In an effort to boost Bali’s tourism sector, the government has been looking at the trend around the globe in regard to digital nomad visas. Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has been a strong proponent of making Bali a workcation hotspot and as such is drafting policies for a long-term digital nomad visa.
Minister Uno is hoping to ride the recent wave of digital nomads looking to take advantage of their remote work environment and invite them to the Island of Gods. He is hoping to push through policy for the visa to be available for a one- to five-year stay.
Uno was previously quoted saying, “we hope [that we can attract] international tourists with more quality, so that the economic impact [will be] bigger.” Along with boosting the local economy, the added fact that digital nomads will be exempt from income tax if their employers are based abroad is an added bonus.
Bali Tourism Agency Head, Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun recently sat down with Coconuts Bali to go into more depth about making the digital nomad visa a realization and answered a few questions on the plan and potential impact.
“Digital nomads come to Bali not for a vacation, but to work online and by bringing their jobs from their respective countries,” it will boost the state’s income and make it easier to supervise them. Instead of the current model which has them use tourist visas, the new model will ease supervision and following immigration law violations.
He also believes that digital nomads will, “contribute to value-added tax such as from hotels and restaurants” but didn’t give further detail into the income tax holiday concept.
And in terms of timing, he didn’t say when the digital nomad visa will be introduced, but did mention that “any regulations relating to immigration are in the hands of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.”