I have a pensiunan Kitas,already for more than four years.
I am not so sure the agents are ignorant,as they can make more money by yearly extensions.
(In my case they ask 6 juta for visa extension and 1.2 for a 12 month exit re-entrypermit if i remember well)
Where can i find the official text about this possibility after TWO years?
The
Immigration Act, written in 1992 and the government regulation number 32 year 1994 are the bible of most agent. They read it, learn it (in the best cases) and think it's enough to call themselves "agent". No worries, at the other end of the stick, the immigration officers think and act the same. In fact, these two statutes are the spinal cord of the immigration regulation but are completed with hundreds of governmental regulations, ministerial decision and DitJenIm decrees plus a few joint decision associating a few ministries. This is only after having studied all of them that one will have a correct view on what it is all about.
If you go to an agent or if you go directly to your Kantor Imigrasi, both will tell you that you need to be a resident for five full years before being able to convert your ITAS (temporary stay permit) in an ITAP (permanent resident permit). They base their assumption one the article 49 of the
Peraturan Pemerintah nomor 32 tahun 1994 tentang Visa, Izin Masuk dan Izin keimigrasian
It reads:
Pasal 49
(1)`Izin Tinggal Terbatas dapat dialihkan statusnya menjadi Izin Tinggal Tetap.
(2)`Pengalihan status sebagaimana dimaksud dalam ayat (1) diberikan atas dasar permintaan orang asing yang bersangkutan, dengan syarat telah berada di wilayah Negara Republik Indonesia sekurang-kurangnya lima tahun berturut-turut terhitung sejak tanggal diberikannya Izin Tinggal Terbatas.
Translated, it means that an ITAS can be converted in an ITAP (ayat 1) and that the conversion shall be granted on the condition that the applicant has been residing in Indonesia for a period of at least 5 full continuous years (ayat 2).
That is the version one will hear in most, if not all cases.
However, in October 2005, a new regulation has amended this particular article 49 (along with a couple of others). It is called the
Peraturan Pemerintah nomor 38 tahun 2005 tentang perubahan kedua atas Peraturan Pemerintah nomor 32 tahun 1994 tentang Visa, Izin Masuk dan Izin keimigrasian.
The regulation quoted above amended the verse (2) of the article 49 PP 32/1994 which now reads:
(2) Pengalihan status sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) dapat diberikan atas dasar permintaan orang asing yang bersangkutan,
dengan syarat telah berada di wilayah Negara Republik Indonesia sekurang-kurangnya 2 (dua) tahun berturut-turut sejak tanggal diberikannya Izin Tinggal Terbatas.
Only 2 full continuous years of residence in Indonesia are necessary to apply for the conversion of an ITAS in an ITAP.
Print the PP 32/1994 and its amendment. This is what you will need to make your point.
However, I don't want to sound negative, but concerning the negociation for your KITAP I invite you to
read this post I've written somewhere else and to browse a bit the archives you will find in the link. It will make I am sure an interesting read for you.
After visiting the immigration office in Denpasar once in the past,where they refused to extend my sosbud visa without my sponsor being present,i was so nauseated and afraid i would bodily harm someone that i resorted to the agencies.Just as was the idea of treating me as a basket full of rotten fish,because they knew there would be no "commission".You can not always win.
I beg to disagree. You can win, as long you are legit and obviously as long as you know the Law. a refusal of extension is not that hard to deal with if you know where to press. Immigration can not refuse arbitrary an extension without specific reasons. But that's another topic.
One more puzzling thing i encountered in this Tarif-list
aspor RI untuk orang asing perorangan.Is that in case of getting citizenship?
No, it's not. Once you gain indonesian citizenship by naturalization you are a full Indonesian citizen as per the the article 26 (1) of the Constituation RI and the article 2 of the Citizenship Act 12/2006. No differences subsist.
The Paspor RI untuk orang asing was, shamefully, the only way for people of the Tiong Hoa ethny to get a proper documentation to exit Indonesia. Many of the chinese having settling down for generations were bared from obtaining indonesian citizenship and were legally considered as foreigners or sub citizen. They had only a temporary or permanent residency (as we, "true foreigners" have) and a Paspor untuk Orang Asing was delivered to them with a validity of 2 years maximum and
for only one exit/reentry to the conditions that they didn't have any passport from any other country.
Hopefully the situation of the chinese have improved post soeharto and the 2006 change in the citizenship law has allowed many of them to become citizens... at last.
Nowadays there is still some Paspor RI untuk Orang Asing delivered but it is rare. If you want to know more on the topic (at least it's legal side) you can check the
Peraturan Pemerintah RI nomor 36 tahun 1994 tentang Surat Perjalanan Republik Indonesia which is a good start to start to learn about Paspor RI and indonesian travel documents.
Once more thanks for this invaluable advice and all the time you put into it.
I will surely have a better bargaining position,if i ever use an agency again.
Hermit.
You're welcome.
