Indonesia’s Investor Visa Program You Should Check Out

A prominent country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, formally called the Republic of Indonesia, is keen on attracting investors and pumping its economy. There are many policy changes that have occurred lately to draw the attention of foreign investors, and one of them is the introduction of Investor KITAS. The Indonesian economy has endured several international challenges, including the impact of the US-China trade war, COVID-19, and the Ukraine-Russia War. The investment outlook is stable, and hence, foreign investors out there have a worthwhile investment opportunity to exploit.
Investor KITAS is the government’s efforts to streamline the foreign investment process and offer investors plenty of waivers and residential benefits. Yes, it is a much more fine-tuned policy response to the want of foreign investment. But, you must go through all its essentials before you consider moving forward. Over here, I have listed a few important pointers about the said investor visa program for your reference.

1. A Brief Overview
   By holding an Investor KITAS/ITAS, the visa-holder will be able to acquire a residence permit upon making certain investments. There are two categories of the said visa; one is called Index 313: 1-year KITAS/ITAS, and the second one is called Index 314: 2-year KITAS/ITAS. Both of these visas enable the investors to stay in the country howsoever long he wants within the stipulated period. It should be noted that the Indonesian government has discontinued the issuance of the physical card, and the residence permit is called Limited State Permit (ITAS). The KITAS Visa derives its legal validity from Law Number 6 the Year 2011, which was later amended in 2018 and 2019.

2. What kind of investor is qualified 
   There are a few conditions for the investors to comply with to become eligible for the visa.

• The interested applicant must have at least 1 billion IDR invested in shares.

• The capital of the company must have at least 10 billion IDR in the form of capital investment.

• The said company should also have at least 25 percent earmarked as paid-up capital.

• As far as the sponsorship of the investors is concerned, the sponsoring company can only sponsor an investor following the acquisition of a business registration number as well as trading licenses. A Foreign Company Investment Realization Report must be submitted, along with other documents of the company.

3. The application process 
   A major benefit of the Investor KITAS is that the application process is labor-saving and comprehensible. Added to that is the fact that the application fee for a work permit is not expensive, relatively speaking. All you are required to do is to prepare the necessary documents; these documents include scanned copies of the company’s documents, such as registration documents submitted to the Ministry of Labor. Then, obtain a VITAS and apply for an investor KITAS/ITAS upon arrival at the immigration office. The entire process should ordinarily take around 3-4 weeks only, provided there are not any issues with your application and/or documents submitted.

4. The Eligibility To Work for the Investors
   Here are a couple of things to remember when it comes to working under the said visa. So, if you are stated as a Director, then you are entitled to work as per Manpower Regulation Permenaker No. 10 in the Year 2018. However, this entitled is excluded to those investors listed as Commissioners, though you are allowed to stay for at most two years. In case you want to work as a Commissioner under the visa, then you can avail of the benefit upon the investment of 1,125,000,000 IDR in shares in the company.

5. What else you should know
   A handful of other things you should note. Firstly, the KITAS Visa is renewable. Secondly, a company is eligible to apply for more than 1 Investor KITAS so as long the investment in shares stands at a minimum of 1 Billion IDR, and the said shares are stated in the Deed of Establishment of the Company. Thirdly, the investor visa does not, unfortunately, allow investors to support dependent visas. Also, unlike before, the applicant need not obtain a Recommendation Letter from BKPM, an Indonesian Investment agency. Lastly, the visa fee is fixed at 150USD.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the CEOWORLD magazine.