Your phone in Indonesia: SIM card registration and IMEI

This page is for a foreigner who brings a phone to Indonesia, buys a SIM card here, or stays long enough for the rules on registered phones to matter. It states what the regulations and official pages say, with the article, and says where they are silent or unclear. It is general information, not legal advice. It does not name, rate or recommend any mobile operator, shop or service, and it gives no price of any plan.

There are two separate registrations. The SIM card, that is the phone number, is registered with the mobile operator under the rules of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, called Komdigi (Permenkomdigi 7/2026). The phone itself, that is its IMEI, is checked by the operator against a national register (Permenkominfo 1/2020), and a phone brought in from abroad is registered through customs (PER-13/BC/2021 as amended by PER-7/BC/2023). The texts treat them separately: registering one does not register the other.

We used the texts in force on 6 October 2026: Permenkomdigi 7/2026, signed and in force on 19 January 2026, which replaced the SIM card registration articles of Permenkominfo 5/2021; Permenkominfo 1/2020 on the IMEI control; the customs director general's regulation PER-13/BC/2021 as amended by PER-7/BC/2023; the finance minister's regulation PMK 203/PMK.04/2017 on goods carried by passengers as amended by PMK 34/2025, in force from 6 June 2025; and the trade minister's import rules in Permendag 16/2025 as amended by Permendag 37/2025 and 18/2026 (neither changes Pasal 42(11), cited below). We also read official pages that show the practice: the customs pages on IMEI, on passengers' goods and on moving goods, the customs status check, the notice on the Ministry of Industry's IMEI page, and a news item of Komdigi.

We cite no criminal provision. The telecommunications and customs acts above these ministerial texts have their own criminal provisions, which we did not read for this page, so UU 1/2026 on the adjustment of penalties changes nothing that is said here. The sanctions in Permenkomdigi 7/2026 are administrative and fall on operators. Official practice pages change faster than regulations: each section names its source, and we checked all of them on 6 October 2026.

A foreigner is registered by the staff of the operator's outlet, from the passport, the KITAP (permanent stay card) or the KITAS (limited stay card) (Permenkomdigi 7/2026 Pasal 3(1)(b), 4(a) and 6(1), (2)). The staff verify the document and record at least your name, the number of the document, your nationality and your place and date of birth (Pasal 6(3)). When the data are verified and recorded the registration is complete and the number is active (Pasal 6(5)). The operator may not switch a number on before the identity is verified, and must do it within 1 x 24 hours after (Pasal 11).

The text does not separate a visitor on a passport from a resident on a KITAS: the same three documents are listed for every foreigner (Pasal 3(1)(b)).

The step-by-step self-registration in Pasal 7 (an app or website of the operator, a one-time password, then your NIK and a face match) is written for the Indonesian identity number and face recognition. For a foreigner the regulation describes only the outlet route. Pasal 4(b) allows self-registration in general, and an operator's own app may offer a route for passports. We found no text that says so either way, so ask the operator.

A postpaid line, billed at the end of the month under a contract, is also registered at an outlet, in line with the contract (Pasal 10).

Permenkomdigi 7/2026 took the place of the registration articles of Permenkominfo 5/2021 (Pasal 33). A number registered before it stays valid and usable (Pasal 32(c)).

The operator must put starter cards on the market inactive, switched off for every service except reaching the operator to register, and this duty binds everyone who sells them: distributors, agents, outlets, online sellers and private persons (Permenkomdigi 7/2026 Pasal 2(4), (5) and (6)).

The right to use the service starts only after you register with your own identity, validated for an Indonesian citizen and verified for a foreigner (Pasal 2(7)).

An operator must burn (make void) a number that it knows or has indication uses a false or incorrect identity, or the identity of another person without right (Pasal 16(1)). Before it does, it must notify the user to register again, and the user has 1 x 24 hours after the notice (Pasal 16(2)). When a number is burned the operator owes the subscriber no compensation (Pasal 18).

Our reading: a card that a seller registered for you on other people's papers, or that came pre-registered, is a number on someone else's identity, and the text allows the operator to burn it. The regulation sets no fine on a subscriber. Its sanctions, a written warning and a temporary stop of business, are for operators (Pasal 27).

