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Retirement in Indonesia

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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.

"How to Retire in Bali" - as the title suggests is a complete guide to retiring in Bali.  The guide book covers all of the essential information you need to know before contemplating a move to Bali, such as visas, health care, insurance, buying property, finding accommodation and adapting to life in Bali.  The book includes interviews with retirees who have already made the move to Bali.  You can learn from their experiences and come out with a better understanding of what it is actually like to live in Bali, rather than just visiting the island for a holiday.

Retirement Visas - KITAS Lansia - Retirement Temporary Stay Permit

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, life insurance, and third-party 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 visit visa (VOA) and then after a month apply for the limited stay permit (KITAS).

Typical fees for a retirement visa range from Rp 5 million - Rp 7 million.

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:

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.

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.

Property Ownership for Foreigners

Changes to the laws in early 2010 are opening up some possibilities for financing of property purchases for retirees, see "Indonesia Signals Modest Changes in Property Ownership Rules for Foreigners" for more information.

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

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 . (One has to tell the agency what Embassy outside the country they will be using) My wife and I flew to . 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 . We entered (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 . I haven’t inquired any further in this matter and the agency says not to give it a second thought.

November 2010 Update to the above:

The above was written 5 years ago.  Please note that a few changes have occurred since then regarding the retirement visa.  I started working again outside the country in 2008, but still have a home in Surabaya as a base, so came off the retirement visa and enter the country with a visa on arrival.  I’ve been to the local imigrasi here in Surabaya to get the 30-day one time extension on the visa on arrival. Imigrasi said an agent was still required for the retirement visa, but one can use the local Indonesian agents who hang around imigrasi to process the visa. This is much easier, less costly, and the agents are tied in close to imigrasi so there are no additional hassles as they both work together. Simply go to a local imigrasi office and ask the uniformed imigrasi who process visa on arrival extensions who their agent buddies are.

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

Frozen in Indonesia: Information for UK Pensioners in Indonesia

Retire Asia

Our thanks to Olivier Rula for his help in updating this article (October 2008).

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