Kitap complications

spicyayam

Logic says it is counted from the day you got married. Sorry I don't know the actual law. Atlantis on another forum would probably know. Perhaps the guys were looking for an extra fee? Maybe you can check with an agent or try to call immigration in Jakarta for an answer. Do you get a reference number or something?

harryopal

Thanks Spicyayam. We did not use an agent. I posted the same question on the expat forum where the theme is more fully developed.

spicyayam

I realize that you didn't use an agent, but getting an agent involved is one possible solution to help grease the wheels so to speak. I am not saying it will work, but it's one possible way to handle the situation and comes with its own potential problems.

harryopal

Before arriving in Indonesia my Indonesian wife and I registered our marriage with the the Indonesian Consul in Sydney, and organized a Sosbud visa. We arrived in Bali in March of 2017 year. My Indonesian wife then applied for a Kitas spouse sponsored visa. After the usual toing an froing to various offices in Jimbaran and Renon I duly received a Kitas visa in July last year. As we had been staying at a Kos In Jimbaran we began looking for accommodation and found a suitable house in the same region at Jalan Bukit Hijau moving in December 2017. My wife visited the Pemertinatah Kecematan Kuta Selatan and obtained a Surat Keterangan Tempat Tinggal Sementara and this document was included with our Kitap application. As we have been married 5 years we decided to then apply for Kitap. My wife completed and provided the various documents necessary for Kitap which were examined at some length at the Immigration offices in Jimbaran at the end of March this year and we were told all was in order and to pay the fee of Rp 5. 505. 000 which we did. We had two interviews where we are living at Jalan Bukit Hijau where again everything seemed to be in order. Then on Tuesday we had another visit from two officers from Renon who said their were some anomalies. As the discussion was in Bahasa Indonesian I had little idea as to what were the problems. After the officers left, and talking with my wife, it seemed that an Indonesian Consul stamp dated 16th of January 2017 on our Queensland marriage certificate was seen as the date of our marriage although the document clearly states our marriage taking place on the 8th April 2013. We rang and arranged a meeting this morning at the Renon offices where I pointed out that the marriage certificate and Indonesian Consul certificate clearly state our marriage as 8th April 2013. I pointed out the consulate stamp dated 27th of April 2017 was simply a notification as to our document received by the consul. We were told that the immigration law requires 2 years from notification although I saw a paragraph in their rules that indicated a minimum of 2 year's marriage. It was suggested the application for Kitap might be rejected as there had been less than two years since the marriage was registered with the consul. If that rule is in fact what is required I can't help but wonder why weren't we advised of that when the documents were first presented and before being asked to pay the Rp 5.5 juta fee. Another anomaly was that one of my wife's documents had her earlier residing at Kos 168 and my residence was shown as Jalan Bukit Jimbaran. Given that we have had visits from Immigration at our residence where clearly we are living together it seems odd that this matter had not been raised previously. The long and the short of it is that this morning we were told the application will be forwarded to Jakarta for a decision. I should mention that all these meetings were cordial and friendly without any impatience shown by myself or wife. For those fully conversant with Indonesian Immigration rules, I have this question: Is eligibility for Kitas based on a minimum of 2 years or marriage or 2 years of registration with an Indonesian consul or authority?

MikeG

All sorted out satisfactorily?

Fred2

Indonesia is a bit funny about that, they don't class you as married until you register it with them. And if you take your documents to Jakarta you will get the back in 3 days, worth the flight to Jakarta.

harryopal

Mike G, Thanks. Yes, everything finally sorted out but there are some points relevant to anyone applying for Kitap. Most of the material was posted on the Expat forum and if the detail is of interest to you, you can find it here: https://www.expatindo.org/community/threads/kitap-complications.4097/ For a shorter final summary here is my last post on that issue: "Stone the crows! On the 20th of September we learned our Kitap application was now okay and would be forwarded to Jakarta. Five weeks on no news and getting a bit edgy and wondering if we were going to have to leave, organize another Sosbud, then to Kitas and on again to Kitap. Nearly 7 months since the original application. And then today...... we were told our Kitap has been approved and we pick up passport and other documents at Ngurah Rai Immigration Office in Jimbaran tomorrow. We have a wedding to go to in Bandung on the 9th of this month and was looking at going on to Melbourne around the 15th. So now we can go ahead with that and what a relief to avoid innumerable visits to immigration offices had our application been rejected. A reminder then to would be applicants for Kitap. Make sure your marriage has been registered with Indon authorities 2 years prior to applying. The irony is that had our application been processed quickly in April or May we would not have been eligible. The long delay mean that by the time the application went to Jakarta we were just over the 2 year requirement. Our case was further complicated by changing address from our Kitas approval but thank goodness it worked out. Across the various procedures my wife did the paper work and we avoided agency fees. Thanks to the many forum members who responded to my often bewildering enquiries and for the information that is to be found in the Forum files."