- Indonesia is launching comprehensive visa reforms to simplify international student applications and attract more foreign talent.
- The new system introduces a student-driven application model using university Letters of Acceptance instead of institutional sponsorship.
- Significant policy shifts include part-time work permissions for students and the removal of mandatory exit requirements for transfers.
(INDONESIA) — Indonesia’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology and the Ministry of Immigration and Correctional Services are planning visa reforms aimed at simplifying procedures and attracting more foreign students.
Officials framed the overhaul as a two-track effort, with some rules already in force under a June 2025 decree and further changes still under development to reshape how students apply, pay and study.
The ministries said the planned package targets administrative burdens on universities, lengthy processing times, high costs, limited transparency, and poor inter-agency integration, as Indonesia elevates student visas as a priority.
Indonesia has tied the reforms to its higher-education internationalization strategy, linking the visa experience to how the country presents itself to incoming students and their families.
Hermawan K. Dipojono, a Kemdiktisaintek expert, said: “Visas form the first impression international students have of Indonesia”.
Mukhamad Najib, director of Institutional Affairs at the Higher Education Directorate, emphasized cross-ministerial cooperation to deliver adaptive services, as immigration and education agencies align processes that students often navigate at the same time.
Planners also want to redistribute responsibilities in the application process, with officials arguing that a more student-driven model could reduce paperwork handled by universities and shift more steps to individuals.
Under the planned reforms, international students would apply for and pay for visas independently using a university-issued Letter of Acceptance (LoA), changing the sponsor role that institutions have often performed for incoming students.
Officials said the LoA-led approach would reduce university administrative workload and allow staff to focus more on academics, while students take on more responsibility for filing and payment steps.
The ministries also outlined a fee direction they said would support access, including lower student visa fees and a “zero rupiah” immigration components for scholarship recipients at state universities.
Alongside fee changes, planners said they would remove mandatory exit requirements for academic transfers, a move meant to reduce disruption for students who change programs or institutions.
Officials also said the proposed package would permit part-time work for students in limited categories, including teaching, research, or internships, setting out a shift that could broaden lawful work options during study.
Separate from those planned reforms, Indonesia has already implemented a wide set of visa framework changes effective June 2, 2025 under Decree No. M.IP-08.GR.01.01/2025, issued by Indonesia’s Minister of Immigration and Corrections.
The decree consolidated all education levels—diploma, bachelor, master, doctoral—under a single E30B visa category that previously sat across separate classifications, and it introduced an E30F visa for student exchange programs.
A major change under the June 2025 decree removed a prohibition on students receiving compensation, wages, or benefits from individuals or corporations in Indonesia, extending a similar shift to family visa categories.
Family visas E31 and E32 also lifted compensation bans, and the decree created new subtypes including E31J for unmarried foreigners under 18 joining siblings.
Yuldi Yusman, acting director general of Indonesia’s Immigration Office, confirmed the unified framework replaces 2023 regulations, as the government adjusts education and family-related visas in the same set of rules.
Officials described the June 2025 updates as a “significant shift” toward simplification and inclusivity, while emphasizing that the planned student-focused reforms would go further by changing how applications, payments, transfers and part-time work permissions operate.
In the current system, full-time students at Indonesian universities qualify for C316 (student visa), which is valid for the academic program’s duration and requires an acceptance letter and a recommendation from the institution.
Short-term study and training has often relied on short-stay routes, including a 30-day Visa on Arrival (VOA, extendable) or a 60-day tourist visa for programs such as language courses, a pattern that officials see as relevant to compliance expectations.
Officials said the planned reforms and the June 2025 changes aim to make Indonesia more competitive against ASEAN neighbors, while reducing friction points that students and universities face at the start of the academic journey.
Universities stand to see workflow changes if LoA-based processing becomes the core entry point, because campus staff would no longer manage as many sponsor-like steps, and students would handle more of the visa filing and payment process directly.
Fee reductions and the scholarship-linked “zero rupiah” immigration components, if implemented as described, could lower financial barriers for some applicants, though the ministries have not set out pricing details in their planning outline.
Part-time work permissions, if adopted as proposed for teaching, research, or internships, could reshape the student experience and add oversight responsibilities for employers and universities, as Indonesia separates what is already in force from reforms still being planned.
