Can you use the e-gate (auto gate) at Bali airport with a visa on arrival?

When you purchase a visa on arrival (VOA) at Bali airport, it gets automatically linked to your biometric passport data, allowing you to use the e-gate instead of waiting in the regular passport control queue.

Many travelers are unaware that after buying a VOA they can use the e-gate, and end up joining the long officer queue — which can have 100–150 people waiting.

The long passport control queue at Bali airport is for travelers without a biometric passport or without a pre-arranged visa — they must go to a staffed booth for manual processing.

The e-gate at Bali airport uses an optical scanner that reads the machine-readable zone (MRZ) of the passport. Even older non-chip passports may be readable if they have an MRZ, but this should be verified on arrival.

When passing through the e-gate via passport scan, no physical entry stamp is placed in your passport — this is standard procedure for automated border control.