Government urged to ease law for foreign spouses

**alasulis** · 19-01-11, 18:20

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 01/19/2011 10:21 AM | National

Foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens should not be subject to the same requirements as foreign workers when seeking work permits, agreed several legislators and a top immigration official.

Ihsan Sulistyo, a legislator on the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said that the government should not discriminate against the foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens who lack high employment skills or qualifications.

He said that a lack of skills should not be an excuse for the government to treat families differently by subjecting the foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens to tough requirements when obtaining permanent resident status or work permits.

“It’s time for us to consider an easier procedure. They also need to make a living for their families here,” he told journalists on the sidelines of a discussion on a draft immigration bill.

Many foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens face difficulties in obtaining a permanent residency permit (KITAP), which will allow them to stay in Indonesia for five years at a time and make it easier to get a work permit.

A 2007 regulation from the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the 2003 Law on Manpower provides clear and explicit procedures only for those who are sponsored by companies.

Foreigners sponsored by their Indonesian spouses can get a KITAP valid for five years but cannot work in the country unless they obtain a work permit.

KITAP are prioritized for foreign investors, CEOs or to workers in fields that require a specific skill. People lacking skills do not stand a chance of obtaining a work permit, even if their spouse is Indonesian.

The regulation has made life difficult for many mixed marriages, especially for those with Indonesian women who have married foreigners.

“We cannot resolve this problem by merely asking them to return to their countries of origin with their Indonesian wives and children. It’s not humane treatment,” Ihsan said.

The Immigration and Citizenship Advocacy Study Institute’s Molan Tarigan said the government should make permanent residency permits available for both work and family unification purposes.

Citing an example, he said that the Immigration Office should give a KITAP valid for a longer period to the foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens.

“They should have a KITAP which is valid at least for ten years, instead of just five years to show our respect of mixed marriage couples,” Molan told The Jakarta Post.

A foreign spouse with a KITAP should also not be required to have a multiple-entry visa, he added.

Currently, KITAPs issued by the government to foreign workers and spouses are valid for 5 years. The workers and spouses must have multiple-entry visas to go abroad.

“We haven’t distinguished foreigners who want to live with their Indonesian families from those who are only working here — whereas the implication for their rights is very different,” said Molan.

He said he hoped the draft immigration bill could solve these issues.

The Immigration Office’s Stay Permits and Immigration Status director, Pramuningtyas Hadiwijoyo, agreed that the government should not give special treatment to foreign spouses.

“It’s no problem for us to ease process of acquiring permanent resident status,” he told the Post.

“It might be better for us to give a KITAP with a longer period to foreigners in mixed marriages than those who are job seekers or investors,” he said, adding that it there might not be a need for foreign spouses to have multiple-entry visas.

Close monitoring would be needed to prevent immigration violations, he said.

“Many foreigners who are violating the immigration regulation have asked for permanent residency, either to get job here or other purposes, under the guise of a mixed marriage,” Pramuningtyas said, adding that the Immigration Office had recently discovered eleven such immigration violations in Tangerang. (ebf)