Hi Natasha, out of curiosity, why did you not apply for a spouse sponsored KITAP instead?
We were married last year, so I didn't qualify for KITAP (I believe you have to have spouse-sponsored KITAS 2 years, or married 2 years before qualifying for KITAP).
With the KITAS, we initially went to immigration to get the process started last year but we were told we had to wait until after 3 extensions of SOSBUD visa to apply to convert it to KITAS (which means you can't come in on SOSBUD visa and immediately convert it to KITAS, you have to come in on SOSBUD visa, stay the 60 days, then extend it 2-3 times, and then at the very last month or two of the visa you can then apply to convert it to KITAS). We then spoke to a trusted agent that confirmed that this is the process of converting the SOSBUD to KITAS, but you can also get the KITAS another way by applying for it while in Indonesia, and once it has been approved, you leave the country, go to an Indonesian embassy in another country with the approval letter, pick up a spouse-sponsored visa, come back to Indonesia, send passport to Indonesian immigration and get your KITAS. We were going to go that route, but for some reason at the time when we applied for the KITAS, Indonesian Immigration changed the rules and said you had to submit an exit stamp with your KITAS application and wait outside Indonesia for 10-14 days while your KITAS application gets processed. This was a new rule they implemented last year, and it would be costly to have to sit in another country for 2 weeks waiting for the KITAS to be approved. So we decided to just do the conversion of SOSBUD visa to KITAS, and wait the few months until the end of the SOSBUD visa to convert it. Then... I got pregnant:icon_biggrin:, and every few months I had to go to Singapore to see a doctor, so therefore I was never in Bali long enough to be able to convert the SOSBUD visa to KITAS, and after doing the calculations as to when I'd be eligible to finally convert the SOSBUD visa to KITAS, would actually be the time when I'd be giving birth! No good! So we decided to go with the other option of using the agent and applying for KITAS outside the country, even if i had to sit in another country for 2 weeks waiting for the visa to be approved. As it turned out, seems like the Indonesian gov. went back to the old rules and my KITAS application was approved here and I only had to go to Singapore for the day to pick up new visa for KITAS. The whole process took 2-3 weeks. A huge relief!!!
It is way more costly to use an agent, and with some agents it's more expensive for the western husband to get a spouse-sponsored KITAS than a western wife! As long as you have all the proper documents, it's pretty straight forward to apply for the KITAS directly at an immigration office, but being pregnant, I'm happy we had an agent take care of all that for us, and since we now know the procedure, when we have to re-new the KITAS, we'll probably do it ourselves.
Also make sure you or the agent report you to the police and get that ID card as well!