October 1, 2026 · Easy Arrival Online
Family and Group IDAC Guide: Applying for Indonesia Arrival Cards Together
One IDAC Per Traveler, Not One Per Booking
A common assumption among families and groups is that one person can submit the IDAC on behalf of everyone traveling together, the way a hotel or flight booking often works. That's not how it works here. Every traveler entering Indonesia needs their own individual IDAC submission, including children and infants, regardless of how the trip was booked.
This applies whether you're traveling as a couple, a family of four, or a larger group booked under a single travel agent or tour operator. See the Indonesia Digital Arrival Card (IDAC) guide for the full process each traveler needs to follow.
What Changes When You're Applying for Several People
The IDAC itself doesn't change based on group size, each submission still covers the same passport, flight, and accommodation details. What changes is the amount of coordination required. With one traveler, a small mistake is a single problem to fix. With five travelers, the same mistake repeated across submissions multiplies the chances of one of them getting flagged.
This is especially relevant for the kind of errors covered in 7 Common Mistakes That Get Your Arrival Card Rejected, since those mistakes become more likely, not less, when you're filling out several forms back to back.
Children and the IDAC: What Parents Need to Know
Children, including infants, need their own IDAC submission. There's no age exemption and no way to add a child as a note on a parent's form. Each child's passport details need to be entered individually, exactly as printed.
Use the child's full legal name as it appears on their own passport, not a nickname or shortened version
If a child doesn't yet have accommodation or flight details separate from the parents, the same address and flight information used for the adults applies
Double check passport expiry dates for children separately, since children's passports are often issued with shorter validity periods than adult passports
Information You'll Need for Each Traveler
Passport: full name as printed, number, nationality, expiry date, for each traveler individually
Flight details: the same flight number and arrival date typically applies to everyone traveling together
Accommodation address: usually identical across the group if you're staying together
Contact information: each submission needs its own, though a shared family email can often be used across submissions if the system allows it
Having this information organized before you start, ideally in one place for every traveler, is what makes multiple submissions manageable instead of repetitive and error-prone.
How to Organize Multiple Submissions Without Mixing Up Details
The biggest risk with group applications isn't the individual form, it's cross contamination between travelers: a parent's passport number entered on a child's form, or one traveler's accommodation details copied incorrectly onto another's.
Complete one traveler's submission fully before starting the next, rather than jumping between multiple forms at once
Keep each traveler's passport physically separated while you work, so you're never copying from the wrong document
Review each submission individually before moving to the next, rather than reviewing all of them at the end
Common Mistakes That Multiply on Group Applications
Every mistake covered in 7 Common Mistakes That Get Your Arrival Card Rejected applies here, but the stakes are higher when you're submitting for several people at once. A name mismatch on one traveler's passport doesn't affect the rest of the group's submissions, but it does mean that traveler specifically can face delays or extra questioning separately from everyone else they're traveling with.
This is particularly worth keeping in mind if your group is traveling on a tight connection or a tour schedule, since one flagged submission can hold up the whole group's progress through immigration, not just the person it belongs to.
Applying Yourself vs. Using an Assistance Service for a Group
Families and groups are one of the situations where an assistance service tends to be the most useful, specifically because of the cross contamination risk described above. Rather than managing several submissions yourself and hoping nothing gets mixed up, a service can check each traveler's details individually before anything is submitted.
See Why Use a Travel Document Assistance Service for a fuller look at what this involves, including when it's worth it and when applying directly is just as reasonable.
A Simple Checklist Before You Submit
Every traveler, including children, has their own completed submission
Each traveler's passport details were entered from their own passport, not copied from memory or another traveler's document
Flight and accommodation details are consistent across the group where they should be
Each submission was reviewed individually before moving to the next
Confirmations for every traveler are saved somewhere accessible offline
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one person submit the IDAC for the whole family?
No. Every traveler, including children, needs their own individual submission.
Do infants need an IDAC?
Yes, there's no age exemption. Every traveler entering Indonesia needs their own submission regardless of age.
What happens if one traveler's IDAC is flagged but the rest of the group's aren't?
Only that traveler is affected directly, though it can mean the group experiences delays together if everyone is moving through immigration at the same time.
Is it worth using an assistance service for a group?
Many travelers find it particularly useful for groups, since it reduces the risk of details being mixed up between multiple submissions.