Unlimite KITAP

ronb

Just for your info, I have just achieved this milestone. It consists of a letter from Immigration with the heading Permanent Stay Permit Extension, and down in the letter it says "for an indefinite period". With it comes a KITAP card that says "Date to Report" is 5 years from now. Likewise the passport stamp is 5 years from now. Armed with this I now have also obtained a KTP from Gianyar. I have used Bali IDE for all my retirement visa steps.

matsaleh

Congratulations, Ron! You're the first person I know who has the unlimited Kitap.

Normy

my congratulations also Ron.

davita

Congrats from me too....nice to know it is available and not another agent rumour. However, the RI gov't still makes it difficult to get a visa, with reasonable ease and cost, for those looking at Indonesia as a retirement haven. Malaysia has a much better visa for retirees and which is more beneficial to the Malaysian economy. I had one but concluded that, even with difficulty on the visa side I prefer to live in Bali.....so recently gave it up. RonB can you give us a round-about cost for this 'indefinite' Kitap and do you still have to get the MERP every 2 years? I ask because I'll be eligible when I'm 84 and wonder if it is more equitable for me to go back to the 1 year Kitas (year on year)....given life's expectancy. I'd like to do the cost-effective math on a break-even age. e.g. I'm currently in Canada and got a new passport...there was a choice between 5 and 10 years passports. I opted for the 10 year as I will be a 'BIG' winner if I demise later than 6 years, 4 months and 22 days....I'll save C$40...:woohoo! .:icon_e_biggrin: On 2nd thought maybe buying the 'indefinite' Kitap visa will give me more assurance... and God will put me lower on his list of returnees....:black_eyed:

Mark

Congrats Ron, great news. Just wondering if anyone knows if there is a legal difference with the spouse KITAP, which is automatically renewable (no re-application) after five years upon payment of 10 juta fee to the government?

ronb

Hi Davita, the quote was[quote] The KITAP would be then un-limited / forever living in Indonesia but the MERP would be given for 2 years. The cost for Bali Ide is IDR. 69,000,000 (Sixty nine million IDR) - for KITAP and 2 years MERP. [/quote] which makes it look like they are thinking 10 years. So if I live longer than 10 years I can feel I am "winning". In that quote they asked for the usual documents including proof of residence. I had a KIPEM from the Kecamatan Office - there were 2 steps to get this - go to head of our banjar, he does a letter which we then take to the Kecamatan Office in Ubud. But when my papers hit Immigration in Renon they asked for SKTTS (Surat Keterangan Tempat Tinggal Sementara) which would come from the Gianyar government. So I go to the Gianyar government office and this guy decides I need to be on a Kartu Keluarga and rings the guy who is the land-owner that I long-term lease from. I got included on his KK and then got a temporary KTP which went until my last KITAP expired. This worked in Renon and the process continued - it took 3 months altogether - after Renon it went to Jakarta and back. Once the unlimited KITAP was done I went back to Gianyar and got a 5 year KTP.

Atlantis

Mark wroteCongrats Ron, great news. Just wondering if anyone knows if there is a legal difference with the spouse KITAP, which is automatically renewable (no re-application) after five years upon payment of 10 juta fee to the government?

Hi Mark, No, there is no differences in between KITAPs when in comes to renewal, save for the documents one has to produce to keep them valid. I am also on an "indefinite period" ITAP sponsored by my Indonesian spouse. Just one thing: it is not "automatically renewable": you still need to report at the end of the 5 year period and justify that you are still eligible. Though a payment is not required for the extension per se, you will still have to pay for the MERP and the biometric data input fees.

