Kitap

Nice article. Thanks!

Very nice article. And so true with the problems in these,

Overall I agree that the article is a good summary of the KITAP, but there are a few points missing, ambiguous, or outright misleading with it.

For example, regarding work, this is what the article says:

<<Do you have the right to work?

Based on article 61 of the Immigration Law, only the spouse sponsored KITAP holder has the right to work and this is clearly stipulated. The law wants the Expat to be able to earn a living for his family.

• The Expat can choose to work as a sole entrepreneur (and avoid the hassle and dazzle of the IMTA, the work permit) or decide to work for a company as an employee and obtain that IMTA. In such cases the company will become the sponsor for just the work permit only, while the Indonesian spouse will remain the sponsor for the (KITAP).>>

And this is what article 61 of the Immigration Law says:

“Limited Stay Permit Holders referred to in Article
52 letter e and f, and the holder of a Permanent
Stay Permit as referred to in Article 54 paragraph
(1) letters b and d can do the job and / or effort
to make ends meet and / or his family.”

Note, if you want to read the law itself, and in the best English translation of it, use this link below: 

http://www.thaibizindonesia.com/upload/pdf/raw_02.pdf

Article 61 is clearly ambiguous and unclear.  All it really says is that BOTH limited stay (KITAS) and permanent stay (KITAP) holders “can do the job” (work), but it does not specifically say that an IMTA (work permit) is unnecessary.  And obviously, a limited stay KITAS most certainly requires a work permit.   

This has not been clarified, thus the article is misleading by stating, “The Expat can choose to work as a sole entrepreneur (and avoid the hassle and dazzle of the IMTA, the work permit).” 

But most glaring in this article is what is written about the cost.  In the article it states that the cost for a spouse sponsored KITAP is 40,500,000 IDR (for a “standard case”).  The article further stipulates “The information given above is based on the experience of having completed hundreds of successful KITAP applications.”  But the article does not mention that doing the KITAP application alone (by spouse sponsorship) runs about 10% of the cost using an agent, or roughly 3.5 to 5 million tops. 

The article is written by “Permit House” which is a commercial visa processing agent located in Jakarta.  With that in mind, one should be very careful about what they read in articles which clearly have a commercial interest. 

61 has been a great source of debate since the law was introduced, many claiming it allows work regardless of a work permit, whilst others claim there is nothing to say the work permit is no longer required.
The last I heard from immigration is they have no interest in looking for working KITAP holders as long as there are no issues such as complaints or any other immigration violations.
However, that's word of mouth from a very few officers, so might not be an official (or unofficially used) position.

Safety says, get a work permit if you intend to work for a company.

The costs in the link are of greater concern, mostly because a foreigner legally married to an Indonesian can easily get a DIY KITAS/P at a fraction of the price stated in the link.
Most agents you find hanging around immigration offices will charge a lot less than that for work related or marriage visas, but those intending to get a retirement visa might well pay closer to those numbers.

Business is business, so shop around.