Bali for remote founders: visas, coworking and founder meetups (2026)

Bali works for remote founders who keep their company and customers outside Indonesia. You can arrive on a 30-day visa on arrival, stay longer on a visitor visa or the E33G remote worker visa, and work from a cluster of coworking spaces in Canggu. The rules that matter most are what each visa lets you do, the Rp 150,000 tourist levy, and the 183-day tax test. Every figure below links the page it came from and the date we checked it.

Visas and residency routes a founder would actually use

Indonesia's official e-Visa portal lists the visas by passport and purpose. We checked it on 28 October 2026 for an Australian passport. Your passport may get different options, so run your own nationality through the portal before you book.

Visa on arrival (B1)

The B1 visa on arrival lasts up to 30 days and can be extended for another 30. The portal lists the cost as Rp500.000. It allows tourism and business meetings, and it says you're prohibited from selling goods or services and from receiving rewards or wages from people or companies in Indonesia. You need a passport valid for at least 6 months and a ticket out.

Visitor visas (C1 and D1)

The C1 single-entry visitor visa lasts up to 60 days, can be extended, and costs IDR 1,000,000 on the portal. It asks for a bank statement showing at least US$2,000, it must be used within 90 days of issue, and it says holders are prohibited from carrying out profit-making activities in any form. The D1 multiple-entry visa allows up to 60 days per entry and costs IDR 3,000,000 for one year, 5,000,000 for two years or 10,000,000 for five years.

Remote worker visa (E33G)

The E33G is the route written for remote work. The portal describes it as for employees of companies abroad working remotely in Indonesia. It lasts up to one year and costs 7,000,000 for one year. You need:

1. Income of at least US$60,000 a year.
2. A bank statement showing at least US$2,000.
3. An employment contract with a company set up outside Indonesia.

Like the visitor visas, it bars selling goods or services and receiving pay from people or companies in Indonesia, and it must be used within 90 days of issue. The page doesn't say whether a founder employed by their own foreign company qualifies, so ask an immigration adviser before you apply.

Which route fits

If you want to compare Indonesia with countries that have a dedicated nomad visa, our digital nomad visas guide lines them up.

The Bali tourist levy

Bali charges foreign visitors a levy on top of the visa. The provincial Love Bali FAQ lists it at Rp 150,000 a person, paid once while you're in Bali and before you leave Indonesia. Payment is cashless, online before you travel or at counters at Bali's airport and port, and the FAQ encourages paying online before you fly. The levy comes from Bali Provincial Regulation No. 6 of 2023, which the FAQ says was amended in 2025. KITAS and KITAP holders are exempt by showing their card. Golden visa holders and holders of other visas are exempt too, but must apply through Love Bali, and the Love Bali terms say to do that at least 5 days before arrival. Pay it on the official site, not through a third party.

Where founders work

Most of the coworking we checked is in Canggu. These spaces were checked on their own sites on 28 October 2026:

Notes from the pages themselves:

• PUCO Rooftop also sells an 8-hour pass for IDR 150K, and hour bundles of IDR 800K, IDR 1,000K and IDR 1,500K. A dedicated desk with an adjustable desk and ergonomic chair is IDR 2,900K. It's open 24 hours on weekdays and 8 AM to 10.30 PM at weekends.
• BWork Canggu lists the day pass at Rp 199K for holders of an Indonesian ID, a weekend pass at Rp 200K, and non-peak weekly and monthly passes at Rp 800K and Rp 2,000K that cover 3 PM to 10 AM.

Other Canggu spaces publish prices too, but we couldn't load their own pages on the day we checked, so they're left out until we can. Pick by where you're sleeping: Canggu traffic makes a short ride matter more than a cheaper desk.

Where founders meet

Bali's founder events are concentrated in Canggu. These had dated events on their own pages when checked on 28 October 2026:

• Bali Startup & Tech runs monthly networking drinks and dinners in Canggu. Its 39th is on Thursday 12 November 2026 from 6:30 PM at Yema Kitchen, and it's free to attend. Bali Startup & Tech is Remote Builders' first chapter, so we're not neutral here.
• How I AI, also from Bali Startup & Tech, is a weekly builder night. Season 2 opens on Wednesday 4 November 2026 from 6 PM at Seoul Soul Project in Kuta Utara.
• Nomads.com meetups listed a karaoke meetup in Canggu for Friday 30 October at 9 PM. It's social rather than business, but an easy way to meet people in your first week.
• Founders Network lists Bali among its chapters. It's a paid, invite-only network, so it suits founders who want a vetted peer group.