Dynamoes

davita wrote Congrats from me too....nice to know it is available and not another agent rumour. However, the RI gov't still makes it difficult to get a visa, with reasonable ease and cost, for those looking at Indonesia as a retirement haven. Malaysia has a much better visa for retirees and which is more beneficial to the Malaysian economy. I had one but concluded that, even with difficulty on the visa side I prefer to live in Bali.....so recently gave it up. RonB can you give us a round-about cost for this 'indefinite' Kitap and do you still have to get the MERP every 2 years? I ask because I'll be eligible when I'm 84 and wonder if it is more equitable for me to go back to the 1 year Kitas (year on year)....given life's expectancy. I'd like to do the cost-effective math on a break-even age. e.g. I'm currently in Canada and got a new passport...there was a choice between 5 and 10 years passports. I opted for the 10 year as I will be a 'BIG' winner if I demise later than 6 years, 4 months and 22 days....I'll save C$40...:woohoo! .:icon_e_biggrin: On 2nd thought maybe buying the 'indefinite' Kitap visa will give me more assurance... and God will put me lower on his list of returnees....:black_eyed:

I believe you can only renew your Kitas up to 5 times, then you must apply for a 5 year Kitap. Which means after 2 years you are NOT allowed to leave the country until you show a plane ticket receipt, submit it to the government, wait 2 weeks, then you can come and go as often as you wish but only for 2 more years, then you have to re-submit another plane ticket receipt to get one more year of multi entrance/exits! I don’t get it?

Dynamoes

I got that information from my agent and the government website. It’s quite clear about the 5 year Kitap which is now called Itap, lol and requiring a plane ticket that needs to be submitted to the government if you want to exit in your third year. I will persue only renewing my Kitas every year so thanks for that. I will ask my agent too. What I had read on the government website was that a Kitas or ITAS could be renewed each year for 5 years. I was unclear what you could do in your 6th year.

JohnnyCool

Hi Dynamoes and hope you have a great time here. You do realise that you've been responding to posts from three+ years ago? Perhaps that's why you've "misunderstood" some points. [QUOTE][B][I]I believe you can only renew your Kitas up to 5 times, then you must apply for a 5 year Kitap. Which means after 2 years you are NOT allowed to leave the country until you show a plane ticket receipt, submit it to the government, wait 2 weeks, then you can come and go as often as you wish but only for 2 more years, then you have to re-submit another plane ticket receipt to get one more year of multi entrance/exits! I don’t get it?[/I][/B][/QUOTE] I don’t know [I][B]where[/B][/I] you’ve got your information from so far. It’s confusing and wrong, IMHO. [QUOTE][I][B]I believe you can only renew your Kitas up to 5 times, then you must apply for a 5 year Kitap.[/B][/I][/QUOTE] What kind of KITAS? For example, a retirement KITAS is for five years. Towards the end of the first year, you extend it annually four more times and that’s it. Total of five years. What then? You [B]don’t[/B] have to get a KITAP. I’ve never heard of having to show plane ticket receipts, etc, to apply for an exit permit. Never. I am currently in the 10th year of my retirement KITAS. How? After the first five years I started all over again. And I can come and go as many times as I like in any particular year because my visa includes a MERP (multiple entry re-entry permit). You [I]might[/I] be wondering why I don’t have a KITAP, which in my circumstances I [I]could[/I] have gotten after two years (because my wife is Indonesian). Answer: I’ve never wanted one. I hope this hasn’t added to your confusion. Welcome to sort of [I]Upside Down[/I] [I]World [/I](Indonesia). Hope you're enjoying the start of Galungan. :)

JohnnyCool

Dynamoes wrote I got that information from my agent and the government website. It’s quite clear about the 5 year Kitap which is now called Itap, lol and requiring a plane ticket that needs to be submitted to the government if you want to exit in your third year. I will persue only renewing my Kitas every year so thanks for that. I will ask my agent too. What I had read on the government website was that a Kitas or ITAS could be renewed each year for 5 years. I was unclear what you could do in your 6th year.

Your original comment said: [B][I]I believe you can only renew your Kitas up to 5 times, then you must apply for a 5 year Kitap...[/I][/B] I've already pointed out why this is incorrect, from my experiences. I'm on my [B]tenth year[/B] of a retirement KITAS. Later this year, I'll probably start all over again. (I don't want a KITAP). "Information" from government websites here is often problematic, let alone what "agents" come up with. They can create a river of madness or a pit of confusion. It's often extremely difficult, IMHO, to get straight and accurate answers from those who purport to have them. That includes government websites. ([I]Have[/I] they been [I]updated[/I]? If so, has the [I]latest[/I] information trickled down to "agents"?) It's no wonder that there are so many different "versions" of the "reality". Who can you believe? :rolleyes: