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中文Moving to Bali with a Family: What to Decide Before You Fly
Moving to Bali with a family comes down to four decisions: your visa and length of stay, a place to live for the first month, a school for the children, and transport. Once those are settled in advance, the rest takes a few days on the ground. Below is the order that works and what to check at each step.
Step one: visa and length of stay
Decide first how long you are staying, because it drives both the visa and the housing. A one-month trip and a one-year relocation are different problems: for the longer one, look at long-stay options up front instead of extending a tourist visa month after month.
Check visa categories, validity, document requirements, and current immigration fees on the official Directorate General of Immigration website (imigrasi.go.id) and the official e-Visa service. Rules change, and advice from memory is a poor guide here. Our separate article on visas and stay options walks through the usual categories.
Step two: housing for the first month
With children, do not sign a year-long lease before you arrive. The sensible sequence is a simple place for two weeks in the area you are considering, then viewings in person, then a long-term contract.
What matters early on:
- Drive the route to the school and the nearest clinic yourself instead of trusting the listing description.
- Check water pressure and the air conditioners, which is not a small detail with small children.
- Ask about internet in the rooms where you will work, and ask for real provider speeds rather than marketing numbers.
- Agree with the owner on what the rent includes: cleaning, pool and garden service, utilities.
Long-term and nightly rentals differ in terms, deposits and what is included; we cover that separately.
Step three: school
Bali has international and local schools, and admission to an international one takes time: application, documents, sometimes assessment and a waiting list. If a child is starting school, begin the conversation before you move and ask:
- which records are required from the previous school, including translations;
- when the next intake is and whether there is space in the right year group;
- whether the school runs transport and what the drive looks like in real traffic;
- how long the process takes and what has to be paid at application.
Schools quote their own current terms and fees directly, so ask the school rather than an intermediary. Our article on schools in Bali explains the types of schools in more detail.
Step four: transport and daily logistics
With children, transport usually becomes the biggest consumer of money and time. In practice families handle it one of two ways: a car with a driver for the days they need it, or a scooter for the adults plus a child seat.
- Confirm the rental is legal and that you hold the correct licence category. Traffic rules apply to foreigners exactly as they do to locals.
- Check where you will park at the villa and at the school.
- Sort out child seats in advance; an included seat in a rental car is not guaranteed.
- Find the nearest clinic and pharmacy before you need them, and save the address.
What to prepare before the flight
- Verified visa options and timelines that fit your dates.
- Two weeks of accommodation and a shortlist of villas to view.
- Correspondence with the school and a list of documents.
- Insurance that covers the children, plus the contact for the nearest clinic.
- A transport plan for the first month.
This takes a few weeks of preparation, and in exchange your first month on the island goes into viewing villas and settling in rather than untangling visa and school questions in a hurry.
If you want help shortlisting a villa for your family, tell us the family composition, your dates, and the areas you are considering: we will put together options and check the terms before you arrive.
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