Will your phone work in Bali? The IMEI rule
Does Indonesia's IMEI rule block foreign phones in Bali?
Not on roaming, and not on a local SIM for the first 90 days. Indonesia blocks unregistered devices, but foreign SIMs on international roaming are exempt, and a tourist's phone with a local SIM gets access for up to 90 days. Staying longer means registering the IMEI.
Search this subject and you find two camps: travellers warned their phone will die on arrival, and travellers assured nothing ever happens. Both are reporting honestly. They were in different legal situations, and the regulation that separates those situations is short.
The system, in one paragraph
Indonesia operates an IMEI whitelist: devices sold through official channels are registered centrally, and operators must refuse mobile network access to devices that fail verification. The instrument in force is Permenkominfo No. 1 Tahun 2020, which revoked and replaced the 2019 regulation in its Pasal 15. Articles citing the 2019 text are citing withdrawn law.
Case one: you stay on roaming
Pasal 3 ayat (5):
Verifikasi sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) dikecualikan untuk Pengguna HKT dengan kartu Subscriber Identification Module negara asing (inbound roamer) yang menggunakan layanan jelajah roaming internasional.
Devices on a foreign SIM using international roaming are excluded from verification. If you never insert a local SIM, the IMEI system does not concern you, at any length of stay.
Case two: a local SIM, up to 90 days
The regulation places a foreign tourist's device using a local operator's number on the grey list, with network access:
Alat dan/atau Perangkat HKT wisatawan asing yang menggunakan nomor MSISDN dan IMSI Penyelenggara dengan masa aktif paling lama 90 (sembilan puluh) hari
Up to 90 days of access on a local SIM, no registration required. This is why the ordinary holidaymaker who buys a SIM at the airport never notices the system exists.
Case three: past 90 days
After the grey list window closes, an unregistered device loses access to local networks. The regulation's access list covers registered passenger devices at up to two per person. Registration for arriving travellers runs through customs, and it connects to the same personal goods rules covered in what you can bring into Bali.
What we could not establish
- The registration procedure itself, its tax treatment above the duty free
- threshold, and how long it takes at Ngurah Rai. It deserves its own page
- read from the customs side, and will get one.
- Whether the 90 day grey list clock restarts on a new SIM or a re-entry.
- The regulation does not say, and we will not guess.
Also asked
- My phone works on roaming. Am I affected at all?
- No. Pasal 3 ayat 5 excludes devices with a foreign SIM using international roaming from IMEI verification entirely. As long as you stay on your home SIM, the system does not apply to you.
- Can I buy a local SIM with a foreign phone?
- Yes. A foreign tourist's device using a local operator's SIM is placed on the grey list with access for up to 90 days, under Pasal 6. Within a normal holiday the question never arises.
- What happens after 90 days on a local SIM?
- Access ends unless the device's IMEI is registered. The regulation's access list covers registered passenger devices at up to two per person. The registration procedure itself is run through customs and we have not yet verified it at source.
- Which regulation is actually in force?
- Permenkominfo 1 Tahun 2020. It revoked and replaced the 2019 regulation in its Pasal 15, so articles citing Permenkominfo 11 Tahun 2019 as current law are citing a text that has been withdrawn.
How we verified this
What changed
- First publication, from the replacement regulation rather than from the revoked 2019 text most guides cite