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The warm climes of Indonesia have attracted the attention of retirees
from colder climes. While many come for a one-month stay on a tourist
visa, there is now a way to stay longer, on a retirement visa. Other
important issues related to retirement are Purchasing
Property, Indonesian income tax and Medical Care.
 Retirement
Visas
The Immigration Department has issued the long-awaited revisions to regulations
that allow the granting of temporary stay permits for those over 55 years of
age. This facility to provide renewable stay permits of one year's duration
was originally announced and regulated in February 1998 by the Keputusan Presiden RI nomor 31 tahun 1998, then completed in October 1998 by the Keputusan Menteri nomor M.04-IZ.01.02 tahun 1998. In the first few years after the regulations were issued
few retirees were actually able to actually get the visa due to the strict
requirements. The "better explanation" of the regulations in April 2002 (decree by the
General Director of Immigration in law No. F. 492-UM.01.10, April 18, 2002)
brought the requirements within closer reach of the financial capabilities
of most retirees.
The retirement visa facility is intended to
assist those wishing to spend their retirement in Indonesia and has the
following requirements:
- Applicant is 55 years of age or older,
- Possess a passport or travel documents with more than 18 months
remaining validity,
- Sbmit full identification (copy of all passport pages) and four
passport photos 4 x 6 cm,
- Curriculum vitae,
- Statement from Pension Fund Foundation or Bank from the country
of origin (or Indonesia) of funds available, minimum of US$1,500 per
month, to provide the applicant living expenses during the proposed
stay in Indonesia (Total US$18,000 per year) (VERY stiff compared to
other countries requirements - US$600/month in Panama),
- Proof of medical/health Insurance, death insurance, and personal
liability insurance in country of origin or Indonesia,
- Statement of living accommodation in Indonesia. Minimum cost of
US$35,000 if
 purchased
house/apartment or, a minimum rental cost of US$500/month in Jakarta,
Bandung, and Bali; US$300/month for other cities in Java Island, Batam,
and Medan, and other cities a minimum US$ 200/month.) in the tourist
areas according to the regulations,
- Statement to declare employment of an Indonesian maid servant
whilst living in Indonesia,
- Payment of Immigration Fee based on effective regulations,
- Sponsor letter from the appointed travel agency, costs to be paid
by applicant,
- Statement agreeing not to engage in business activities or work
for a living. You MAY NOT WORK in Indonesia on this visa!
- You may stay in Indonesia for one year on this visa, extendable
for up to a maximum stay of five years.
You can enter first on a senior citizen tourist visa and then after a month apply for the limited stay permit (KITAS).
Note that the Keputusan Menteri nomor M.04-IZ.01.02 tahun 1998 and subsequent regulation M.07-IZ.01.02 TAHUN 2006, effective 31 August 2006, limits the eligibility of the retirement visa to citizens of the following countries:
- South Africa
- USA
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgia
- Dutch
- Brazil
- Brunei Darusalam
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Arab Emirate
- Estonia
- Finland
- Hungarian
- India
- British
- Ireland
- Iran
- Island
- Italy
- 2Japan
- Germany
- Canada
- South Korea
- Kuwait
- Liechtenstein
- 3uxemburg
- Maldives
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Egypt
- Monaco
- Norway
- Oman
- France
- Philippine
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- Spain
- Suriname
- Sweden (Swedia)
- Swiss
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Greece
Various firms offer their services to act as a coordinators for seniors and must sponsor all
those applying for this visa facility. One of these is Rami
Formalities.
Be advised that even on a retirement visa, you will be liable to pay Indonesian personal income tax,
taxed at the rate of 35% for incomes over Rp 200 million/year ($20,000).
KITAP for Senior Citizens
After extending the limited stay permit for five times (5 years),
foreign retirees can apply for a permanent stay permit visa (KITAP) through
a Senior Foreign Tourist Travel Bureau, as follows:
- Application letter and guarantee from tourist travel bureau as
a sponsor.
