Tourists in Bali are under increasing surveillance by immigration authorities.
Following a rise in the number of visa violations detected by the Indonesian Immigration Agency earlier this year, new policies are in place to keep a close eye on tourists, travellers, digital nomads, and expats across the country.
In early August 2025, the Indonesian Minister for Immigration, Agus Andrianto, confirmed that he had ordered the deployment of the Bali Regional Immigration Patrol Task Force, known as Satgas. The unit of 100 officers will be conducting patrols around Bali’s most popular and densely populated tourist resort areas.
These included Canggu, Seminyak, and Kerobokan in the North Kuta area. In Denpasar, teams will be deployed around Sanur’s Matahari Terbit Beach and the family-friendly resort of Benoa.
In Pecatu Village, which is often simply referred to by tourists as Uluwatu’s, officers will conduct patrols in Uluwatu Beach and in Bingin Beach, as well as Mertasari Beach.
It has also been confirmed that patrols will be conducted in the resort area of Kuta, Nusa Dua, and throughout Ubud.
Recent video footage of teams out on patrol, recorded by locals, shows that officers have also been deployed in the Legian area, and footage shared by Indonesian Immigration on its own social media channels shows officers out on patrols in Nusa Dua.
In the most recent video update, Indonesian Immigration has shared footage of immigration officers from the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office conducting spot checks on tourists within the Nusa Dua resort area.
In the post, Ngrurah Rai Immigration writes, “One of the important roles of immigration officers in the field is to conduct a random check on WNA in Bali, especially in the working area of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office. This check aims to ensure that each WNA complies with the rules and regulations of the immigration administration.”
WNA stands for Warga Negara Asing, which translates to mean Foreign Citizen.
In the Instagram video, officers are recorded on three different spot checks. In the first segment of the clip, a solo male officer stops a tourist couple who are riding bicycles along the beach walk.
He asks, “How long will you stay in Bali?” To which the tourist replies ‘12 days. ’ The officer asks, “12 days, only by yourself or with your family?” to which the tourist points to his wife.
The officer then asks the couple if they always bring their passports with them when they leave their accommodation, to which they reply no. The officer then informs them that they must not leave their hotel without their passports.
In the second segment of the clip, two female officers conduct a spot check on a male tourist from China, who had just arrived for a 5-night stay. The officers ask him where he wants to visit, to which he responds that he is open to recommendations and asks for a photo with the officers, who oblige.
In another segment, a male officer asks two women on Nusa Dua Beach about their trip. He explains he is conducting checks on foreigners in the area.
He asks where they are from and where they are staying. Again, he asks whether they have their documents and stay permits with them, to which they respond no, since they were ‘just going for a walk now’.
While none of the tourists who were stopped were issued with fines, tickets, sanctions, or reprimands for not carrying their passports with them, it is clear that these kinds of checks will be carried out more often, and that tourists will be expected to produce their passports and stay permits.
In the future, it is not unlikely that these immigration officers may also be tasked with checking whether tourists have paid their Bali Tourism tax Levy. Though, typically this is checked by officers from the Tourism Task Force, who work under the Bali Tourism Office and Bali Provincial Government Office.
Bali Immigration Officers can be identified by their black and navy uniforms, branded immigration agency caps, they wear security vests which read ‘Immigration’ on the back, and many have been equipped with body cams and are always on patrol in groups of 2-5 officers.
Discover more from The Bali Sun
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.