Another month in Bali, another foreigner discovering that immigration officers actually own smartphones.

This week, an American guy—let’s call him SR—found himself sitting in the Denpasar Immigration office. His crime? Trying to sell 54 are (about 5,400 square meters) of land in Kintamani on TikTok. 

I didn’t see the original video, but I don’t need to. I’ve lived here long enough to know the formula. A drone shot of Mount Batur, some royalty-free acoustic guitar, and a long speech about passive income. 

Here is where it falls apart: SR was allegedly doing all this while holding an investor KITAS. 

People get this confused all the time. They think buying a KITAS buys them immunity to do whatever they want. It doesn’t. An investor visa means you are an investor in a specific company. It does not mean you get to play real estate developer on social media. 

I see this happen so often it’s basically its own genre of content now. People arrive, see the massive building boom in places like Canggu or Kintamani, and decide the rules are just suggestions. They set up a PT PMA (foreign-owned company), grab their investor visa, and immediately start acting like property brokers.

The reality check is usually pretty brutal. The government isn’t playing around anymore. Between January and June of 2026 alone, immigration in Bali deported 342 foreigners. 

Think about that. That’s roughly two people every single day being escorted to Ngurah Rai airport, handed their passport, and told they can’t come back. 

Can foreigners buy property in Bali? Sort of. You can lease it (Hak Sewa) or get Right to Use (Hak Pakai) if you meet the conditions. Can your PT PMA buy property? Yes, under Right to Build (Hak Guna Bangunan). 

But can you, sitting here on a tourist visa or a basic investor KITAS, act as a real estate agent and sell plots of land on TikTok? Absolutely not. That is working. If your visa says you are a restaurant investor, you cannot sell land in Kintamani. If your visa says you are a consultant, you cannot work as a DJ. It really is that simple.

The most surprising part to me isn’t that people break the rules. It’s that they film themselves doing it. If you are promoting a business or selling property online, you should assume someone in a uniform is watching.

If you are actually serious about investing in Bali, do it right. Yes, setting up the proper legal structure is a headache. But I promise you, it’s a much smaller headache than explaining your TikTok account to an immigration officer while your bags are being packed for you.

If you’re confused about what your visa actually lets you do, come talk to us at Royal Visa. We deal with this stuff every day, so you don’t have to learn the rules the hard way.