On April 18, 2020, Indonesia implemented a new regulation to restrict circulation of black-market mobile phones and consequently, mobile phones purchased abroad may stop working with SIM cards from Indonesian mobile phone carriers.
In this article, we show step by step on how to register the IMEI of your mobile phone to be able to use it in Indonesia.
The answer is yes, tourists who are going to stay less than 3 months in Indonesia, will be able to acquire a SIM card called Telkomsel PraBayar or Telkomsel Tourist Card, which will work for 3 months and the same company of the telephone company will be able to register the IMEI of your phone
It is important to take into account that these cards must be bought/registered in the official stores of the mobile phone operator that you can find at the airport or in the city, and not in street stalls (because they often will not know how to register it correctly and you will end up acquiring a card that does not work). To register, you need your passport and your mobile phone.
The prices of these cards are around Rs 200,000 / 300,000 depending on the number of gigabytes of data you have. The registration is valid for 90 days, but the data will only be valid for 30 days, if the data runs out you can buy more without any problem.
For all those who are going to stay more than three months in Indonesia and want to continue using the phone (purchased abroad) with an Indonesian SIM card, they must register the IMEI at the Customs office in Jakarta or Bali.
To register the IMEI in Indonesia, you must carry out the registration procedures before you leave the airport and during the 24 hours following your arrival in Indonesia. Things to consider before registering:
1- Fill out a form that you will find on this Indonesian Customs website.
There, you will be asked for personal data of the phone owner, details of the flight of arrival in the country, NPWP number (for residents), technical data and price of the phones as well as invoice of the phone purchase if any. Once everything is registered and sent, you will get an image of a QR code (save it on your mobile phone) and you will also receive an email with the same.
2- Now you must go in person to the Customs office (CUSTOMS – BEA CUKAI)
In Jakarta, the office is located in the International Departures Terminal (T3), on the second floor behind the zone 1 counters, at the end of the hall on the left. Keep in mind that there are usually queues, so if you have to take a flight, leave enough time. (I only had 9 people in front of me, and I took almost an hour between my wait and the process, plus another 20 minutes to get to Terminal 2 by shuttle bus for my flight to Bali.)
In Bali, the office is located just in front of the Customs X-Ray area, before leaving the airport.
3- When it is your turn, you must go to the window and they will ask you to show:
Then, they will do all the registration and you will receive a confirmation via email. (It usually takes about two or three hours to activate.)
Watch this short explanatory video made by Customs.
No, if you have purchased your phone in Indonesia, you will have your IMEI already active and you will be able to use it without problems. Really, this is a solution to not have to pay the fees of a very expensive phone, being able to use a cheap phone bought in Indonesia to install the most common applications in the country such as; GoJek, Grab, and share internet using Wifi Hotspot to your other phone.
Not necessary by principles, because it should have been activated only at the time, but you must verify it on this website.
If you live in Indonesia since before March 2020, you should have received an SMS saying that your phone has been registered, you can also verify this by putting the IMEI of your phone on this website.
You may still be able to use your foreign SIM card, but note that roaming price for calls or data may be quite high.
Yes, you can continue to connect to different free or paid Wifi of hotels and restaurants.
If your phone has recently been purchased second-hand and you still keep the invoice, you must show the invoice so that Customs can consider depending on the value of the invoice.
If you do not have the invoice, the Customs staff will look at the approximate price on the Internet that is in second-hand markets of the model of your phone and charge you based on that price. They will ask you for data such as storage capacity, RAM size, screen size, etc.
In theory and as I was told in Jakarta, yes you can. It should be possible to do it in any Indonesian Customs office, but the reality is that there are cases of many Customs offices that “do not want” to know about the subject, and tell you that you should have done it in Jakarta or Bali. So my advice is that if you have time, do it in Bali or Jakarta when your entry into the country.
IMEI number is a unique code used to identify a particular device through the input of a SIM card. It consists of 15 digits number and is assigned to each phone anywhere in the world. There are many use of IMEI number and one of which is to allow the police or network operator to block the device in case of stolen, and may sometimes allow you to locate the phone.
Main source of this article: Ministry of Economy, General Directorate of Customs, Regulation Indonesia. Number: SE-12/BC/2020
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hello thanks for sharing it this is a very helpful article I have registered my IMEI on the mobile and am now able to use it in Indonesia
Thanks for sharing this information! I recently moved to Indonesia and was having trouble using my mobile phone here. I didn’t know that I needed to register the IMEI, but now I know how to do it. Will definitely follow these steps and see if it helps me use my phone here more smoothly.
Good luck and have a good time in Indonesia!
Good luck 🙂
Good luck 🙂
The five day grace period is over. I landed on the 18 Jan but was in a rush so I went back on 21 Jan when I had a free day. The customs officers told me I had to pay tax on the full 600 USD price instead of the 100 USD price (above 500 USD). They said it MUST be done before leaving the airport now.
I had the receipt for the phone and my KITAS so it was less than it otherwise would have been though!
Good Luck Everyone!
Hi, appreciate the information. I’ve already updated the post after verifying with Customs Officers. Safe travels!
