My visa hasn’t been issued yet, and I urgently need to travel. Can I enter with an e-VOA (Electronic Visa on Arrival) and activate the C1 visa later?

This situation happens more often than you might think: your flight is booked, but your C1 visa still hasn’t been issued. Many people assume that the visa will automatically “activate” once it is approved – but that is not the case.

If you enter Indonesia using an e-VOA (Electronic Visa on Arrival) because your C1 visa wasn’t issued yet, the e-VOA becomes your active entry permit, not the C1 visa.

Even if your C1 visa is approved shortly after you arrive, it cannot be activated retroactively. To activate the C1 visa, you must leave Indonesia and then re-enter using the C1 visa.

What happens if you stay longer because you thought the C1 visa would apply automatically?

In that case, your stay counts as an overstay. This means you remain in the country longer than the visa you actually used for entry allows.

An overstay in Indonesia results in a penalty of 1,000,000 IDR per day, and longer overstays can even lead to entry bans or complications with future visa applications.
So always double-check which visa is truly active and how long it is valid.

What can you do if your C1 visa is not ready yet, but you still need to travel?

If you need to travel before your C1 visa is issued, we recommend:

• Enter Indonesia using an e-VOA (if you are eligible for this visa) so you can proceed with your trip.

• After arriving, check:

  • whether your e-VOA can be extended for a stay of up to 60 days, or

  • whether you will need to leave the country briefly (e.g., via Singapore or Malaysia) and re-enter to activate your C1 visa once it is approved.

Your C1 visa only becomes active once you enter Indonesia with that specific visa.
If you first enter with an e-VOA, the C1 visa remains inactive until you exit and re-enter – or it expires unused if it is not activated within 90 days of issuance.