Indonesia's golden visa and Bali property: what investment qualifies

Indonesia's golden visa is often marketed in Bali alongside villas, as if buying one leads to the other. The immigration rules list what counts as investment, and a landed house is not on the list. This page reads the 2023 immigration regulation as amended in 2024, the official e-visa portal, and the 2021 land regulation on what a foreigner can own.

Seven words in the investor visas

The terms in the regulation and on the portal.

What qualifies, and for how long

The individual investor

For five years, the foreigner commits to set up a company with at least USD 2,500,000 in issued capital or investment within 90 days of the stay permit, or to buy at least USD 350,000 of Indonesian government bonds, listed shares or mutual funds (Pasal 39(2)-(3)). For ten years the amounts are USD 5,000,000 and USD 700,000, and a fourth option appears: “pernyataan komitmen akan membeli rumah susun atau apartemen senilai harga paling sedikit US$1.000.000”, fulfilled within 90 days (Pasal 40(2)-(3)).

The corporate investor

Directors and commissioners of a company committing USD 25 million (five years) or USD 50 million (ten years) in a branch or subsidiary, capped at ten people per company (Pasal 39(4), 40(4)). The Director General can change every amount after consulting the relevant ministries (ayat (10)).

Where a villa fits, and does not

A Bali villa is a landed house. Neither route lists one: the five-year route has no property option, and the ten-year route names a flat or apartment. The official portal says the same — “Purchase of flat or apartment worth at least US$1,000,000”. Some marketing describes the option as “residential property”; the regulation is narrower.

The ten-year apartment route, step by step

1. Commitment. The application carries a statement committing to buy a flat or apartment of at least USD 1,000,000 (Pasal 40(3)(d)).
2. Ninety days. The purchase must be completed within 90 days of the stay permit.
3. The title. A foreigner may own a strata unit built on hak pakai or HGB land (PP 18/2021 Pasal 71(1)(b)); the land rules, not the visa, decide that.
4. Fees. IDR 13 million for up to 5 years, IDR 19.5 million for up to 10, as the portal lists them.

Bali has far fewer strata apartments than villas, and a unit in a villa complex is strata only if the complex is registered as one; a villa sold as one of several houses on a shared plot is not an apartment for this route. That last point is our reading of the regulation's wording.

The second home visa

The second home visa, for up to five years, needs a commitment to keep at least USD 130,000 in an own-name account at a state bank, or to buy a flat or apartment of at least USD 1,000,000 within 90 days (Pasal 56(2)). The IDR 2 billion deposit still quoted in older guides is not in the current text. The retirement stay and other KITAS routes are separate.

What the visa holder can own

A foreigner holding an immigration document may own a house (PP 18/2021 Pasal 69): a landed house on hak pakai, or on hak pakai over freehold by PPAT deed, or a strata unit (Pasal 71). The limits on price, plot and number apply whatever the visa — for a landed house, the luxury category, one plot per person or family, at most 2,000 m² (Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021 Pasal 186). A villa bought to let is a business, which a house held for residence is not. Lease or hak pakai. Buying property in Bali as a foreigner.

Routes that do combine with a villa

• The company route. A golden visa through a USD 2.5 million company, and a PT PMA holding HGB — subject to the villa license allocation and investment rules.
• The securities route. USD 350,000 in bonds, listed shares or funds, and a house on hak pakai bought separately.

What this page does not cover

• Which regulation sets the visa fees — we quote the portal.
• A reported revision of the Immigration Law touching the golden visa, not read.
• Tax residence for visa holders. NPWP and residence.

Common questions