Before you start

A sponsor — a university or institute for study and research, an employer with an approved foreign-worker plan for work, or a licensed agent for the self-funded routes
Passport valid at least six months beyond the intended stay, with blank pages
A confirmed address, including the kelurahan and the regency, because it determines your civil registry office
For research: a research permit from the relevant national authority, which is a separate process from the visa and takes its own time

Step-by-step

1
Match the route to what you are actually going to do
Study and research routes sponsored by a university; employment routes sponsored by an employer with an approved foreign-worker plan; family routes if your spouse is Indonesian; the Second Home and investor routes if you are self-funding. The E33G remote-worker permit exists but requires income earned entirely from companies outside Indonesia — and Yogyakarta, unlike Bali, has very few agents who process it regularly.
OnlineWho: You, with your sponsorDecide before applying
2
Sort the research permit before the visa if you are doing research
Foreign research in Indonesia requires a permit from the national research authority in addition to the visa, and the visa follows the permit rather than the other way round. It involves a counterpart institution, a research plan and a review that takes months rather than weeks. UGM and the other universities handle this routinely, so use their international office rather than working it out alone.
Via employerWho: Your host institutionMonths — start well ahead of your intended arrival
3
Apply for the e-visa offshore and enter within 90 days
Your sponsor submits on evisa.imigrasi.go.id with passport, photograph, CV, the sponsorship or contract documents and any financial evidence. The approved visa must be used to enter Indonesia within 90 days of issue or it lapses and the fee is lost — a real risk when an academic term or a project start date moves.
OnlineWho: Your sponsorCommonly 2–8 weeksState fees vary by index; confirm the current schedule on the portal
4
Complete biometrics at the Yogyakarta immigration office
Kantor Imigrasi Kelas I TPI Yogyakarta covers the special region. Fingerprints and a facial scan finalise the ITAS. Take the physical card even where it is optional — it means you can leave your passport locked up, which matters if you are travelling for fieldwork.
In personWho: You, with your sponsorWithin roughly a week of arrival
5
Get the RT/RW letter, the police report, then the SKTT from the correct regency
Introduce yourself to the head of your RT block and RW cluster and collect their letter, take it with your passport and permit for a police report, then apply for the SKTT at the civil registry of the city or regency you live in. Depok, Condongcatur, Seturan and most of the student belt are Sleman. Kasihan, Sewon and the southern studio districts are Bantul. The offices do not cover for each other.
In personWho: YouWithin about 14 days of the ITAS being issuedIssued without charge

Documents you’ll need

Passport valid six months or more, with the approved e-visa PDF
Sponsorship documents — university acceptance and institutional letter, or employer corporate documents and approved foreign-worker plan
Research permit from the national research authority, if applicable
Lease or address confirmation stating the kelurahan and the regency
RT/RW introduction letter and police report (Surat Tanda Melapor), for the SKTT

Things most newcomers don’t know

Most people who say they live in Yogyakarta do not live in the city of Yogyakarta.

The municipality is around 32 square kilometres — small enough to cycle across — and the continuous built-up area extends well into Sleman and Bantul. The university belt, the newer housing and the airport road are Sleman. This determines your civil registry for the SKTT, your tax office, and the regency that assesses property tax. Landlords and agents say 'Jogja' because that is the brand; the lease should say the regency.

Source: DIY provincial administration; Yogyakarta city government

The universities are the most competent sponsors in the city, and worth using even indirectly.

UGM and the other large institutions process foreign staff, students and visiting researchers constantly and their international offices know the current requirements better than most commercial agents here do. Yogyakarta has nothing like Bali's agent industry, so if you have any institutional affiliation at all, route the paperwork through it rather than through a general agent.

Source: Practitioner reporting; university international offices

Research in Indonesia needs its own permit, and the visa is downstream of it.

Foreign researchers require authorisation from the national research authority with a counterpart institution and an approved research plan, and the process runs on a scale of months. People arrive on a visit or study visa intending to sort it later and find that the permit cannot be regularised retrospectively, which in a city built around universities is a common and expensive mistake.

Source: Indonesian national research authority (BRIN) foreign research permits

The Sultan being governor is a legal fact with administrative consequences, not local colour.

Law 13/2012 gives the Special Region a governorship held by the reigning Sultan without election, a dedicated special-status budget, and — most consequentially for anyone dealing with property — legal personality for the Sultanate and the Pakualaman as landholders. It means provincial rules here can differ from national defaults in ways that no national guide will mention.

Source: Law No. 13 of 2012 on the Special Status of the Special Region of Yogyakarta

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming an address 'in Jogja' is in the city, then applying for your SKTT at the wrong civil registry.
Arriving to do research on a study or visit visa and expecting to regularise the research permit afterwards.
Letting the e-visa be applied for far ahead of a term or project start date, then losing it to the 90-day entry deadline.
Skipping the RT/RW introduction letter, which the police report and the SKTT both depend on.
Leaving Indonesia for good without an Exit Permit Only filed by your sponsor, leaving the permit open.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.