The operator must also tell buyers and sellers how to register and what rules and sanctions cover using another person's identity (Pasal 22). The regulation does not list those sanctions, and we found no other text on them.

Number limit: an operator may not register more than 3 prepaid numbers for one identity (Pasal 14(1)). The exceptions are machine-to-machine and IoT use, tests, and certain uses of companies and organisations, which go through an outlet (Pasal 14(2)). The text says "identity of the subscriber" without separating a passport from an Indonesian ID, and we read the limit as covering a foreigner's passport too.

A lost or damaged card is replaced only at an outlet, with the same verification as for registration (Pasal 12(2) and (6)).

To hand a registered number to another person, the operator must provide a de-registration facility, and the new holder registers at an outlet (Pasal 20).

The operator keeps the data of an active subscriber, and for at least 3 months after the subscriber becomes inactive (Pasal 13(1), (2)). It must keep the data secret except where the law says otherwise (Pasal 13(3)), and must hand over the identity on request of the Attorney General or the Police chief in certain criminal cases, an investigator, the Minister, the population registry authority and other agencies under law (Pasal 13(4)).

eSIM: the operator must make sure the registration rules are met for an eSIM (Permenkomdigi 7/2025 Pasal 2(2)(c)). Permenkomdigi 7/2026 names the Indonesian route for an eSIM, the NIK and face recognition (Pasal 3(3)), and says nothing separate about a foreigner's eSIM. Ask the operator how an eSIM is registered with a passport.

The right in Pasal 15 to ask the operator which numbers are registered on your identity, and to ask it to block a number used without your knowledge, is written for people registered with the NIK and face recognition. We found no equivalent for a passport.

A subscriber can report a number used for scam calls or messages to the Ministry's complaint service, and the operator must block a reported number within 1 x 24 hours after it receives the helpdesk's e-mail (Pasal 17 and Lampiran II).

The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a number of 15 digits that identifies one mobile phone, handheld computer or tablet that uses a SIM card (Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 1(1) and (4)).

Each operator runs an equipment identity register (EIR) connected to a central register, the CEIR, which the ministry in charge of industry manages (Pasal 1(7), (8) and 2(1), (6)). Before an operator gives a phone access to the network it must check the IMEI against the CEIR (Pasal 3(1)). The check is made against the product registration data that the Ministry of Industry holds and, where needed, also against international IMEI data (Pasal 3(2), (3)). A phone that passes goes on the white list (Pasal 3(4)).

Three lists decide. The white list gives access, the black list gives none, and the grey list gives access for a limited time or on other conditions (Pasal 1(10) to (12)).

The white list includes, among others: phones whose IMEI is verified; phones on international roaming; a passenger's personal devices, at most 2 per person; devices that arrive by post, at most 2 per shipment; devices of foreign missions and international bodies; and devices from free trade zones (Pasal 6(1)).

The operator must restrict network access to a phone whose IMEI fails the check, to a phone on the black list, and to a phone that a government agency asked it to restrict (Pasal 7). It must give you information on the IMEI status of your phone in its own records, and take reports of a lost, stolen or found phone (Pasal 8(1)).

Two limits on a passenger's phones appear in different places. Permenkominfo 1/2020 lists "at most 2 per person" for a passenger's personal devices (Pasal 6(1)(d)). The customs FAQ says the trade minister's rule sets no maximum for a passenger's devices, only that they must be personal and not for trade, and the only cap we found in Permendag 16/2025 is for devices brought into a free trade zone (Pasal 42(11)). We could not reconcile them: if you carry more than two, ask customs.

A visitor has two ways to use a phone from abroad without registering its IMEI. One is to keep the home SIM card on international roaming: the IMEI check does not apply to a foreign SIM card on roaming, and such phones are on the white list (Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 3(5) and 6(1)(c)). The other is to put a local SIM card in the phone: the grey list lets the phone of a foreign tourist, on a number of an operator, have network access for an active period of at most 90 days (Pasal 6(2)(a)). The customs FAQ says the same: no IMEI registration is needed if the phone stays on a foreign SIM card, or if a foreign tourist's phone uses an Indonesian SIM card registered at an operator's outlet, for at most 90 days.