Additional information on current SIM card pricing:
The tourist SIM cards are heavily promoted at the airport. Currently, they charge 250.000 IDR (approx. 16 EUR) for a 18 GB data plan.
You can get up to 120 GB for 500k or a bit more.
All these tourist SIM cards offer data for max 30 days.
I registered my phone today on arrival at Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar, Bali. You can enter the required information on the same form as the Customs Declaration. It’s a bit tedious to type in a 15 digit IMEI number, especially if you’re using your phone to fill the registration form. It’s certainly easier to do it from home, shortly before flying to Indonesia.
The officer at the Customs Office (Bea & Cukai) was very friendly and helpful. He explained the purpose of registration like this:
– If you stay on short term (holidays) you can buy a tourist SIM card that is valid for 90 days for phone calls but only 30 days for Internet.
– You can use one passport only twice to register a tourist SIM card! So, if you often spend your holidays in Indonesia this might be a problem.
– If you register your phone you can use whatever Indonesian SIM card you want to use. The phone is registered forever, no need to register again on your next visit. If you change your phone often this will not help you.
Btw, I didn’t pay anything because my Xiaomi’s original price was less than 500 USD! 😉
Hello Alex, Thanks for sharing your experience registering your phone upon arrival in Bali. Your advice about doing it from home before your trip is very helpful.
It’s great to hear that the officer at the Customs Office was friendly and helpful, and it’s essential to understand the purpose of this registration. Your explanation about the limitations and benefits of registration is also very informative for fellow travelers.
Thanks for sharing your insights and helping other travelers navigate this process!
apakah cara ini bisa berhasil untuk IMEI ?
Iya berhasil 🙂
I want to register my mobile phone near kuningan area
Please help me where can I visit to register
Hi Sadhana, If you need to visit the customs office, there are two options you can consider. The first one is located inside the airport itself, and the second one is at an official government building dedicated to customs services. To find the nearest one, you can simply search for “customs office” on Google Maps and check which location is closer to you. I hope this helps.
Hi,
Thanks for the useful information regarding registration of IMEI.
I would like to add that the 5 day-rule of getting 500 USD discount, was ONLY VALID during COVID TIME when people had to stay in quarantine. At the moment you have to register your IEMI directly at the airport of arrival in Indonesia. Many times this is Jakarta. If you register your devices there you get a discount of 500 USD, otherwise you’ll lose this benefit. The registration has to be done on any old or new phone you’re bringing in if you want to use an Indonesian SIM card. Personally I hadn’t understood this rule and was in the conviction it only regarded newly bought phones, but NOPE, it’s for your own personal old, second-hand phone as well! Maybe it’s possibile to change this information on your blog?
Registration can be done online but you have to check with a government office in the place there you are staying which link they are using. After that I was very quickly contacted via WhatsApp and in one hour the whole registration was done. After I paid of course the amount. It’s though a lengthy process to fill in the online form because they want a lot of information and a lot of pictures of you, you holding your passport, your phone, your phone and passport and so on.
My advice: do it straight at the airport in Jakarta!
Hi Selma, thanks a lot for all the information. We already updated the post. Safe travels!
It’s just another way for the government to scam foreigners, VAT in any other country is around 20%, in indonesia where all people clamp a hp in their hand 24/7 they still consider it a luxury to be taxed 40%. But the worst part of it is that it is politicians or high placed people that evade tax, not the foreigners, they pay maximum price for everything already, my way usually gives me a sign to stay away when she wants to buy something, even when she buys me something to avoid scamming. Oh, and i didn’t see any mentioning of paying an admission ticket, half a million or 35 US$ just to get into the country with a Visa on Arrival.
Frank, the Indonesian Visa on Arrival has always been priced at 35 USD or 35 EUR! At least during the last 8 years!
Before COVID tourists were exempt of paying for a VoA if they entered through certain airports or seaports. This visa exemption was cancelled during COVID and not reinstalled so far.
A lot of countries charge tourists and businessmen for entering the country. Indonesia now it’s no exception. In Europe, we are just not used to visa and entry payments. Please don’t complain about a fee that is probably around 1% of your total travel costs.
hi, if i went to indonesia 3 months ago. i asked 1 of indonesia provider (XL) to unlock my phone.
can i unlock again my phone by using telkomsel tourist card?
Hi Aries, you should not have problems using another provider if your IMEI mobile is already registered in the Government system. Thanks!
Hi. If i staying in Bali only for 20 days;
1. Do i need to register my IMEI?
2. Do i need to pay tax (Over $500 value) eventhough i stayed below 20 days
Hi Nimasha, dont need, you can buy a tourist sim card that will be activated for 30 days. Have a nice trip!
Cheater. my phone is less than USD500, and yet I still have to register and pay for for it. I mere Rp1 mil worth of phone, I need to pay Rp91,000 to register the imei. I bought sim telkomsel prabayar, but it doesn’t work until I register the imei.
This is worse trip I have to another country. It is as if you tried to force people to BUY phone in your country. which is very expensive compares to other countries.