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Amani Renas
Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 72
Location: The 3rd Dimension
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 Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:04 am Post subject: VISA Regulations for Indonesia? |
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Hi! I am totally bombarding Dave's ESL with all of my questions, but I've done some internet research and nothing has been helpful.
To anyone who has been to Indonesia on a work VISA,
What was the process like? I've heard horror stories of Korean health exams, long forms and being rejected because of background checks.
I'm generally healthy and have no criminal record, but are there other things that I should be prepared for? When I went to Mexico, they wanted 4 copies of everything. And then they wanted MORE copies of those copies. Then they wanted a 200 dollar "foreign" tax which I am completely sure they made up in the first 5 minutes of seeing me.
I'm just weary of red tape, and would like to mentally prepare myself before I run into it.
Again, any information will be appreciated!
-Amani  |
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Atoms for Peace
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 135
Location: NKRI
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:17 am Post subject: |
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Hi there.
Bad news: Yup, the bureaucracy is terrible, with taxes, forms, permits and fingerprinting
Good news: The place you're going to work for almost certainly uses an agent who fixes it all for them. You may have to answer some silly questions (the Medan police asked me for names, addresses and occupations of my siblings!), and fingerprinting will involve you directly, but panic not. Even the dodgiest schools in Medan don't expect teachers to do their own paperwork. You could always ask them directly if it would put your mind at rest... |
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laughing_magpie06
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 282
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| Indonesia is the land of red tape...You will be fingerprinted by Immigration and Federal Police each and every time you apply for a new visa. Also once you are in the system you need an exit permit from your school to leave the country and then pay fiscal tax upon departure which is much higher than any airfares out of the country. This is separate from the general departure tax that everyone pays. The fiscal was introduced to stop Indonesians spending their money elsewhere. Also you will probably be asked to work on a tourist visa (which is illegal) until the KITAS (work permit) is processed. |
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Amani Renas
Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 72
Location: The 3rd Dimension
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:32 am Post subject: |
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| laughing_magpie06 wrote: |
| Indonesia is the land of red tape...You will be fingerprinted by Immigration and Federal Police each and every time you apply for a new visa. Also once you are in the system you need an exit permit from your school to leave the country and then pay fiscal tax upon departure which is much higher than any airfares out of the country. This is separate from the general departure tax that everyone pays. The fiscal was introduced to stop Indonesians spending their money elsewhere. Also you will probably be asked to work on a tourist visa (which is illegal) until the KITAS (work permit) is processed. |
How much is this tax? I don't think that's fair at all! |
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laughing_magpie06
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 282
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:50 am Post subject: |
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From an airport it is 1 million rupiah. Around $110 USD. This is slightly higher than the average monthly salary of the Indonesian worker. From Medan it is about 500,000 rp going by sea. A bit less by land if I am right but the only land borders are in Borneo and Papua, a long way from where you will be.
You are dead right-it is a very unfair tax. It is collected by the department of treasury and noone knows where it ends up but look at where Indonesia ranks in the corruption index and you will not be surprised. |
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Amani Renas
Joined: 16 Mar 2008
Posts: 72
Location: The 3rd Dimension
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| Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| laughing_magpie06 wrote: |
From an airport it is 1 million rupiah. Around $110 USD. This is slightly higher than the average monthly salary of the Indonesian worker. From Medan it is about 500,000 rp going by sea. A bit less by land if I am right but the only land borders are in Borneo and Papua, a long way from where you will be.
You are dead right-it is a very unfair tax. It is collected by the department of treasury and noone knows where it ends up but look at where Indonesia ranks in the corruption index and you will not be surprised. |
Actually, now that I think about it, I assumed that a "plane ticket out of the country" was more like 500 dollars, not 110 USD.
When I lived in Chile I had to pay a similar tax. Their reasoning? Because the USA charged their citizens the same tax.
It's called, and I may be a little fuzzy on the term, reciprocation.
-Amani |
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workingnomad
Joined: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 106
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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So let me get this right. If you take on a contract of work in Indonesia you cannot leave until you get some exit stamp from your employer?
You are effectively a prisoner? |
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Wilkor
Joined: 18 May 2008
Posts: 20
Location: Perth
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="Amani Renas"]
| laughing_magpie06 wrote: |
How much is this tax? I don't think that's fair at all! |
...if you are concerned about fair, don't go to Indonesia. Fairness stops at the borders. You will be treated different from the day you get there. As a westerner, you will pay more, for everything, always. People will almost always try to rip you off by a huge amount. And at the beginning, they'll succeed. I think I paid $30 AUD for a pair of sunnies my first time through. They should have been $1.50.
Remember though, every time you start to get angry, look out the window of your airconditioned cab and look at the homeless kids begging on the street. Fair doesn't have a place in Indo, and you aren't the only one getting shafted. In fact, you're getting it pretty good. |
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Nabby Adams
Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 215
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 12:14 am Post subject: |
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The latter part of Wilko's post is spot on IMO. There are far too many whingers in Indonesia who seem to forget that the benefits that they are reaping just by being born in a western country far outweigh any of the disadvantages that a bit of skullduggery by the locals can inflict.
Heck, when you think about it his point about the sunglasses could even be turned on its head. Isn't it the vendor that is actually the one being shafted by living in a country where most of the time he can only sell a pair for a $1.50? I mean, it's only because of the institutionalised oppression of Indo's masses that they are kept so far from the nations wealth, and therefore in poverty, that they have no choice than to walk around in the sun all day trying to compete witht the 100 other poor buggers selling the same stuff.
To be a foreigner in Indo is to occaisionally step on a pin. For 90% of Indonesians it is to walk around with the pin lodged in their shoes. |
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