The 90 days is the limit of that access. Pasal 7 has the operator restrict a phone whose IMEI fails the check, so a phone that is still on a local SIM card after the grey-list period is no longer served, and a longer stay needs the phone registered (next section). This is our reading: the regulation says what is allowed for 90 days and what the operator must restrict, and does not say in so many words what happens on day 91.

The regulation does not define a foreign tourist (wisatawan asing), does not say whether a holder of a KITAS counts as one, and does not say from which day the 90 days run, the day of arrival or the day the SIM card was registered. The customs FAQ answers for a temporary stay, a tourist or a business visit, and names only the 90-day case. For how long a visitor may stay at all, see the visas and stay page.

A news item of Komdigi dated 21 December 2023 says that IMEI registration of foreign tourists had been done through the channels that mobile operators provide, at their outlets, and reports a demonstration of a self-service route. It is a news item, not a regulation, and we found no text that sets out the procedure. Ask the operator which channel it offers.

Customs says that a phone, handheld computer or tablet bought abroad and carried in by a passenger must be registered by its IMEI to get the Indonesian mobile network. The steps below are in PER-13/BC/2021 as amended by PER-7/BC/2023, and the customs FAQ.

Step 1, declare the device. A passenger who arrives from abroad with a telecom device must tell the customs officer about it (PER-13/BC/2021 Pasal 8(1)). The customs FAQ says to do this on the All Indonesia arrival declaration (or the electronic customs declaration, or to the officer), and that without the declaration the allowance in the next section cannot be given.

Step 2, the electronic form. You file the customs IMEI registration form with your full name, identity number, flight or voyage number, arrival date, NPWP if you have one, and the number, type, make, model and IMEI of each device (PER-13/BC/2021 Pasal 11(2), as amended). You answer for the truth of the form (Pasal 11(5)). Where the electronic customs declaration is in use, the registration goes in with it (Pasal 11(6)). The official form also asks for the value of each device and has room for two devices.

Step 3, at the counter. You show the receipt of the form, the device, the passport and a ticket or other proof of your journey (Pasal 12(1)). Officers compare the form with the device, the passport and the ticket, selectively by risk, and may ask you to switch the device on (Pasal 12(2), (3), (3a)). Research and the setting of the customs value take at most 3 hours from the time you have met these requirements (Pasal 12(4)). Where you bring proof of the price, the value is set from the transaction value (Pasal 12A(2)).

Step 4, approval. When the customs value is fully covered by the allowance, or when you have paid the duty and tax due, officers approve the registration, and the data go to the IMEI control system (Pasal 13). The customs FAQ promises service within 2 x 24 hours of registration, and says the process ends at the counter when the system's value for the device is below USD 500, and otherwise goes to further research.

Timing. Register before the phone leaves the customs area of the airport or port (PER-13/BC/2021 Pasal 8(4)). If officers have only scanned your IMEI and passport in the arrival hall, you may finish at a customs office within 5 days of arrival, with the receipt, the device, the passport and the ticket, and keep the allowance (PER-7/BC/2023, new Pasal 13A and 13B(5), (6)). If you left the area without registering, you can still register within 60 days of arrival, but with no allowance: you pay duty and tax on the whole value (Pasal 13C). After 60 days the customs FAQ says it cannot be done.

Registration itself costs nothing, according to the customs FAQ; the duty and tax in the next section are separate. The form is on the customs website and in its mobile app, and the FAQ names only the customs website address. Someone else may act for you by a letter of authority only where you already have the arrival record and a status that calls for further research at a customs office (customs FAQ). A phone registered on an earlier arrival need not be registered again, and an old phone used abroad still must be (customs FAQ).

Customs has a public status check at old.beacukai.go.id/websitenewV2/cek-imei.html, linked from its IMEI page at beacukai.go.id/imei: you enter the 15 digits. Its own note says that the status shown is based on the IMEI data registered through the customs registration form. It tells you about devices registered with customs, not the network status of every phone.

The Ministry of Industry's page, imei.kemenperin.go.id, is often given as the place to check. On 6 October 2026 its notice said that the check on that page serves the output of the domestic industry and registered importers, and that access for the public is closed. We do not send you there.

