Film permit Bali: what foreign crews and travellers need

By Film Permit Bali Editorial Desk

Film permit Bali questions all lead to one national document: Indonesia's Location Use Permit, issued under the minister responsible for culture. The regulation reaches foreign production companies, news organisations and broadcasters, and they must work with an Indonesian partner. Visas, location consents, park entry and drone approval are separate layers on top.

What does "film permit Bali" actually mean?

It means a national document that happens to be used in Bali. Regulation 48/2018 says foreign filmmakers need a permit from the minister responsible for culture to use locations in Indonesia, and calls it the Izin Penggunaan Lokasi, or Location Use Permit. In conversation, embassies and operators alike shorten it to film permit or national film permit. You will also meet informal labels such as Bali film license and Bali shooting permit, and they usually point back to this same paper plus whatever local consents the shoot needs.

The permit is narrow by design. Article 8 of the regulation ties it to the locations and schedule written on it, so a crew that adds a beach in week two should treat that beach as outside the document until the film unit has written notice, at least seven working days before shooting there, as Article 8 requires.

One status note. The former education and culture ministry issued the regulation, and office names have changed since the 2024 ministry split. An official was still citing it in November 2024, so ask the mission handling your application whether it still applies in full.

This site is a guide with a request desk and has no government standing, so nothing here is an official ruling.

The route is well used. A Ministry of Culture official told Antara in November 2024 that 165 film production permits went out in 2023, from 25 countries, with 1,650 crew bound for 27 provinces. For January to June 2024 the official counted 29 applications for Bali, more than any other region in the top ten. Those figures describe demand across Indonesia, and they say nothing about how any one application will go.

Does Bali have its own film licence?

Regulation 48/2018 describes a national permit, not a provincial one. The Embassy in Canberra gives applicants in Australia a sequence that ends with location permits, so Bali enters at the end, through the people who manage each place.

That local layer can be fragmented. Operators such as Hoodlum and TDR Films describe temples, villages and villas as separate conversations. So when someone offers you "the Bali permit", ask three plain questions: which document is it, who issues it, and which locations does it name?

Who needs one, and who probably does not?

The regulation is specific about who it reaches. Article 1 counts three kinds of foreign party: production businesses set up as foreign legal entities, foreign news organisations and foreign broadcasters. Article 3 then tells that party to take an Indonesian film production business as local partner. Our guide to the film fixer in Bali shows how to check that company, and film permit requirements in Indonesia lists what goes in the file.

Operators read the duty more broadly. Bali Film Center, which sells this service, says every foreign producer needs permission for film, video or stills, and it spells out non-theatrical, documentary, advertising and promotional work. Treat that as an operator's statement rather than the regulation's wording.

Personal travel filming is not addressed by the regulation or by that operator statement. Silence is not an exemption, which is why this page says "probably" and goes no further. A holiday clip made with no client and no income sits a long way from a foreign broadcaster's shoot. A creator paid to post sits somewhere in between, and the first question there is the visa.

Which approvals sit on top of the national permit?

TDR Films, an operator, gives its order as national permit, then visa, then local fees, then conservation or drone clearance. That is one company's sequence and not a legal one. A shoot touches some or all of these:

• Crew visas. Immigration handles these, and the index that applies is itself a point of disagreement between official pages. See the filming visa guide and the C14 visa page.
• Location consent. Canberra leaves each location to the filmmaker and fixer, and operators describe separate conversations with temples, villages and owners. See location permits for filming in Bali.
• Conservation areas. Parks run their own entry permit system, with a separate page on the West Bali National Park film permit.
• Drones. Aviation rules come from the Transport Ministry, not the culture ministry, and pilots and approvals are covered under commercial drone filming in Bali.
• Equipment. Kit entering the country raises customs questions, covered under bringing film equipment to Bali.

The price table on this page shows the published application position, the C14 visa fee and the Bali levy. Site, park and agency figures are on the film permit cost page, each with its source.

How far ahead should a crew start?

Two embassies give two different answers. Canberra strongly advises a twelve-week margin before departure. Washington sets a minimum of six weeks before the visit or production. Each mission writes for its own applicants, so the figure from the mission you will actually deal with is the one to plan on. If that mission publishes nothing, the longer number is the more cautious starting point.

