The proposal, as described by the three news reports, is not simply “make the VOA more expensive.” It would create a price difference depending on when and where a traveller applies.

That could be a meaningful operational change if it becomes official. It could also change before implementation. The reported figures should therefore be read as a proposal under discussion, not as a menu of prices currently available.

A reported Rp750,000 fee for applying online before travel

Kompas, Bisnis.com and IDN Times reported that a foreign national applying online from abroad could be charged Rp750,000 under the proposed structure.

In practical terms, this appears intended to favour advance online processing. It would give a traveller a financial reason to complete the visa step before boarding rather than joining the VOA process after landing.

I am deliberately using “could” here. As of 13 August 2026, Rp750,000 was a reported proposed price. It was not a confirmed live e-VOA fee, and travellers should not assume that an unofficial website displaying that number has somehow received advance notice from the government.

The term e-VOA also needs a little discipline. The reports discuss the online channel for Visa on Arrival. They do not establish that every online Indonesian visit visa would use the same proposed price. Indonesia has other visit-visa products, and one reported VOA proposal should not be stretched across all of them.

A reported Rp1,000,000 fee for applying on arrival at the airport

The same reports said a traveller who waits until arrival to arrange a VOA could be charged Rp1,000,000 under the proposal.

Again, an airport VOA did not “cost Rp1 million” at the cut-off. It could cost Rp1 million in the future if the government adopts that amount, issues the necessary basis and announces when the change starts.

That is a large difference from the reported online tier: Rp250,000 more, and double the currently applicable Rp500,000 government fee. It would plainly affect families and groups more than solo travellers. Four arrivals paying the proposed airport amount would spend Rp4 million in government VOA fees instead of Rp2 million at the current tariff.

The arithmetic is real. The tariff is not, yet.

Why a two-tier price is being discussed

According to the reports, Immigration wants more foreign travellers to complete the process online before departure. The stated operational reason is to reduce queues and congestion at airports.

Anyone who has landed at a busy Indonesian airport after several international flights arrived together will understand the attraction. Moving part of the process online can reduce the number of decisions, payments and data entries made at the counter. Whether the proposed price gap is the final method is another question.

The reports also attributed the proposal to tariff adjustment, exchange-rate fluctuations and the government’s non-tax state revenue, known as PNBP. Bisnis.com framed the plan in the context of increasing PNBP, while Kompas reported both the exchange-rate point and the revenue context.

Those are the rationales reported from the briefing. They are not Royal Visa’s independent explanation of government policy, and they do not prove that the proposed numbers will survive the regulatory process unchanged.

What remains unchanged as of 13 August 2026

A fast-moving immigration story is easier to understand if we separate the announcement from the things that have not moved.

The current government VOA fee

The applicable government Visa on Arrival fee remained Rp500,000 as of 13 August 2026. That amount sits within the existing official PNBP tariff framework, including Government Regulation No. 45 of 2024, while the official Immigration and eVisa channels remain the practical places to verify what a traveller is asked to pay.

The government charge should also be kept separate from any service fee. A visa agent may charge for assistance, document checking or handling. A payment provider may have its own processing cost. Those amounts are not the government VOA tariff and should be itemised clearly.

If a page says “VOA Rp750,000” without explaining whether that is a proposed government price, a service package or an unofficial surcharge, stop before paying. Ambiguity is not a payment method.

No official start date

No official effective date for the reported Indonesia VOA fee increase had been announced by the cut-off.

The briefing happened on 12 August 2026. That is the date of the comments and the publication date of the news coverage. It is not an implementation date.

There is no sound basis for saying the proposed price starts next week, next month, at a particular airport or after a particular flight. Until an official source gives a date, the honest answer is that no start date has been confirmed.

No final legal instrument or final price

I also found no newly issued implementing regulation, tariff amendment or official Immigration announcement that established Rp750,000 or Rp1,000,000 as a final fee by 13 August 2026.

This is more than legal housekeeping. A final instrument tells the public exactly what is changing, which service is covered, how much is payable and when the change applies. Without it, important operational questions remain unanswered.

The proposed range could be adopted as reported. It could be revised. The two-tier structure could change. None of those possibilities should be presented as fact before the government publishes the final position.

What travellers should do right now

The useful response is not panic and it is not ignoring the news. It is checking the right source at the right time.

Check the official eVisa portal before paying

Use the official Indonesian eVisa portal at evisa.imigrasi.go.id and check the information shown for the relevant product before making payment. Official Immigration updates should also appear through imigrasi.go.id

Look closely at the domain. Visa news attracts lookalike pages, sponsored search results and unofficial application sites with very official-looking colours. A polished logo does not turn a private payment page into a government portal.

The official eVisa homepage responded during my 13 August check, although automated access returned HTTP 202 rather than a normal public-page response. That is one reason travellers should inspect the live portal themselves at payment time instead of relying on a screenshot or an article written the day before.

Keep proof of the displayed fee and payment

Save the payment confirmation and receipt. Check the applicant’s name, passport number and visa details before travel.

It is also sensible to retain a screenshot or PDF of the official fee displayed during the transaction, especially while a tariff proposal is in the news. This is ordinary record-keeping, not an invitation to argue with an immigration officer using your camera roll.

Do not pay an unofficial “new government fee” merely because a headline says the price may rise. If an agent is assisting you, ask for a breakdown between the government charge and the service fee.

Decide between VOA and a longer-stay tourist visa based on the trip

A fee headline should not decide the visa category for you. Trip length, passport eligibility, planned activities and the need for an extension still matter.

Royal Visa already has a detailed guide to help travellers compare VOA and the C1 tourist visa. The main tourist and visit visa options for Indonesia page covers the service choices without turning this news update into another 3,000-word eligibility table.

This proposal does not, by itself, change VOA eligibility, permitted stay, extension rules or nationality lists. It is a reported fee plan. Nothing more should be read into it.

What I will watch before calling this official

I will treat the Indonesia VOA fee increase as official only when the paper trail and the operational details agree. My checklist is short:

1. An official regulation, tariff amendment or equivalent government instrument is published.
2. The final amount, or final tier structure, is confirmed.
3. The government gives an effective date.
4. The official Immigration website and eVisa portal are updated consistently.
5. Operational guidance clearly explains whether online and airport VOA applications carry different prices.

I will also look for the exact scope. A change to the entry fee does not automatically mean a change to extension fees, and a change to VOA does not automatically rewrite the prices of other visit visas.

Royal Visa will update this same URL when official documentation appears. Keeping the timeline on one page is less exciting than publishing a second headline, but much more useful for the person trying to work out what to pay.

The bottom line

As of 13 August 2026, Indonesia’s VOA fee had not officially increased. Immigration officials were reported to be considering a range of Rp750,000 to Rp1,000,000, possibly with Rp750,000 for an online application before travel and Rp1,000,000 for an application after arrival. The current government fee remained Rp500,000, and no final tariff, new implementing regulation or effective date had been announced.

Planning a Bali trip while the rules are moving? Check the official fee first. If you want practical help comparing VOA, e-VOA and C1 options based on your actual trip rather than a headline, you can ask Royal Visa which tourist visa fits your trip.