How to Enter Batam: The Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

This is the whole journey into Batam, one step at a time, for everyone: Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians coming home, Singapore PRs and visitors from any other country. Follow the steps in order and you will not get stuck at the counter. Checked in October 2026; rules change, so open the official links before you travel.

First, find your situation

Not sure about your passport? Check the official list on evisa.imigrasi.go.id.

Step 1: Check your passport

Your passport must be valid for at least six months after the day you arrive in Indonesia. Look at the expiry date now and count from your arrival date, not your booking date. A damaged passport can also cause problems at the counter.

Step 2: Sort out your visa (if you need one)

Visa-free (ASEAN citizens and a few others). You do not apply for anything. The stay is up to 30 days, it cannot be extended, and it is for tourism, family, social and cultural visits only, not work.

Singapore PRs. If your passport is from a country eligible for a Visa on Arrival, you may enter Batam, Bintan and Karimun for up to four days without a visa by showing your physical Singapore blue IC, according to Sindo Ferry. Staying longer? You need a Visa on Arrival.

Everyone else: e-VOA or Visa on Arrival.

1. Go to [evisa.imigrasi.go.id](https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/), the only official website.
2. Choose the visa on arrival (e-VOA) for tourism.
3. Upload your passport photo page and a photo, and pay online.
4. Save the e-VOA PDF on your phone.

As of October 2026 the fee is IDR 500,000, for a 30-day stay that can be extended once for another 30 days online. A fee rise has been proposed, so check the current price on the official site. You can also buy a Visa on Arrival at designated entry points, but buying the e-VOA before you travel saves queueing on arrival.

⚠️ Many look-alike websites sell Indonesian visas for much more. Use only evisa.imigrasi.go.id.

Step 3: Book a return or onward ticket

Indonesian immigration lists a return or onward ticket as a requirement for visa-free entry. Book your return ferry or flight and keep the booking on your phone.

Step 4: Fill in the All Indonesia form (the QR code)

All Indonesia is one free online form that replaced the old paper arrival card, the customs declaration and the health form. Every traveller arriving from abroad needs it, Indonesians included. Batam's international ferry terminals were among the first places where it became compulsory.

When: within 3 days before you arrive. Too early and the system will not accept it. Cost: free. Ignore any website that asks you to pay. Where: the website [allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id](https://allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id/) or the official All Indonesia app.

How to fill it in, screen by screen

1. Open the site or app and switch the language to English if you need to.
2. Choose who you are: Foreign visitor or Indonesian citizen.
3. Personal details. Tap Scan MRZ and point your camera at the two lines of letters at the bottom of your passport photo page: it fills in your name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and gender for you. Or type them exactly as printed in the passport. Add your phone number and email.
4. Travelling with family or friends? Tap Add traveller and add each person. One adult can submit for the group, and every traveller, children and babies included, gets their own QR code.
5. Travel details. Enter your arrival date. If you have an e-VOA or another visa, enter its number.
6. Transport. Choose Sea for a ferry (or Air if you fly). Pick your arrival port, such as Batam Centre, Harbour Bay, Sekupang or Nongsapura, and enter the ferry operator and trip number from your ticket. Add the address where you will stay, such as your hotel.
7. Declarations. Three short parts:
   • Health: answer the questions about symptoms and recent travel.
   • Quarantine: say if you carry plants, animals, or animal and plant products.
   • Customs: enter how many bags you have and anything to declare. You must declare cash of IDR 100 million or more (or the equivalent), and goods bought abroad above US$500 per person. If you have nothing, choose nothing to declare.
8. Review and submit. Check the passport number and dates carefully, then confirm.
9. Save your QR code. Download it and take a screenshot: signal can be weak on the ferry and at the terminal. It is also emailed to you.

Step 5: On the day of travel

• Arrive early at the ferry terminal: at least 60 minutes before sailing in Singapore, and around 90 minutes at Stulang Laut in Johor Bahru, which Malaysian travel site MyTrip.my recommends.
• Check in with your ferry operator and get your boarding pass.
• Clear exit immigration in Singapore or Malaysia, then board.
• Remember the clock. Batam is one hour behind Singapore and Malaysia.

Step 6: Arriving in Batam

1. Walk to immigration. Have your passport open at the photo page and your All Indonesia QR code ready. Show your e-VOA too if you have one.
2. Need a Visa on Arrival and don't have an e-VOA? Go to the VOA counter first, pay, then queue for immigration.
3. The officer may ask how long you are staying and where. Have your hotel and return booking ready.
4. Go through customs. Your QR code is scanned again. Declare anything above the limits.

That's it: you are in Batam.

Step 7: Going home

• Back to Singapore: Singapore citizens and PRs need nothing extra. Everyone else must submit the free SG Arrival Card within three days before arriving in Singapore, on ICA's website.
• Back to Malaysia: Malaysians need nothing extra. Foreign visitors must submit the free Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) within three days before arrival on the official MDAC site. Singapore citizens are exempt.
• Leaving Batam: clear Indonesian exit immigration at the ferry terminal with your passport. Allow extra time on Sunday evenings.

For Indonesian citizens

• Flying or sailing in from elsewhere in Indonesia (for example from Jakarta to Hang Nadim airport) is a domestic trip: no passport check and no All Indonesia form.
• Coming home to Batam from Singapore or Malaysia: you need your passport and the All Indonesia form, choosing Indonesian citizen. The same customs rules apply to you.
• A Bahasa Indonesia version of this guide is linked at the top of the page.

Final checklist

1. Passport valid six months beyond your arrival date
2. Visa sorted: visa-free, SG PR four-day rule, or e-VOA PDF saved
3. Return or onward ticket booked
4. All Indonesia form submitted within three days before arrival, QR code screenshotted for every traveller
5. Hotel address saved offline
6. Some rupiah for your first ride
7. Going home: SG Arrival Card or MDAC if you are a foreign visitor

Next: choose your crossing with the Singapore to Batam ferry guide or the Malaysia to Batam guide, and read the details on customs limits in our Batam entry requirements guide.