Who can work here: the broker must be Indonesian

This is the most important lesson in the course, so we will be direct. In Bali, the property broker must be an Indonesian citizen. Foreigners can still build a real estate career here, but in different roles, with the right permit, and never as the person who finds clients and negotiates deals.

The rule in one paragraph

Minister of Trade Regulation 33 of 2025 (Permendag 33/2025) has been in force since 5 October 2025 and replaced the old broker rule, Permendag 51/2017 (BPK legal database). It says a licensed brokerage company (a P4) must employ certified property brokers as its expert staff, and those brokers must be Indonesian citizens (WNI) (Bisnis.com, November 2025). Managers of a P4 must hold a competency certificate from the national certification system and may be foreign, but each manager can be registered with only one P4.

Who can be the broker

Person	Can be a field broker?	What they can do
Indonesian citizen with a competency certificate, working for a licensed P4	Yes	Find clients, list, show, negotiate, close
Indonesian citizen without a certificate	Not after the grace period	Train and get certified (lesson 3)
Foreigner with a work KITAS in a manager role and a competency certificate	No	Manage a P4, business development, strategy
Foreigner on a tourist, visit, second home or remote worker visa	No	No paid work for an Indonesian business

What a foreigner may and may not do

In November 2025, AREBI Bali explained the rule plainly: foreigners may hold management functions, such as business development or strategic marketing, but may not do core brokerage work (NusaBali). That means a foreigner should not:

• Find and sign up clients as their agent.
• Show villas to buyers and negotiate offers.
• Handle the transaction or the money.
• Sign listing or buyer agreements.

AREBI Bali stressed this because foreigners were still acting as active agents in tourist areas.

Visas: what does not work

• Visa on arrival or visit visa: tourism only. In September 2024, Bali immigration deported an Australian on a visa on arrival for promoting a villa on social media, with a re-entry ban of at least six months (INP Polri).
• Second home visa: a long stay, not a work permit.
• Remote worker visa (E33G): Emerhub explains that it requires foreign income and excludes Indonesian-source income. Selling Bali villas for a Bali agency is Indonesian work.

Enforcement is active. Bali immigration deported 342 foreigners from January to June 2026, mostly for permit misuse and overstays (RRI). If someone offers you a “freelance agent” role on a tourist visa, the risk sits with you.

Route 1: a sponsored work permit in a manager role

A foreigner who wants to work inside a Bali brokerage needs an employer that sponsors them. Hukumonline explains that a work stay permit (ITAS, the card is called KITAS) needs a guarantee from the employing company. The usual steps (Expat.com, April 2026):

1. The company gets approval to hire a foreigner, the RPTKA (foreign worker utilisation plan), from the Ministry of Manpower.
2. The company pays the work permit levy, about USD 100 per month, in advance.
3. You receive a limited stay visa (the E23 work route) and enter Indonesia.
4. The visa is converted into a KITAS, usually valid for 6 months, 1 year or 2 years, and renewable.

The job title matters. Some positions are closed to foreigners under Minister of Manpower Decree 349 of 2019, and the brokerage role itself is reserved for citizens. A manager role in a P4 also needs a competency certificate (lesson 3). Fees and steps change often, so check the official source before you act.

Route 2: invest through a PT PMA

A foreigner can own a brokerage through a foreign-owned company, a PT PMA. Real estate brokerage is not on the closed list for foreign investment. Under BKPM Regulation 5/2025, the investment plan must still be above IDR 10 billion, but the paid-up capital for new companies fell to IDR 2.5 billion (Infiniti).

Owning the company does not make you a broker. The PT PMA must still hire certified Indonesian brokers, and you may only manage. Bali is also watching foreign companies closely: since 2026 the OSS system rejects new PMA registrations in Bali for low and medium-low risk activities (Emerhub, May 2026). Licensed brokerage is a medium-high risk activity, so it stays open, but expect audits of capital, office and business codes.

Route 3: work from abroad

Some foreigners refer buyers from their home country to a licensed Bali P4, or work in a developer’s sales office abroad under their own country’s rules. Whether this is lawful depends on where you live and how you are paid. Ask an Indonesian lawyer before you take any fee, and never do it from Bali on a visit visa.

If you are Indonesian

You are the person the law is built around. Your path is a licensed P4, a competency certificate and steady training. English, plus Russian or French, will help you serve foreign buyers. Lesson 3 gives you the steps.

Read more in How to become a real estate agent in Bali and practise with the Bali rules exercises.

This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Indonesian rules change quickly: check the official source before you act.