How does passport control work at Bali airport – do I need an electronic arrival card (QR code) and can I use the biometric e-gate?

Fill out the electronic arrival card for free on the official website — you'll get a QR code checked before boarding and on arrival. Watch out for fake sites charging $35 for the same QR code, pretending it's a visa fee.

Not everyone has a biometric passport with a chip, so it's worth asking airport staff on arrival whether your passport qualifies for the e-gate, or simply trying it yourself.

Passport scans sometimes fail to upload from personal phones when filling out the arrival card — airport staff helped complete it using their own devices. The issue seems related to passports without chips and the website being unstable.

During a busy travel period there were almost no queues at passport control — all passengers, including those with e-visas, waited for luggage together without delays.

The e-gates are often empty, and airport staff actively pull travelers with biometric passports out of the regular line and direct them to the gates to reduce congestion.

Passports with a 10-year validity usually pass through the e-gate without issues, while a 5-year passport (e.g., a child's) failed to work — travelers had to join the regular queue instead.