New members of the Indonesia forum, introduce yourselves here - 2020

Hi everyone.

Lovely to read all your stories here.

My name is Pontus and I am a Swede, but have spent most of my life in the USA and the UK, where I studied, worked and also found my wife, who happens to be Indonesian. We moved to Jakarta a couple of years ago to be closer to her family. We live in a lovely neighbourhood in Lebak Bulus, at the end of the MRT line.

I am on a KITAS, currently applying for a KITAP.

I have a UK master's degree in management (Cass Business School) and long experience of managing and working for charities, civic and cultural organisations. I want to work in Indonesia as a consultant and/or freelancer, which I understand I can do with my wife as my KITAS/KITAP sponsor. Any ideas, help or tips about this are gratefully accepted.

At the moment COVID is limiting my social life to chatting to other dog owners during walks and to volunteering via Zoom. Hence getting on this forum with you guys!

Mr Pontus wrote:

Hi everyone.

Lovely to read all your stories here.

My name is Pontus and I am a Swede, but have spent most of my life in the USA and the UK, where I studied, worked and also found my wife, who happens to be Indonesian. We moved to Jakarta a couple of years ago to be closer to her family. We live in a lovely neighbourhood in Lebak Bulus, at the end of the MRT line.

I am on a KITAS, currently applying for a KITAP.

I have a UK master's degree in management (Cass Business School) and long experience of managing and working for charities, civic and cultural organisations. I want to work in Indonesia as a consultant and/or freelancer, which I understand I can do with my wife as my KITAS/KITAP sponsor. Any ideas, help or tips about this are gratefully accepted.

At the moment COVID is limiting my social life to chatting to other dog owners during walks and to volunteering via Zoom. Hence getting on this forum with you guys!

With Family Kitas/Kitap u are allowed to help ur wife if she run her own business, and pay attention to the word "help", wich mean that u are not allowed to work full time with her, nor to get a salary.
Also working as freelance is not allowed to foreigner, to work in Indonesia, in the allowed positions, a foreigner must be employed by a company registered in Indonesia, that must apply and pay for the working permit and the appropriate Kitas (Family Kitas/Kitap are not allowed to work for a company)
Here is a link to the list of allowed jobs for foreigner, divided by sectors, starting from pag, 8,

https://jdih.kemnaker.go.id/data_puu/Ke … 019_OK.pdf

This is not quite correct Pak, I have been in Indonesia for 26 years and have been a long time KITAS supported by my wife. As a foreigner and married to an Indonesian citizen you are entitled to work to support your family, it is clearly stated in the regulations.

Pontus, I would suggest that you contact a reliable agency and get a copy of the regulations that are in English from the immigration office. On a forum, there will be many different opinions, it is better to see and hear from the horse's mouth. Immigration these days are different from the old days. Indeed your own wife could do this for you, it is that easy (well not that easy haha).

George Barber wrote:

This is not quite correct Pak, I have been in Indonesia for 26 years and have been a long time KITAS supported by my wife. As a foreigner and married to an Indonesian citizen you are entitled to work to support your family, it is clearly stated in the regulations.

Pontus, I would suggest that you contact a reliable agency and get a copy of the regulations that are in English from the immigration office. On a forum, there will be many different opinions, it is better to see and hear from the horse's mouth. Immigration these days are different from the old days. Indeed your own wife could do this for you, it is that easy (well not that easy haha).

Hi George, its right, but better specify that as a foreigner married to an Indonesian citizen you are entitled to work to support your family only on a  business owned by his spouse, and help it means not full time nor with a salary.
I know that there are foreigneir that work without a proprer working kitas. but its illegal and often they are caught and deported.

Thank you very much, Marcello and George. I so appreciate the input.

I was under the impression that a spouse-sponsored KITAP holder is allowed to work as a sole trader (specifically to support one's family) as long as he/she does not hire anyone else. But I will do as you suggest, George, and try to get my own copy of the specific regulations.

