VISA RUN TO TIMOR LESTE (OVER LAND)
ENTERING EAST TIMOR FOR INDONESIAN VISA RUN, TOURISM
ETC..

The land borders between Indonesian West Timor and independent East Timor/ Timor Leste are open.

Australian, UK, New Zealand, Japan, US and other passport holders can get a Visa on Arrival for East Timor for US$30. There is no fee for European Union passport holders.

As at May 2024 you DO NOT need a Letter of Authorisation from a Timor Leste Consulate.
(The East Timorese Government website and other sites including the Australian Government’s Smartraveller site have not been updated to reflect this).

If you are entering Timor Leste’s exclave, the Oecussi Special Administrative Region, cross at Wini, which is about 90 minutes by ojek or taxi from Kefamenanu.
The closest border for the main pa…
ENTERING EAST TIMOR FOR INDONESIAN VISA RUN, TOURISM
ETC..

The land borders between Indonesian West Timor and independent East Timor/ Timor Leste are open.

Australian, UK, New Zealand, Japan, US and other passport holders can get a Visa on Arrival for East Timor for US$30. There is no fee for European Union passport holders.

As at May 2024 you DO NOT need a Letter of Authorisation from a Timor Leste Consulate.
(The East Timorese Government website and other sites including the Australian Government’s Smartraveller site have not been updated to reflect this).

If you are entering Timor Leste’s exclave, the Oecussi Special Administrative Region, cross at Wini, which is about 90 minutes by ojek or taxi from Kefamenanu.
The closest border for the main part of Timor Leste is at Motaain. It’s further from Kupang than Wini, but you can get there on a direct bus.

NB 1. The border post for Oecussi at Napan closed for refurbishment and had NOT reopened as at June 2024. Check with Edwin Lerrick Lavalon Hostel Kupang for updates.

2. TAKE ADEQUATE US$.
There are no atm or money exchange facilities at the border.
Timor Leste operates on US CASH ONLY.
A recent traveller on a visa run to Oecussi arrived to find all local atms out of cash for four days.

Crossing back into INDONESIA you will get a VISA ON ARRIVAL for US$35 or equivalent IDR (500k). You can leave and reenter Indonesia on the same day.

3. As soon as you have a VOA Visa on Arrival, you can extend it for another thirty days at a Kantor Imigrasi office in a provincial (eg in NTT, Kupang) or sub-provincial (eg in NTT Maumere or Labuan Bajo) capital city.

Proof of forward passage - a ticket out of Indonesia for a date within the proposed extension period - is normally required. I bought a refundable bus ticket Atambua - Dili online for 250k and they were fine with that.
Turnaround time for the extension can be as short as one business day in Kupang and probably no more than two days (way shorter than Bali or Lombok due to smaller tourist numbers).

- updated with advice from Damien Cummins