The operator must give you information on the IMEI status in its own records (Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 2(3)(d) and 8(1)(a)). Ask it in writing and keep the answer (our suggestion).

If you registered with customs, paid and still have no network: wait the 2 x 24 hours that customs promises, then contact the nearest customs office or the customs call centre, 1500225. If the status page says the data were sent to the CEIR, the customs FAQ says to contact the Ministry of Industry, which manages the CEIR.

If you entered something wrong: a request with proof to the head of the customs office where you registered, within 30 days after the registration was approved, decided within 2 working days (PER-7/BC/2023 Pasal 19 and 21). The number, type, make and model of the devices cannot be changed (customs FAQ).

The operator must restrict network access to a phone that is not verified, so an unregistered phone on a local SIM card gets no network once it is outside the cases of the white and grey lists (Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 7). The regulation sets no fine on the user. The customs texts we read say nothing about seizing an unregistered phone, and we found no text on it.

A user can ask the operator to move the IMEI of a lost or stolen phone from the white or grey list to the black list. The request must carry the police report of the loss or theft (Pasal 5(1), (2)). If the phone is found, the user can ask to take it off the black list (Pasal 5(3)). The operator must take these reports (Pasal 8(1)(b), (c)). The disputes page explains the police report.

Which operator, plan or eSIM product to buy, prices and data packages, home internet contracts, and how long a prepaid number stays valid without a top-up (we read no text on it). Also not covered: customs rules for other goods, free trade zones and Batam, devices of diplomats and international bodies, and the criminal provisions of the telecommunications and customs acts.

From which day the 90 days of a foreign tourist's phone on a local SIM card run, and whether a holder of a KITAS or another stay permit counts as a tourist. Pasal 6(2)(a) of Permenkominfo 1/2020 defines neither.

What happens on day 91 in so many words, and how a visitor who stays beyond 90 days without registering at arrival gets the phone back on the network. The customs FAQ says customs cannot register a phone later than 60 days after arrival.

Whether a foreigner can register a SIM card on an operator's app or website with a passport (the text describes self-registration only with the NIK and a face match), and how an eSIM is registered with a passport.

How a foreigner finds the numbers registered on a passport, or asks the operator to block one used without permission: Pasal 15 of Permenkomdigi 7/2026 is written for the NIK and face recognition.

How many devices a passenger may register: "at most 2 per person" in Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 6(1)(d), against the customs FAQ, which says the trade rules set no maximum.

The procedure of the operator channel for the IMEI registration of foreign tourists that the Komdigi news item of 21 December 2023 mentions. We found no regulation text for it.

Whether the Ministry of Industry will reopen its IMEI check to the public. The notice on its page gives no date.

The conditions of the moving-goods exemption (PMK 25/2025) and the parcel rates (PMK 96/2023 as amended). We read both only on the customs pages.

Before you fly: note the 15-digit IMEI of each phone and tablet you bring, and decide how long you will stay.

Up to 90 days as a visitor: roaming, or a local SIM card registered at an operator's outlet, needs no IMEI registration (Permenkominfo 1/2020 Pasal 3(5) and 6(2)(a)). The text does not say from which day the 90 days run, or whether a KITAS holder counts as a tourist, so if you may stay longer, or if you live here, register the phone with customs at arrival, because customs cannot register it after 60 days.

At arrival: declare the device on the All Indonesia arrival declaration or to the customs officer, keep the QR code or the receipt, and finish the registration at the counter. The allowance of USD 500 needs the declaration.

If you left the airport without registering: you have 60 days at a customs office, with duty and tax on the full value, and no later.

Buying a SIM card: go to the operator's outlet with your passport, KITAS or KITAP, and have the card registered in your own name. A card registered on other people's papers can be burned.

Keep the registration receipt and a note of the IMEI. For a lost or stolen phone you need a police report to have it blocked.

To check: the customs status page, or the operator in writing. Not the Ministry of Industry's page, which is closed to the public.

Use the customs website (beacukai.go.id) only. Registration with customs costs nothing; only the duty and tax in the table are due.

Ask the operator in writing about self-registration and eSIM with a passport, and keep the answer.