How the scam works
Before a trip to Bali almost every tourist searches online for how to fill in the electronic arrival card. It is at this stage that many run into fake sites — copies of the official portal made so neatly that it is almost impossible to tell them from the real one by eye: the same coats of arms, the same font, even photographs of Denpasar airport copied from the official resource. The difference is revealed only in one place — at the payment stage, when the fake site asks you to transfer from 30 to 120 euros (more than 10,000 roubles) for a document that on the official portal is issued free of charge and takes a couple of minutes.
The scammers disguise the paid “service” under respectable wording — “data verification”, “assistance with processing”, “accelerated receipt of the QR code”. The last is especially absurd: on the official portal the QR code is generated instantly after the form is filled in, and there is no “acceleration” at all, because there is nothing to accelerate.
How to tell a real site from a fake in 5 seconds
The only reliable sign is the domain ending. Official Indonesian government portals end in .go.id — a government domain, the equivalent of the Russian .gov.ru. If in the address bar you see .com, .org, .net, .info or any other ending, and with a call to pay for the form besides, you are looking at a fraudulent site, however official it looks.
The second reliable sign is the request to pay itself. The three documents a tourist needs before entering Bali are issued exclusively free of charge:
- All Indonesia Arrival Card — an electronic arrival card combining immigration data.
- Health Pass — a short health block, integrated in 2026 into the same general form.
- Customs declaration (e-CD) — an electronic customs declaration, completed online.
The only document a tourist legitimately has to pay for is the visa on arrival (e-VOA), whose official cost is about 500,000 rupiah, paid through the official portal of the immigration service rather than through a third-party arrival-card site.
Why this scheme works at all
The scammers’ calculation is simple: the rules for entering Indonesia have changed several times over the last couple of years, and the various forms (arrival card, declaration, health questionnaire) have existed separately and then been merged into one — because of this even experienced travellers are not always sure what is free and what is not. The scammers exploit this moment of uncertainty by buying search-engine ads for queries like “form for Bali” or “Indonesia arrival card” — and their site often appears among the first results, above the official portal.
What to do if you have already paid
If you discover that you paid for the form on an outside site, first fill in the real, free form on the official portal with the .go.id domain, so that your entry to the country is not derailed by the lack of a valid document. In parallel you can try to dispute the payment through your bank as unauthorised (a chargeback) if you paid by card — the chances depend on the bank and the payment method, but it is worth trying. Reporting to the police where the fraudulent site is located is usually pointless — such resources are most often registered anonymously and do not live long — but you can report the case to the support of the search engine or social network where you saw the ad.
Practical checklist before filling in documents for Bali
- Check the address bar — the official domain must end in .go.id.
- The arrival card, declaration and health questionnaire are always free; you never need to pay for them, ever or to anyone.
- Go to the portal directly by the official link, not by the first ad link from a search engine.
- Fill in the form no earlier than 72 hours before arrival — earlier the system will not accept the data anyway.
- The only legitimate paid document is the visa on arrival (e-VOA), about 500,000 rupiah, also only through the official immigration portal.
Frequently asked questions
What is the official website for the Bali arrival card called?
The main sign of authenticity is not a specific domain name but its ending: it must be .go.id. Look for the link through official sources (the embassy, consulate, trusted travel sites), not through the first ad in a search.
How much does the Bali arrival card actually cost?
Nothing — this document, like the customs declaration and the health questionnaire, is completed entirely free of charge on the official portal.
What do you really have to pay for before entering Indonesia?
Only for a visa on arrival (e-VOA), if you need one — its official cost is about 500,000 rupiah, paid through the official portal of the immigration service.
What should I do if I have already sent money to scammers for the form?
First fill in the real free form on the official portal so as not to derail your entry, then try to dispute the payment through your bank as an unauthorised transaction.
What next
See whether you need a visa and how much the island levy is in the article on the Bali visa for Russians, and if you are going to a new villa, also check the article on licensing of rental accommodation in Bali.
Entry rules for Indonesia change from time to time — before your trip, check the official portal of the immigration service and the embassy website.