The reason to start early is the order of events. In the Canberra sequence the visa application follows the notification letter, and location permits come last, so a late first step squeezes everything behind it. Hoodlum says temple permissions should start alongside the ministry permit, which differs from that order, so ask your mission and partner when to open them. A production with a fixed broadcast date or a hired cast has little room to absorb that. The processing time guide goes through the timing in more detail.

What do drones change?

They add a second regulator and a separate set of limits. Under PM 37 of 2020, the approval line in uncontrolled airspace sits at 400 feet (120 metres). Below it the Director General's approval is not needed, unless another trigger on the drone rules page applies; above it, or in controlled airspace, it is. That threshold is about aviation approval only, and it does not answer whether a temple manager, a park office or your visa allows the flight.

Crews can start with the drone rules for Bali. Travellers with a small camera drone face a less settled question, set out under can tourists fly drones in Bali.

What is at risk if a crew shoots outside the permit?

We know of no legal text that sets a specific penalty for shooting with no Location Use Permit at all. For a crew that holds one, the permit format says shooting subjects and locations beyond those listed are not allowed, and that violations can annul the permit. Immigration law is a separate matter. Article 122 of Law 6 of 2011 sets up to five years in prison and a fine for a foreigner who deliberately misuses a stay permit or acts outside its purpose, and it also reaches anyone who arranges or allows that. Article 75 lets immigration officers take administrative action, including a place on the deterrence list, a cancelled stay permit or deportation. Those articles concern stay permits, not film permits, and later amendments may have changed them, so ask immigration counsel.

Operators describe a practical risk of their own. Spin Productions says working without official approval risks fines, equipment confiscation or production shutdowns, and Atlas Film Fixers names fines, deportation or equipment confiscation for paid filming on a tourist visa. Both sell the alternative, so weigh them accordingly. The reported case on filming on a tourist visa shows which ground was used in practice.

What do people ask first about Bali film permits?

Who needs a film permit in Bali?

Regulation 48/2018 names foreign film production companies, foreign news organisations and foreign broadcasters. It does not name individual creators or tourists, so those groups should read the visa rules before assuming anything about the permit.

How do film permits work in Bali?

A national permit is requested with an Indonesian partner, and it covers the locations and schedule written on it. Visas, consent from each location, park entry and drone approval are handled as separate items.

Is a film permit required in Bali?

For a foreign production company or broadcaster using locations in Indonesia, the regulation points to yes. Foreign news organisations sit inside its definition of a foreign party, so ask your mission whether a given news trip triggers the permit. The regulation does not address personal travel filming.

Is there a separate Bali film permit?

The regulation and the embassy procedures describe a national permit followed by local permission, with no province-wide film licence. Check any document sold as a Bali permit by asking who issued it and which locations it names.

Can Film Permit Bali issue a permit?

No. This site is a guide with a request desk. Permits come through the Indonesian government and its missions, and Canberra leaves each location to the filmmaker and local fixer.

Which sources support this page?

• Regulation 48/2018 on the Location Use Permit, state legal database
• Embassy of Indonesia in Canberra, foreign film producer procedure
• Embassy of Indonesia in Washington, journalistic and film production
• Antara Bali, November 2024, ministry figures on foreign shoots
• Bali Film Center guidelines (operator)
• TDR Films, international film permit in Bali (operator)
• PM 37 of 2020 on unmanned aircraft, state legal database
• Atlas Film Fixers, Bali filming guide
• Law 6 of 2011 on Immigration, state legal database
• Directorate General of Immigration, Law 6 of 2011, Article 122
• Spin Productions, filming permit guide
• Hoodlum, Bali film production services (operator)

How do I reach the desk?

Send your dates, locations, crew size and purpose by WhatsApp to +62 811-3941-4563 or by email to bd@juaraholding.com. The desk answers questions and does not decide applications. Because a request can turn into a paid booking, the site has a commercial interest. Any fee and the contracting company appear in a written offer before you agree, and only that offer binds. The disclaimer has the full position.