Another option is to do online jobs for foreign clients/employers. Does anyone here have any experience of that? On sites such as freelancer.com, you have to pay a monthly fee to participate, so if there are no jobs offered, you'd lose out.

Wayan Bali wrote:

in addition to having dual Indonesian nationality, all legal requirements are very simple. Count on us for everything we can help you !!

No - The legalities are not simple.

There's no such thing as dual nationality as far as Indonesia goes. Your wife might well be Indonesian, but you are listed as Spanish, that meaning you're subject to immigration laws. Assuming you have a KITAP, you can work for your wife, but you can't hire foreigners unless you have a PT company.

Any expat wishing to join you would have to be part of a PT PMA company, and that doesn't come cheap.
It means a large minimum investment at a time when holiday businesses are in the toilet, and a lot of paperwork to get the appropriate company and immigration documents.
There are a lot of words you could use, but 'simple' isn't one of them.

Any expat investing without the proper procedures could very easily lose every penny they invest, then be deported.

Wayan Bali wrote:

. Do you know the new Kitas investor visa? Is really simple and cheap. I am Indonesian so I have the capacity to have a tax number without the need to constitute a PT and I have the title of my land so I can lease against commercial property to the person that seems appropriate. Cheers

There's a new one?
Last I heard was the specification in UU 6/2011 being modified in 2018, and again in 2019. However these still require the company to have Rp10 billion (25% paid up) investment and the expat director with a minimum investment of 1 billion in shares. As for working, there are still limits on that depending on the expat's status.
Why would you lease your land to a director in your company, and why would they want to? Even if they did, they would still have to make sure all the appropriate permits were in place, or apply for them, and where does the cash come from to build or develop? A billion won't go vary far.
If someone did develop a property, how long is the lease and what happens to everything after 1 or 2 years when the investor's visa comes up for renewal? Will you support your investor's renewal, or just cut them loose?

What you or I have as Indonesian citizens hardly matters, but an expat investor must still jump through a lot of hoops and have a lot of cash before they can join your project without risking deportation. The last rule changes can make things easier, but still not easy or cheap.

On a brighter note, if memory serves, I believe the foreigner can apply for a 2 year KITAS rather than the 1 year limit they had previously.

Wayan Bali wrote:

I am Indonesian

Your profile claims you're Spanish, but your earier post claimed dual national Spanish/Indonesian.
Perhaps you could clarify your nationality as it makes a massive difference to everything. If you are Spanish, you can't own land without a PT PMA, so everything would be illegal as you say you don't have a PT.
Holding 2 nationalities, unless you're still at school, would be illegal under Indonesian law.

Hello, howdy, salaam All!

I've finally convinced my hubby and kids to uproot and move overseas because of all that is happening in the US now. I've lived and worked in Jakarta in my early 20's and despised it, but as a journalist for ANTeve (back in 1998, not sure if it's still around) I fell in LOVE with the simplicity of Lombok and would love to return to that. I do see that the current president is planning on creating a big city there, which I'm not excited about, but it allows folks like me and my husband the ability to work, I suppose. I have two kids I still homeschool and two older ones who will be looking for work. So, high speed internet is a requirement. We're thinking of selling our home, two horses and a few chickens and live in our campers, until we can get the family to visit for a month or so. I have tons of questions about how things may have changed, but I'm just writing to introduce myself, for now. Chat with y'all soon!

Hi there, I am from Turkey. I have been living in Indonesia since 2012. I am currently working as IT in a company which is in power market. I am here to be in a network to connect with people whoever wants to contact with me. So suit yourself to do that if you want to.

Hello sir,

nice to know you, you are expat working in jakarta.  wish you good luck and success. sir, i would like to ask your advice about searching a job in indonesia. any good consultant , you know can share with me. or website s where i can browse and apply for the jobs. thank you sir.

regards, roy. thank you

Hey you lovely peeps

You can call me Natasha.
I recently moved in to Jakarta from Yogyakarta after earning my Bachelor degree at Universitas Gadjah Mada. I'm still trying to familiarize myself here, Jakarta is way more fast-paced compare to Yogya who is a bit more mellow.
I am looking for job and/or other exciting opportunity as of now and hopefully some new friends as well.
When I am not busy hunting for jobs, I love to cook, listening to music and traveling.
Let's keep in touch

Glad to meet you Natasha, your name is Russian.  You should be careful about moving to Jakarta, because it seems that Jakarta is not in a safe condition for the COVID-19 pandemic.  different from where I live in Bandung (West Java) is relatively safer.