If you'd rather join an online group before you land, our guide to founder communities in Southeast Asia covers the region.

Business basics

The short version: keep your company and bank account outside Indonesia, sell to foreign customers, and count your days.

Working legally

None of the visitor visas we checked allows selling goods or services in Indonesia or taking pay from Indonesian people or companies, and the C1 bars profit-making activity in any form. Taking an Indonesian client or hiring locally is a different situation from serving overseas customers, so get local advice first.

Setting up an Indonesian company

Foreign-owned companies in Indonesia are usually a PT PMA. Our company setup data records, from BKPM Regulation No. 5 of 2025 checked on 27 October 2026, paid-up capital of at least IDR 2.5 billion and total investment above IDR 10 billion per business line per location. That's a lot of capital for a founder who sells overseas, so most keep their existing company.

Getting paid

Stripe's global availability page listed Indonesia as a preview market when we checked on 27 October 2026. If Stripe isn't open to you, our guide to Stripe alternatives covers the options, and our business accounts guide covers banking.

Tax residency

Indonesia's tax office explains the test for foreign nationals in one line: live in Indonesia for more than 183 days in 12 months and you're a domestic taxpayer, or stay 183 days or fewer and you're a foreign taxpayer. Indonesia taxes domestic taxpayers on all income, including income from abroad. Foreign taxpayers are taxed only on income earned in Indonesia, and tax treaties between countries exist to avoid double taxation. A one-year E33G stay can take you past 183 days, so read our tax residency guide and talk to an adviser in both countries before you settle.

Time zones

Bali runs on WITA, UTC+8, with no daylight saving. Other places change clocks around it:

• US Eastern: New York moves from UTC-4 to UTC-5 on 1 November 2026, putting Bali 13 hours ahead. 9 AM in New York is 10 PM in Bali.
• Central Europe: Berlin is on UTC+1 for the European winter, 7 hours behind Bali. 9 AM in Berlin is 4 PM in Bali, a good afternoon overlap.
• Australia: Sydney is on UTC+11 during its daylight saving, 3 hours ahead of Bali. Your 9 AM is noon in Sydney.

Our guide to running a team across time zones has meeting patterns that work.

Monthly cost band

Numbeo's crowd-sourced data puts a single person's monthly costs in Bali at about Rp10,392,500 excluding rent. A one-bedroom apartment averages Rp17,730,811 a month in the city centre and Rp10,707,993 outside it. The Numbeo page was last updated on 27 October 2026 and draws on 357 entries from 38 contributors, so treat it as a rough guide, not a budget.

Add a coworking month from the table above, then flights, insurance, the visa and the Rp 150,000 levy. Our health insurance guide covers insurance.

Common mistakes

• Working on a visitor visa. The visa on arrival and C1 pages bar selling services and taking Indonesian pay. Read the conditions for your visa before you take local work.
• Assuming the E33G fits a founder. It's written for employees of companies set up outside Indonesia. Check how your own company and contract look before you apply.
• Letting a visa go stale. The C1 and E33G must be used within 90 days of issue.
• Paying the levy through a third party. Use the Love Bali site, and remember non-tourist visa holders need to apply at least 5 days before arrival.
• Losing count of days. More than 183 days in 12 months makes you a domestic taxpayer, taxed on worldwide income.
• Booking a desk far from where you sleep. Choose a space close to home and test the trip at rush hour.

Remote Builders in Bali

Remote Builders is a community and podcast for founders and operators building real companies from wherever they live. It started in Bali, and Bali Startup & Tech in Canggu is chapter one, so the monthly drinks and How I AI nights above are the easiest way to meet members in person. Read more on the chapters page, or see the events calendar.

To meet other remote founders before you land, join Remote Builders (it's free).