- License (SIUP) and tax number (NPWP) of the travel bureau.
- Appointment letter of travel bureau to handle the Foreign Senior
Tourist.
- Curriculum vitae.
- Original and copy of valid passport
- Four photographs, size 2x3 cm.
- Statement of accounts, issued by Pension Fund Institution or bank/s
declaring funds of not less than US$1,500/month are available to finance
his/her stay in Indonesia.
- Statement/evidence verifying actual stay at available accommodation
facilities through the purchase or rental at minimum specified rates.
- Statement to declare employment of Indonesian maid-servant during
his/her stay in Indonesia.
- The most recent, still valid, limited stay permit visa.
Naturalization for Senior Citizens
After obtaining an permanent stay permit (KITAP), citizenship or naturalization
can be sought in a process requiring one year, based on the qualifications
of the retiree.
Personal Accounts of the application process:
The saga of one of the successful applications for a
retirement visa:
I started the process with first getting the implementation procedure
(Petunjuk Pelaksanaan=juklak) that was issued by the Director General
of Immigration on March 2000.
With that paper I saw the officer in charge of KITAS at the immigration
office on Jalan Surapati, Bandung. The man first said, that he did not
have the JUKLAK. I keep insisting that the document exists. Finally he
took it out of his drawer and said : “I have the document. I read
it, but I have never used the new rule before. Get your stuff together
and we'll see what can be done. Anyhow, since you are leaving for LA,
get yourself a visa sosial/budaya. We will go from there.”
These are the papers/documents I put together:
- Copy of my retirement statement from the retirement office
in the US
- Copy of my health and hospital insurance coverage
- Copy of my life insurance policy
- Copy of my house rental contract
- Statement that I employ two Indonesians
- My abbreviated curriculum vitae
- Sponsorship and guarantee statement from my brother (Indonesian
citizen)
- Sponsorship and activity statement of a Non-Profit Organization
where I help for free
At the Surapati office I was told that I had everything I needed.
Three days later, I was told to be at the immigration office. They gave
a big envelope and told me to go with the envelope to the provincial immigration
office at Jalan Jakarta. After waiting for half an hour I was called in.
I handed the envelope to the guy behind the desk. He looked at the papers
in the envelope and told me : “You can NOT get a KITAS yet. You have
to be here, in Indonesia, four months continuously. Come back in four months.”
I went back to Jalan Surapati and was told : OK. We will extend
your Sosial Budaya visa, three or four times.
After the fourth extension, I was told by the Surapati office that
my papers are ready to be delivered to Jalan Jakarta. I was also
told that after the Jalan Jakarta office , all the papers will be sent
to Jakarta, first to the Justice Department and then to the Director General
of Immigration. After everybody had signed in Jakarta, my papers would
be sent back to Bandung, to the Surapati office. I almost gave up hope,
... but, a friend at the Surapati office came to me and said: “Don't
worry, I'll see to it that the papers go to all those offices. The approval
will be back here in two weeks.”
Ten days later I got a call :“Your KITAS request has been
approved. We need to take your finger prints and signature.”
The fingerprinting took two minutes. My passport had to be properly
stamped and signed off and the KITAS had to be typed, stamped and signed
off. All that took two hours. When I looked at my KITAS, I noticed it
was only for six months. I asked the man in charge: Why only for
six months, why not for a year?
The reply was: Come back here in five months, then I will extend
it for a full year.
That's the whole story. I hope this can be of some help for those
who are interested in obtaining a retirement visa.”
Note: The official cost for a KITAS Lansia (Lanjut Usia) is the same than for any other KITAS type, i.e., .IDR 700.000 as per Peraturan Pemerintah nomor 19 tahun 2007. However, we would advise anyone who does not want to spend lengthy hours in the Immigration office to use an agent for this visa. There are many pitfalls and to be honest, it is better to be extra patient.
To help avoid these hassles of trying to work it out yourself,
use a qualified appointed agent like Rami
Formalities.
