JAKARTA. After years or decades of living in Indonesia, thousands of foreign retirees have only a few days left to find out if they can stay in the country.
At the end of October, the government introduced a new type of residence permit, a second residence visa, aimed at "attracting foreign tourists to Bali and other destinations."
This is where the confusion begins, as the authorities confuse foreigners who spend their holidays in the countryside with those who spend their whole lives here.
The Immigration Office celebrated the move by striking a gong, but many foreigners who retired to the island were in no mood to celebrate because the new visas would not do them much good once their existing permits expired. cancel
“Foreigners can easily apply for a second residence visa through the application on the website,” reads an English-language press release posted on the DG website.
All of this is surprising, but then, among such pesky demands as a passport and a recent color photograph, he mentioned the need for 2 billion rupees ($173,000) or the equivalent of assets in a state-owned Indonesian bank.
The rules require Temporary Residence Permit (KITAS) or Permanent Residence Permit (KITAP) holders to extend a second home visa or meet the same certificate of origin requirement, but financial requirements make this impossible for most people.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with a country trying to lure rich people to itself.
Other countries open their doors to rich people from all over the world.
Malaysia, for example, offers a Malaysia My Second Home program for foreigners who want to live there for 10 years if they earn RM40,000 ($12,241) per month and pay RM1 million as a deposit.
For many expats planning to settle in a tropical country with a relatively low cost of living, such as Indonesia, this can be an attractive proposition despite the required proof of funds. Apparently they did a second home visa with them.
This is not a hidden plan to get rid of foreign pensioners living in Indonesia.
The latter, on the contrary, came to the attention when the government introduced new rules.
Although they are generally not wealthy, many retirees living in Bali, Lombok, Jakarta and elsewhere have long lived, loved and contributed to the country of their choice.
Their obligations to the state go beyond financial considerations, but even if the government evaluates their value only in monetary terms, let's break down the numbers;