Regards,
Dicky

Hi Natasha,
Im Dicky, Im Indonesian who live in Bandung West java
I graduated from hotel school in 1985 with Food & Beverage service certificate.  I am currently looking for a job in offshore catering, which seems not easy to get during the COVID19 pandemic.

Here's my whatsapp number for easily communication. Thank you. ****

Julien wrote:

Hi all,

Newbie on the Indonesia forum? Don't know how to start?

This thread is for you

We invite you to introduce yourself on this topic, to share with us your expat story if you are already living in the country, or to tell us more on your expat projects in Indonesia if you are planning to move there.

It will enable us to help you better but above all to wish you a warm welcome.

Welcome on board!

Hi all,
I am Alisha..
Nice to meet you all

aurorawisata wrote:

Hi all,
I am Alisha..
Nice to meet you all

Hi, and welcome to the forum

Howdey my name is lalu iam from Lombok just intruduting my self hopely we can connect or sharing our experience shot me some question i might be able to answer thanks

Hi there!
My name is Chloé, I'm from Quebec Canada. I've lived in Bali for almost a year and a half while I was studying online. I miss the island really bad and I'm wondering how I could find work there, what's available for expats etc!
Like where do we look for work ?

I'd love to hear from you, if you have any contacts or suggestions, I am all ears!
Thanks for you time
xx

Hi everyone!

My name is Rendy, i’m 100% Indonesian, currently living in Jakarta. I go to Bali sometimes for work. I’m also planning to move to Germany this year, but since Corona, i have to postponed the plan...

I’m here looking for new friends and networking. For all expats who lives or who wants to live in Indonesia, if you have questions about how to live in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta, Bali or Manado, or if you have questions about the culture or rules or anything about Indonesia, please feel free to ask me. I would love to communicate with you and help you...

I wish you all have a very nice day! Take care and stay safe

Lovely greetings, Rendy

That’s great l have questions, if you dont mind please add me on WhatsApp ***

Hi, I'm Katrin, originally from Germany. I've lived in Indonesia for about 20 years. I teach at the Sanata Dharma and the UGM in Yogyakarta. I normally don't have much contact to other foreigners, but I just came across this forum and thought, why not. Just curious to see what other expats are doing here.

I've been a member for almost 3 years I think? But never introduced myself. I am a blogger on Halo Bule, hoping for some possitive changes for everyone during this pandemic.

Hello  I am Cor, I have lived and worked in Indonesia for the past 29 years. Been married to an Indonesian lady for the past 20 years and do have 2 wonderful daughters.

I am involved in consultancy for pensions, inheritance, legalizations, visa for the Netherlands. That is mostly for Indonesian citizens who don't understand the complicated Dutch system.

I have been a member of this site for quite some time but never introduced myself. My name is Callum I have lived in Indonesia for 16 years and I work for Holborn Assets as a Wealth Manager. If you have questions about getting KITAS/KITAP, forming a company, buying property, getting married, buying insurance or saving your money I can definitely help. If you have any issues that I can not solve directly chances are I know someone who can. Feel free to contact me any time.

Hi Chloe,

The Indonesian Government is discussing launching a digital nomad visa which will allow foreigners to live in Indonesia while they are doing remote work for a foreign employer. So if you have skills that lend themselves to remote work you could be in luck. Right now because of COVID they are not even allowing foreign tourists to come to Bali so you will have to wait until the restrictions are lifted, but if you add me to your contacts I can let you know the details when they open up again.

Hi,

I invite you to follow this topic on this new thread:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=915991

Thanks!