KITAS sponsored by the Indonesian spouse

[atlantis]

Hi guys, this is my first post.

So, all in all, how much do you pay to get a KITAS sponsored by spouse if you were to handle everything by yourself, as compared to getting it done by an agent?

In my experience, doing it myself is faster than any agent even if I don't pay anything beyond the biaya resmi. However, I have to admit that I am pretty used to procedures and that most administration I am used to deal with (police, immigration, samsat, dishub, disperindag, BPN,...etc) are pretty used to the way I see it.

IDR 755.000 is the cost of a KITAS. Add your expenses for transportation and photocopies of documents.

[leong]

business

hi atlantis, you can start a business as an agent. I am sure everyone here in this forum would be glad to engage your services.

[atlantis]

hi atlantis, you can start a business as an agent. I am sure everyone here in this forum would be glad to engage your services.

I have choosen long ago to do it for the community for free here, . In 2003, when my son born, I had to organize his KITAS. There was no sources to be found on internet explaining anything and I could not even find anyone knowing the legal cost of a KITAS! Imigrasi was shameless to ask for USD 2000 for it, here in Manado! At that time, the immigration officers in charge were not Minahasan and they were all from Jawa, and were clearly not here out of philanthropy. They were here to make money and to milk us.
Getting mys son's first KITAS has been a pain, involving a few nasty spat with a couple of assholes with uniforms, but I finally succeeded in doing it by the book at the cost of IDR 200.000 (that was the fee at the time). It's when I started to research Indonesian law.

One of the reason why there is so much corruption in Indonesia is because people don't do anything by themselves and always rely on agent/calo/makelar. Without middlemen, it would be much more difficult and risky to pejabat² to mess.

I have received your PM. Thanks for it. Please, post a new thread. As per my signature, I do not answer to PMs about law and favor questions posted on the board.

[leong]

One of the reason why there is so much corruption in Indonesia is because people don't do anything by themselves and always rely on agent/calo/makelar. Without middlemen, it would be much more difficult and risky to pejabat² to mess.

You are the pioneer and motivation for everyone here. That's how this country works, people are just lazy to deal with the cumbersome procedures and bureaucracies. That's why there is agent for everything; driving license, KTP, etc, etc. But if we are doing things by the law, why should we pay the premium and go with agents who continue to corrupt the system.

[marcus]

... , people are just lazy to deal with the cumbersome procedures and bureaucracies. That's why there is agent for everything; driving license, KTP, etc, etc. ...

Not all are lazy . Many just don't know how to do , where to go for information .

I believe there are agents in most countries (we have them in my country) . They are service providers as any other . In many cases they may be useful .

[atlantis]

Not all are lazy . Many just don't know how to do , where to go for information .

I believe there are agents in most countries (we have them in my country) . They are service providers as any other . In many cases they may be useful .

They would be useful if they were doing their job properly, learning the laws, rather than learning how to circumvent them. You, Marcus, has cumulated much more knowledge than ANY agent I've ever met...and you are a foreigner who does not speak the linguo. THIS talks volume about the extend of their usefulness. Introduce me to 1 (I ask for only one) agent who has a superior knowledge and understanding of the law and I will stand corrected. I've met a bunch of them, quite a few being sponsors of a renowned website (), have talked to some and have checked many of their publications and it has always either infuriated me or despaired me.
I don't even tell you about the calo who gravitate around all public tenders... hard to find more corrupted. Ha... for sure they are "useful"... but unfortunately not really if you intend to do things "by the book".
If I have to teach an agent/calo what he has to do, to perform a task legally and correctly, then I don't consider that he is useful nor that he provides a real serviceor at least not a service in line with what is promised or agreed. In this forum we have hundreds of examples of agents who have been incompetent either in the task performed or in the information given to their client. Yet, the fees charged do not reflect the real value of the "service" they provide.
In many case, if you don't want to do it by yourself, you'd better give money to your pembantu or anyone of your inlaws to do the job. There is a very good chance that you end up with a better job done, for way less money and way less troubles at the end of the day.

[marcus]

(a) They would be useful if they were doing their job properly, learning the laws, rather than learning how to circumvent them ... Introduce me to 1 (I ask for only one) agent who has a superior knowledge and understanding of the law ....

(b) In many case, if you don't want to do it by yourself, you'd better give money to your pembantu or anyone of your inlaws to do the job. There is a very good chance that you end up with a better job done, for way less money and way less troubles at the end of the day.

(a) I don't know any Indonesian agent , so I don't know how much they know the laws .
By useful I meant that many foreigners had used agents' services with reasonable results . As you said (to ask the pembantu , inlaws , ..) , it is not necessary to know the laws/regulations to do the service correctly , without circumvent the laws .

(b) I agree , if one knows how to do it , as I already suggested in some posts .

[Gemes]

When I submitted my application at the local KanIm for conversion of wife-sponsored sosbud to wife-sponsored kitas, the immigration officer took my passport in exchange for a receipt on a slip of paper, telling me that someone would be around to visit my home, and that after that had taken place, I should wait one week before coming back to the office. When I inquired when the visit might take place, I was told, “We won’t tell you otherwise you’ll get ready for it (siap-siap)”.

I’m wondering, that made it sound a little sinister — is such a home visit common? Do they usually come during working hours (which is when my wife would be at her office), and what would they be looking for who will they speak to / are there any traps? Also, does anyone have any experience how many days it may be before they get the visit over with and begin processing the application?

