Does working poolside in a tropical vacation destination sound too good to be true?
It’s a new reality for Australians after the Indonesian government announced that foreign remote workers can dial in tax-free from this idyllic location.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: An Australian traveler tells of a horror boat trip in Bali.
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The renewed B211A visa proposed earlier this year allows Australians to work tax-free in Indonesia for up to six months.
Indonesia’s tourism minister, Sandiaga Uno, made the announcement last week to attract workers interested in a pace-change.
Eloise Pascal, owner of the online business in Perth, is among those looking to swap city life for life in Bali.
The 27-year-old is preparing for the move with her partner Luke in the coming months.
“I would say my goal has always been to move to Bali,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
“One of the reasons I started working online was this flexibility for travel.
“As my business was making money, COVID hit and it was out of the cards for a really long time.”
Now the couple is ready to pursue the lifestyle of their dreams.
“Lifestyle is very important to me and my mental health,” Pascal said.
“You can always make the best of what you have, but I know it’s so much easier to enjoy every moment than living for the weekend when you have community and an active lifestyle, the sun is out and you’re on the go is.”
Pascal plans to continue her binge-eating service in Bali while her boyfriend gets a fly-in fly-out job in WA and spends his free time in tropical paradise.
“There are definitely a lot of positives like the government opening up of visas,” she said.
“There are a lot of services geared towards (work online) in Bali and you can see they are forecasting it’s going to explode.”
And the growing digital nomad scene is just one of the benefits, she says.
“It’s also a lot more affordable to live in… and the locals are such beautiful people. The smile and energy you get just walking into a coffee shop can brighten your day.”
Typically, digital nomads have a 30-day tourist visa and had to leave and re-enter the country monthly if they wanted to stay.
Tourism Minister Uno, however, hopes the government turning its attention to Bali’s remote workers will encourage growth.
He said the move could help create an additional 4.4 million jobs across Indonesia by 2024.
“With a visa that is valid for two months and can be extended by six months, I am more confident that the number of foreign tourists interested in staying in Indonesia will increase and automatically affect economic recovery,” he said.
A proposal for an extended version of a similar visa is still under discussion.
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