or have a tight deadline, seek professional help! That way you can ensure your own peace of mind and avoid any costly surprises down the line. For most cases, the time and stress you will save easily justify the investment.

Getting professional assistance means your application is accurate, compliant, and processed efficiently, saving you both time and effort.

Some issues that can lead in expensive consequences are: 

• Visa rejections 

• Overstay penalties (up to 1,000,000 IDR a day) 

• Time costs - spending time on something visa agents could otherwise handle efficiently and easily 

Let Us Help You

If you want to save time and money, whether DIY or with an agent, then make sure you start early. Often, applying for your visa ahead of time can help you save costs that you might end up spending on express processing. 

Getting a new visa can often take longer than anticipated, especially if you choose to do it by yourself. Unfortunately, dealing with Indonesia’s bureaucratic visa system and changing regulations isn’t easy, and unless you’re very tight on money and have plenty of time, planning ahead and paying for professional help is generally the easiest and smartest decision. 

If you need further assistance or have queries about your visa type, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are one of Bali’s premier visa agencies, Bali Solve, and have extensive experience in visa applications, extensions and renewals. Simply drop by our office in Pererenan or contact us via WhatsApp, so that one of our experts can help you with the most efficient and cost-effective way of processing your visa. Allow us to take the stress out of your stay and guarantee your visa while you enjoy everything Bali has to offer.

Written by Bali Solve Team
24th August 2025