VISA 101: YOUR ULTIMATE VISA GUIDE FOR YOUR STAY IN INDONESIA

What is a visa?

A visa is an authorization given by competent Indonesian authorities that allows foreigners entry, travel within, and exit the Indonesian regions. In order to gain entry into Indonesia, a foreign citizen must own an active and legitimate visa, unless regulated otherwise by Regulation 6/2011 regarding ‘Immigration’ or other existing regulations in international conventions.

What type of visa do I need to travel and reside in Indonesia?

Commonly, there are two types of visa. Differing in the duration of stay of the foreigners. These are:

1. Visit Visa – Required if a foreigner is planning to conduct business, pursue education, travel, or as a means of transit purposes. This type of visa can be divided into two more sub-categories:
   1. Single-entry Visa: Active within 90 days since the visa was created and will be considered non-applicable if not used within that period of time. This visa lasts up to 60 (2 months) or 180 days (6 months).
   2. Multiple-entry Visa: Active within 10 years since the visa was created, and last for certain duration, depending on its type:
      1. One (1) year
      2. Two (2) year(s);
      3. Five (5) year(s), or
      4. 10 year(s).
2. Limited Stay Visa – Which are given to foreigners within these two separate categories:
   • Foreigners who own the status of: clerics, expert, researcher, student, investor, ‘second home’, as well as foreigners who are legitimately married to an Indonesian citizen that is planning to stay in Indonesia for a certain period of time; or
   • Foreigners who are working on boats, floating device, or other installations that operate in Indonesian waters

Note: ‘Second home’ is a visa that is given to foreigners as well to their family members to stay in Indonesia for 5 or 10 years after fulfilling certain requirements.

Additionally, there has been a newly regulated type of visa called the Golden Visa that provides additional perks and benefits along with its own set of mechanisms that can be read in further detail in our website

Tell me more about ‘Visit Visa’ and ‘Limited Stay Permit

Essentially, in order to gain a Visit Visa, a sponsor in Indonesia is required and must be registered to the Directorate General of Immigration (via the online portal). The sponsor plays a crucial part in the process of visa application as they will have to submit the foreigner’s visa application on behalf of them.6 The process to obtain either a Limited Stay Permit or Permanent Stay Permit is gradual, “starting from a visit stay visa, then changing the status to a limited stay permit, and then changing the status to a permanent residence permit.

Visit Visa

Visit Visa or also known as ‘Type B’ consists of three sub-categories that apply towards sponsors:

1. B211A Tourist Visa: Sponsor is a registered travel agency/hotel in Indonesia
2. B211A Social Visa: Sponsor is a registered legal entity or close family member
3. B211A Business: Sponsor is a registered company/entrepreneur in Indonesia

Limited Stay Permit

Limited Stay Permit or also known as ‘Type C’ consists of five categories that contains separate requirements each:

1. C312 Work Visa
   • Sponsor is an Indonesian employer;
   • Work permit is required from the Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Indonesia; and
   • Application by sponsor through the online portal of the Ministry of Labour of the Republic of Indonesia
     (Note: The portal is not accessible from outside Indonesia)
2. C313 Investor Visa / C314 Investor Visa
   • A sponsor is not required but instead the applicant has to provide proof of payment of an immigration security deposit; and
   • Recommendation Letter required from the competent authority of the Republic of Indonesia in the field of capital investment
3. C315 Research Visa
   • Sponsor is an Indonesian research institution;
   • Required research permit / recommendation from the Ministry of Research and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia; and
   • Application by sponsor through the Ministry of Research and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia
4. C316 Study Visa
   • Sponsor is an Indonesian host university;
   • Required study permit / recommendation from the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia, issued by the Attaché for Education and Culture at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Berlin (contact: education@indonesian-embassy.de); and
   • Application by sponsor through the online portal of the Directorate General of Immigration
5. C317 Family Reunion Visa: Varying in its use and duration depending on the chosen rate. Reference to the current rates can be seen in the fee table below:
   This list of prices is taken from Indonesia’s Immigration Directirate General’ website that provides reference to the fee of certain types of visa
   Note: This list only include government’s tax and does not yet include Selaras’ service price.

No	Visa Type	Fee
1	Single-Entry Visit Visa for 60 Days	Rp.2.000.000,00
2	Single-Entry Visit Visa for 180 Days	Rp.6.000.000,00
3	Single-Entry Visit Visa for 60 Days – for Tourism Purposes only	Rp.1.500.000,00
4	Multiple-Entry Visit Visa, per 1 Year	Rp.3.000.000,00
5	Limited-Stay Visa	Rp 2.370.990,00
6	Limited-Stay Visa – Non-Work, for Second Home	Rp.3.000.000,00
7	Limited-Stay Visa – Non-Work, for Second Home, Dependants (Spouse, Children, Parents)	Rp.2.000.000,00
8	Visa Approval by the Indonesian Director General of Immigration	Rp.200.000,00

But wait, I heard that there are easier ways nowadays to gain entry into Indonesia

That’s correct. Two new types of visa, namely: Visa on Arrival and Visa Exemption have been introduced as more convenient means of granting foreigners authorization within Indonesia’s regions.

