In short. Under article 71 of the immigration law, a foreigner must hand over a passport or residence permit at an officer's request and report changes to the immigration office: address, work, sponsor, marital status, citizenship. For non-compliance, article 116 gives detention of up to three months or a fine of up to 25 million rupiah; for activity outside your visa, article 122 gives up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 500 million; and administratively immigration deports and closes entry for up to ten years. Raids happen regularly, including at accommodation. Our advice: carry your passport or KITAS card, watch your expiry date and do not take work on a tourist visa.
What a foreigner must do. Article 71 of law No. 6/2011 as amended by law No. 11/2020 (text of the law, 2020 amendments) obliges every foreigner in Indonesia to:
- give information about themselves and their family and report to the local immigration office every change of marital status, citizenship, work, sponsor or address;
- hand over a passport or residence permit if an immigration officer asks for it during supervision.
The rule on replacing a passport is separate, in regulation No. 22/2023; see the guide on moving your KITAS to a new passport. For ITAS and ITAP holders, a change of address is filed through eVisa as mutasi alamat, and the service is on the Ngurah Rai office page. For tourists on a visa on arrival there is no separate procedure: the owner of your accommodation enters you in the system, more on that below.
What raids look at. Immigration calls this supervision, pengawasan: under articles 66 and 68 of the law it covers the presence and activities of foreigners, including photos and fingerprints, and under article 74 officers may go to places where information about foreigners can be found. What this means in practice is visible from immigration's own reports:
- Dharma Dewata patrol, Canggu, 27 August 2026: five people with overstays and one ITAS holder for checking, all taken to the Ngurah Rai office. The group was created on 15 April 2026; from 15 July to 16 August 66 people were detained: 22 for breaking the rules or not giving notice, 20 for using a permit for the wrong purpose, 17 for overstay, 2 with invalid documents; 21 were sent to a detention centre and 13 were deported (Ministry of Immigration report).
- Operation Bali Becik, 19-21 May 2025: 312 foreigners checked in 62 places of residence, from kos rooms to villas and dive centres, 23 with violations: 14 used a permit for the wrong purpose, 4 overstayed by more than 60 days, one was detained for being unable to show a passport, and seven had passports held for not reporting a change of address (detikNews).
- Nationwide operation Wira Waspada 2026: 2,499 checks and 346 foreigners suspected of violations across the country (immigration press release).
In total, four things are checked: whether you have a passport and a valid permit, whether you have overstayed, whether what you are doing matches your visa, and whether your address has been reported. We found no separate reports of raids in coworking spaces.
Original or copy. There is no official clarification. The law requires handing over the document itself, the passport or residence permit, and says nothing about copies and photos; in Bali Becik a person was detained because he could not show his passport. Article 83 allows placing in a detention centre someone who has no valid document. Our advice: KITAS and KITAP holders should carry the card or the electronic ITAS, which is the residence permit; tourists should carry the passport, because their permit lives in it. A photo of the passport on your phone helps in conversation, but is not a document under the law.
Work and activity outside your visa. Article 122 of the law: up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 500 million rupiah for whoever intentionally uses a residence permit for the wrong purpose, and the same for whoever gave a foreigner that opportunity. The law gives no examples, so this is practice: in immigration's 2026 reports, those detained include DJs, trainers and people who rented out accommodation, and news like this comes out every week. What is allowed and what is not on each visa is in the guide on working legally. Besides the criminal article there are administrative measures under article 75: deportation, an entry ban, cancellation of the permit; the length of the ban under article 102 as amended by law No. 63/2024 is up to ten years, extendable by up to ten more (text of law No. 63/2024). Overstay is covered in the overstay guide.
The accommodation owner and APOA. Under article 72 as amended in 2024, the owner or manager of accommodation must pass on data about a foreigner living there when immigration or the police ask, and for refusing, article 117 gives up to three months of detention or a fine of up to 25 million. The APOA application is used for this: the owner enters the guest from a photo of the passport page and receives a confirmation, Surat Tanda Terima Pelaporan Orang Asing (immigration on APOA, 26 March 2025). The law sets no deadline; the Singaraja office required hotels to enter guests within 24 hours (ANTARA, 4 May 2024). Our advice: at check-in, offer the owner a photo of your passport page yourself and ask whether they will enter you in APOA; in the Canggu patrol immigration explained this rule to fifty accommodation owners, which means they are checked too.
What an officer may do and how to check it. Under article 106, immigration investigators may stop a person and check identity, search, detain and seize documents when an immigration crime is suspected. Placement in a detention centre under article 84 is only by written decision stating the grounds and the place; administrative measures under article 76 are also issued in writing, and under article 77 they can be appealed to the minister. The law has no provision obliging an officer to show an ID, and we found no official guide on how to tell a real officer. Our advice: calmly ask for the ID and the name, write them down, and do not hand your passport to anyone without an ID. Check authenticity with a call or message to the office: Ngurah Rai WhatsApp +62 812-3695-6667, Denpasar +62 812-4618-3838 (contacts from the office pages as of 4 November 2026). You do not pay money on the spot: fines and fees are issued by documents.
Where to complain. About an officer's actions: the government complaints portal LAPOR! and a letter to the office for your area. The hotline of the Directorate General of Immigration on WhatsApp +62 813-9967-9966 (weekdays 8:00 to 16:00 Jakarta time, press release of 23 April 2024) takes reports about the activity of foreigners; for complaints about officers we found no separate number in Bali.
What this means for you. A check is nothing to fear for someone who has a document on them, a valid term, activity that matches the visa and an owner who has entered them in APOA. All four depend on you. If you doubt whether your visa fits what you are doing, or the expiry is near, message @buzz_visa: we will tell you which permit is needed and extend or arrange it. Which permits exist and how KITAS differs from a visa is on the KITAS page.