[atlantis]

You shouldn't be worried. Since the enactment of UU 6/2011, immigration has the duty to check that you and your wife are living together and are a real couple. They may even not come to your house and just question the Pak RT, your neighbours...etc. If they come, just take it easy and answer their questions without being intimidated.
In a couple of week, just proceed to your KanIm as per the officer's request, if they didn't come.

[mrcibubur]

Gemes, you did not specify which Immigration office you are dealing with. Many of us have recently successfully processed KITAS and KITAP applications, expecting a house visit which never came. you should prepare yourself for an interview at the KanIm which will be brief and courteous plus the interviewing officer filling out a Form about a House Visit which he never actually made. Some Forum members have reported that the visit was made by arrangement, alsobeit fairly brief.

[Gemes]

Thanks atlantis and mrcibubur — it had me in quite a flap because of the manner in which the guy told me about it. The office was W.Jakarta (who I find are more uptight than the very friendly folks at C.Jakarta). Actually I wonder if it may have come about because I turned up alone with all the paperwork, rather together with my wife, since i speak Indonesian fine and my wife is busy. They've been inventing spurious requests to give me the runaround, and have tried to talk me out of the application on previous occasions - once telling me I should wait till I extended the sosbud a couple more times, then today asserting that I wasn't allowed to apply for a spouse-sponsored kitas until I'd been married two years (I told them politely I thought that requirement was for kitap).

[mrcibubur]

It is certainly better from my experience to become known at the KanIm you are dealing with and to be seen as a 'couple rather than as an individual. Your wife, Gemes, should present herself at some point, alsobeit briefly, though I do not recall it was ever technicallyu necessary for either KITAS or KITAP, we just thought it was 'good practice'.

On my KITAP application when the staff suggested I did not have enough time to process from KITAS TO KITAP (less than three months), give them as they ask a written guarantee letter in Indonesian and English that you would leave the country if the application was not completed in time and you would not complain about it. You know the timescale for getting things done so set the wheels in motion and get it done once KanIm give you the relevant letters to do so for KanWil and DirJen (if Kitas 1).

Sometimes, yes, I think the older staff in particular are confused on the differences between KITAS and KITAP and it varies considerably from office to office.

[TheGodFather]

I have choosen long ago to do it for the community for free here, . In 2003, when my son born, I had to organize his KITAS. There was no sources to be found on internet explaining anything and I could not even find anyone knowing the legal cost of a KITAS! Imigrasi was shameless to ask for USD 2000 for it, here in Manado! At that time, the immigration officers in charge were not Minahasan and they were all from Jawa, and were clearly not here out of philanthropy. They were here to make money and to milk us.
Getting mys son's first KITAS has been a pain, involving a few nasty spat with a couple of assholes with uniforms, but I finally succeeded in doing it by the book at the cost of IDR 200.000 (that was the fee at the time). It's when I started to research Indonesian law.

One of the reason why there is so much corruption in Indonesia is because people don't do anything by themselves and always rely on agent/calo/makelar. Without middlemen, it would be much more difficult and risky to pejabat² to mess.

I have received your PM. Thanks for it. Please, post a new thread. As per my signature, I do not answer to PMs about law and favor questions posted on the board.

To everyone on this forum.....follow what Atlantis mentioned above......Do things by yourselves and forget the agents.... You'll definitely succeed which i followed and got my KITAAP and following documents without any problems and not even posting any difficulties (which there was none) on our forum livinginindonesiaforum.org. a big cheers to Atlantis and all the other members who care to share their experiences with everyone.

[aquarium]

My wife and I went to Immagrasi on kuningan to set up a Social Budaya Visa. General info about us: She is local and I'm American. We have been married (in Indonesia) for 18 months. Our son was born here, has both US and Indo passports. We currently live in Jakarta. We were told that A) all applications for Sosial Budaya and Vitas must now be made online, with document submitted in jpeg format. There is an online form at the immagrasi website. After the application is processed, we will receive an email that the application was approved, and then she must go to the office with copies of the submitted documents for review, and then she will be given paperwork for me to take to the embassy in Singapore. B) I should just get the Vitas instead of the social, because the requirements are mostly the same, the vitas lasts longer, and the price is the same (50k). There is one document on the list that confuses us. Buku Nikah / akte lahir The woman at customer service said that it is document showing the registration of our marriage at my embassy. As far as I know, the US embassy doesn't do registration of foreign marriages. Checking online about it, I saw no mention of it at the US Embassy website for Jakarta. I saw a question about it on the FAQ page for the US embassy in INDIA, and the answer there was that the US embassy there does not register foreign marriages. Does anyone know more about this? We showed our marriage paperwork when we registered my son's birth and got his birth registration, passport and ssn, but I don't I don't think they asked or offered any registration of the marriage...

[jstar]

Think you make it too difficult...

There is one document on the list that confuses us. Buku Nikah / akte lahir The woman at customer service said that it is document showing the registration of our marriage at my embassy. As far as I know, the US embassy doesn't do registration of foreign marriages. Checking online about it, I saw no mention of it at the US Embassy website for Jakarta. I saw a question about it on the FAQ page for the US embassy in INDIA, and the answer there was that the US embassy there does not register foreign marriages. Does anyone know more about this? We showed our marriage paperwork when we registered my son's birth and got his birth registration, passport and ssn, but I don't I don't think they asked or offered any registration of the marriage...

In case of an Islamic marriage in Indonesia, the KUA provides a Buku Nikah. For all other religions, the Catatan Sipil provides an Akta Perkawinan. So you should have one of these.