A dispute over an eyebrow treatment in Canggu turned into one of Bali’s most talked about viral videos this month. Now the foreign tourist at the center of it is one of two women being held at Denpasar’s immigration detention center, both facing deportation for overstaying their visas.
What Happened
Denpasar’s Rumah Detensi Imigrasi, known as Rudenim, confirmed it received two foreign women on Wednesday, August 12, both flagged for overstaying their permitted stay in Indonesia. One is a 25 year old Norwegian national identified by the initials N.F. The other is a 33 year old German national identified as K.A.H.
N.F is the woman whose confrontation at a beauty salon in Canggu, North Kuta, went viral after she refused to pay for an eyebrow treatment she was unhappy with. The disagreement escalated into a public argument that was filmed and widely shared online.
From a Salon Dispute to an Immigration Case
The story did not end there. On Monday, August 10, N.F returned to the same salon, and both sides agreed to settle the matter at the North Kuta Police station.
Once they reached an agreement, police handed the immigration side of the case to the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office. A records check found that N.F’s Visa on Arrival had expired on July 7, meaning she had already overstayed by 34 days, a violation of Article 78 of Indonesia’s 2011 Immigration Law.
N.F told officials a hospital stay had delayed her plans to extend her visa, and that she had used her remaining money on daily expenses rather than the immigration fine. She was held briefly at the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office before her transfer to Rudenim Denpasar on August 12.
The German national, K.A.H, was taken in separately by the same immigration office’s intelligence and enforcement division. Her overstay had run far longer, 84 days past her permitted stay, and she said she had run out of both money and accommodation to arrange an extension or a flight home.
Why This Matters for Anyone Living in or Visiting Bali
Overstay cases are common in Bali, but most end with a fine at the airport rather than a stay in a detention facility. What pushes a case from administrative fine to detention is typically the length of the overstay, and in N.F’s case, the added scrutiny that came from her situation going public.
Teguh Mentalyadi, head of Rudenim Denpasar, confirmed the handover of both women in an official statement. He said the detention was a standard immigration procedure while paperwork for their deportation is prepared, and that both were being held safely and in orderly conditions.
Mentalyadi added that N.F’s case involves a specific health consideration that authorities want to resolve quickly. He said her deportation is being fast tracked for that reason, and that her family has agreed to cover the cost of her flight back to Norway.
