Bangladeshi Visa Applications to Indonesia Remain Stalled for Months Amid Unexplained Immigration Hold

Bangladeshi nationals seeking to enter Indonesia are facing months-long delays in visa processing, with a growing number of applications stuck in "verification" status without ever reaching approval or formal rejection. According to licensed visa agencies operating within Indonesia's centralized eVisa system, the disruption traces back to a policy shift implemented by the Directorate General of Immigration (Ditjen Imigrasi) in November 2025.

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What Is Happening

As of 11 November 2025, Indonesian immigration authorities placed a temporary hold on visa applications from four nationalities: Sri Lanka, Sudan, Bangladesh, and Palestine. The restriction applies across all visa categories processed through the government's centralized electronic visa system, covering both applications submitted through licensed visa agencies and those filed directly through Indonesian embassies abroad.

Under this arrangement, newly submitted and paid applications from affected nationalities can remain indefinitely in a "verification" state without progressing to document review or a final decision. Applications are not necessarily rejected outright; instead, processing is effectively paused, with no confirmed timeline for resolution provided by immigration officials.

While Sri Lanka's hold was later lifted — with applications now accepted only through an expedited "Priority" process — and Sudan was moved to the same Priority-only track starting June 2026, Bangladesh has seen no such easing. As of the most recent reporting, Bangladeshi applications, alongside those from Palestine, remain under a full practical hold, with approvals described as "highly unlikely" under current conditions. Agencies have noted that fees paid on these applications are non-refundable even if the application never advances, and applicants have been advised not to submit payment unless they accept the risk of an indefinite pending status.

No Official Public Statement From Immigration

Notably, a review of Ditjen Imigrasi's official press releases, along with coverage from major national outlets, found no formal public announcement or stated justification specifically addressing the Bangladesh hold. The restriction appears to have been implemented as an internal operational policy within the visa processing system rather than communicated through an official regulation or public statement naming the affected countries or the reasoning behind their inclusion.

Regulatory Context That May Be Relevant

Although Immigration has not linked the hold to a specific cause, it fits within a broader pattern of tightening under the ministry's "selective policy" (kebijakan selektif) — a framework under which foreign nationals are only admitted if their presence is deemed beneficial to Indonesia and does not pose a risk to public order or security. Several data points from 2026 illustrate this tightening trend:

Visa-Free Visit Facility (Bebas Visa Kunjungan) issuance fell by 87.91% in the first half of 2026 compared to prior periods, as Immigration narrowed eligibility to a shorter list of reciprocal, lower-risk countries.

Immigration authorities rejected 9,394 passport applications nationwide from January through July 2026 due to suspected links to human trafficking (Tindak Pidana Perdagangan Orang, TPPO) and non-procedural migrant worker recruitment.

Regional immigration offices, including in North Sulawesi, have separately delayed the departure of hundreds of Indonesians suspected of being routed through trafficking or irregular labor migration schemes.

Indonesia has also enforced holds of this kind before. Sri Lanka experienced a nearly identical four-month suspension of visa processing between August and November 2022, a restriction that was eventually lifted once immigration authorities assessed that underlying conditions had stabilized. Historically, holds affecting Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Sudan, and similar nationalities have coincided with heightened scrutiny of asylum-related and irregular migration routes that pass through Indonesia en route to third countries such as Australia — though Indonesian authorities have not confirmed this as the specific driver of the current Bangladesh hold.

Impact on Applicants

For Bangladeshi nationals — who require a visa for any entry into Indonesia, as no visa-free or visa-on-arrival facility exists for this nationality — the practical effect is that legitimate travelers, businesspeople, and family visitors are currently unable to obtain approval through standard channels, regardless of how complete their documentation is. Visa agencies have cautioned applicants against submitting duplicate applications, noting that doing so does not accelerate processing and may complicate the underlying case file.

What's Next

Indonesian immigration authorities have not issued a public timeline for when normal processing will resume for Bangladeshi applicants. Given the precedent set by Sri Lanka's four-month hold in 2022 and the more recent multi-month duration of the current restriction, applicants and businesses reliant on Bangladeshi travel to Indonesia should expect continued uncertainty in the near term, pending any formal policy announcement from Ditjen Imigrasi.

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