Visa on Arrival (“VoA”)

A VoA grants foreigners of certain countries (see the list of these countries here) entry and right of residency in Indonesia for the duration of 30 days, and can be extended to a maximum of 1 (one) time or 60 days. This visa grants foreigners the ability to conduct:

• Travel;
• Business;
• Governmental duties;
• Transit to other countries;
• Journalism visit;
• Participate in meetings held by main office or representative in Indonesia; or
• Purchase of goods.

To get a VoA, application process can be done through molina.imigrasi.go.id and online transaction using Visa, MasterCard or JCB.

Special Case – Calling Visa

A calling visa is granted to foreign citizens of specific countries that are seen as highly vulnerable in the context of the ideology, politics, economy, and social/culture. A foreign citizen of the specified countries can be given either a ‘Visit Visa and/or ‘Limited Stay Visa’, where the same respective rules apply. Keep in mind that the application of this visa varies depending on the Indonesian government’s standing with respective cases

Visa Exemption

A Visa Exemption is granted to certain foreign nationals of specific countries to stay in Indonesia for the duration of 30 days and cannot be extended. Furthermore, visitors with this visa are prohibited from working and cannot apply for an onshore visa in Indonesia.

List of visa exempt countries:

Note: These exempt countries are exempted due to their membership as ASEAN countries.

1. Brunei Darussalam 2. The Philippines 3. Cambodia 4. Laos 5. Malaysia

6. Myanmar 7. Singapore 8. Thailand 9. Vietnam 10. Timor Leste

Overall

A visa process application differs depending on the type, duration, and other certain factors. This might get complicated and takes a long time to process. We at Selaras understand these issues and thus, provide consulting to various legal, corporate and immigration services. In order to be able to help global citizens who wish to relocate and move to Indonesia.

SELARAS COMPANY PROFILE

Selaras is a Market Entry and Investment Consulting Firm. We provide strategic consulting for your investments and provide various services to companies, investors and individuals doing business in Indonesia. From remote hiring to setting up local operations, we can help.

Source

1. Undang-Undang Nomor 6 Tahun 2011 tentang Keimigrasian
2. Peraturan Kementerian Hukam dan HAM Nomor 22 Tahun 2023 Tentang Visa dan Izin Tinggal, https://peraturan.go.id/files/permenkumham-no-22-tahun-2023.pdf
3. Peraturan Kementerian Hukum dan HAM Nomor 29 Tahun 2021 Tentang Visa dan Izin Tinggal https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/203695/permenkumham-no-29-tahun-2021
4. Peraturan Menteri Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia No. 33 Tahun 2021 Tentang Tata Cara Penetapan Negara Calling Visa, Permohonan dan Pemberian Visa Bagi Warga Negara Dari Negara Calling Visa
5. Surat Edaran Nomor IMI-0244.GR.01.01 TAHUN 2023 Tentang Kebijakan Keimigrasian Mengenai Layanan Visa dan Izin Tinggal Kunjungan, Visa dan Izin Tinggal Terbatas, Serta Bebas Visa Kunjungan Pada Masa Transisi Endemi Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19); https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tKL39NuYC7kd2zuORydBbMHy9kOewe8N/view
6. Surat Plt. Direktur Jenderal Imigrasi Nomor IMI-KU.01.03-0074 perihal Penyampaian Surat Edaran Pelaksanaan Peraturan Menteri Keuangan Nomor 9/PMK.02/2022 tentang Jenis dan Tarif atas Jenis Penerimaan Negara Bukan Pajak Kebutuhan Mendesak atas Pelayanan Keimigrasian yang Berlaku pada Kementerian Hukum dan HAM
7. ‘General Visa Application Procedure’, Website The Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia in Berlin, https://indonesianembassy.de/general-visa-application/
8. ‘Visa On Arrival (VoA) dan Bebas Visa Kunjungan (BVK)’, Website Kantor Imigrasi Kelas II TPI Singaraja, https://imigrasisingaraja.kemenkumham.go.id/visa-on-arrival-dan-negara-bebas-visakunjungan/
9. ‘Bebas Visa Kunjungan’, Wesbite Kementerian Hukum dan HAM RI, https://www.imigrasi.go.id/id/bebas-visa-kunjungan/#1653877912806-822728b6-fd6b
10. ‘Scramble for Investors with Golden Visa, Is It Necessary?’, 16 September 2022, https://fia.ui.ac.id/en/berebut-investor-dengan-visa-golden-perlukah/
11. ‘Biaya Keimigrasian’, Website Direktoral Jenderal Imigrasi Kementerian Hukum dan HAM RI, https://www.imigrasi.go.id/id/biaya-keimigrasian/