This article discusses all of the visit visas/permits for foreigners to visit Indonesia, whether that be as a tourist, family visitor, businessman, etc. It is based on the new visa regulations of 22nd August 2023. Older information will not be accurate. Note that the revised fees remain unclear. A foreigner…

Legal background Indonesia has a number of minimum wages, set regionally. The basis for wages is set out in the Manpower law, law 13 of 2003, as modified by the ‘work creation’ omnibus law (currently law 6 of 2023). Article 88, as modified, provides that the government sets regulations on: minimum wage …

There are many agents that promote ‘entertainment KITAS’, ‘artist KITAS’, ‘freelancer KITAS’, and so on. In fact this typically constitutes penyelundupan hukum (evasion of law, or literally ‘legal smuggling’). A KITAS, properly an ITAS, is a (kartu) izin tinggal terbatas, or limited stay permit, i.e. temporary residence permit. There is…

The first thing to say about alcohol in Indonesia is that it is considered immoral, haram, by most of the population of Indonesia. It is against the teachings of Islam. Therefore most law and policy is based on that premise, and not as for example in Western countries primarily on…

Background at international law International law recognizes two main categories of ‘illegal drug’: narcotics, being cannabis, cocaine, and opioids (whether synthetic or derived from the opium poppy), and drugs that can be classified as having similar effects (covered by the Single Convention on Narcotic drugs of 1961) psychotropics, being any psychoactive substance (covered by…

The current criminal code in Indonesia is the Napoleonic criminal code, which was written by French enlightenment thinkers, who argued for a modern (in 1800!) criminal code, which they said was not based in superstition, feudalism, taxation, or despotism. There would be no: délits factices, créés par la superstition, la…

The Second Home visa is a visa to live in Indonesia, which should become available from 24 December 2022. There is no ‘digital nomad’ visa, and no prospect of one in the future: ignore people talking about this. However, the Second Home visa replaces the retirement visa, which was only…

Please also see this article for Indonesian nationality law in general. The SKIM (declaration of immigration status) Holding a SKIM (surat keterangan keimigrasian) is a prerequisite to becoming an Indonesian citizen. This can take several months and costs three million rupiah, and it concerns the requirement to have been a legal resident of Indonesia for at…

The government electricity monopoly, PLN, sets the prices for electricity. These are set via the Regulation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, 28/2016. According to the regulation, tariffs are divided into eight uses: (R)umah tangga (residential) (S)osial (includes private schools and hospitals (classed as social commercial), and religious…