Another person's experience:
I have to say that my personal experience in obtaining the
special visa for retired foreigners who want to reside in this beautiful
country was relatively easy. I first contacted an agency in Bali on the
internet in early January 2005. They are one of the one’s appointed
by the government to handle the special visa. I mailed them the following
documents:
Copy of passport
Copy of marriage license
Letter stating I’d employ a maid
Letter stating I wouldn’t be working in the country
Letter stating I was renting a house (includes owner’s name, address
of house, amount of rent )
Copy of health insurance policy and life insurance policy (these I bought
in Indonesia from local insurance companies, cost 850,000 and 900,000
per year )
Copy of bank account statement and a couple of mutual funds (they don’t
seem to care too much about this—just have to show something)
Some photographs with red background 4 X 6 cm 10 pcs 3 X 4 cm 4 pcs 2
X 3 cm 4 pcs
Liability insurance: this cost US$ 153.00 paid to the Bali agency. They
made the arrangements.
After the agency received these documents, they sent them
to the main Imigrasi office in Jakarta. After three weeks, everything
was approved, the agency then emailed me the document to hand carry to
the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore. (One has to tell the agency what
Embassy outside the country they will be using) My wife and I flew to
Singapore. I met a special agent there who picked up my passport, passport
photos, and the emailed approval document, from me at the hotel. (his
name and number was provided by the agency. His fee for this was about
US$ 300.00 for the two passports. You can go to the embassy yourself,
but it takes about 3-4 days longer) The next day, he brought back my passport
with the correct stamp to enter Indonesia. We entered Indonesia (no fee
at the airport), and had to report to the agency in Bali within 7 days.
They took our passports and we signed some documents. They called us the
next week and then took us personally to Imigrasi where we filled out
the KITAS form and signed some papers. We were fingerprinted and had our
pictures taken for the KITAS. We went home and the following week our
passports and KITAS for the special retirement visa arrived at our house
by courier.
Cost. Rp 6.000.000 for those going to reside in Bali, half
up front and half after KITAS arrives. The cost is more if one plans to
reside outside Bali, e.g. 8.000.000 for Surabaya, 12.000.000 for Manado,
as the agent has to fly to the city to make arrangement with Imigrasi
for those other areas.
Okay, the three weeks was from the time I turned in the
documents to the agency to the time we received approval from Imigrasi
in Jakarta, so the entire process was about six weeks to receive the KITAS
at our doorstep. I am helping out the agency in Bali search for foreign
expats who want to retire here. They have an employee who works on commission
and has already successfully processed many applicants. She has therefore
requested that I first be contacted and then forward the names of prospective clients to her.
The KITAS is good for one year and is extendable. After the
year was up, I went with an employee of the agency to Imigrasi with passports,
the old KITAS, and some more photos. We spent about 30 minutes there,
got our new KITAS, and were on our way. The fee has to be paid every year,
Rp 6.000.000 for Bali, etc. and the insurance kept up to date.
Let’s discuss the issue of Indonesian personal income
tax, taxed at the rate of 35% for incomes over Rp 200 million/year ($20,000).
I went over this several times with the agency, figuring they should have
all the correct information regarding this matter. They keep telling me
and others that the Indonesian Government does not levy a tax on retirement
income (which the retiree is reporting) for retirees living in Indonesia.
I haven’t inquired any further in this matter and the agency says
not to give it a second thought.
I hope the above will be of some us to you, your wonderful
expat site for Indonesia, and some relief for those foreigners wanting
to retire here in this lovely country who meet the requirements.
Indonesian Government Regulations on Retirement Visas (in Bahasa Indonesia) [doc 29 KB]
Indonesian Government Directives regarding Retirement Visas (in Bahasa Indonesia) [doc 227 KB]
Interesting Retirement-related Sites
Retire Asia
Our thanks to Olivier Rula for his help in updating this article (October 2008) |
