Indonesia Introduces Bridging Visa Policy

Posted by Written by Ayman Falak Medina Reading Time: 2 minutes

Indonesia has introduced a new ‘bridging visa’ policy which enables foreigners to stay in the country while they are processing their resident permits, thus allowing them to save time and costs, as well as providing them with better legal certainty.

Foreign nationals holding a visit visa through the evisa.imigrasi.go.id portal can now obtain this bridging visa. This also applies to expired limited stay permits and permanent stay permits. This transitional resident permit is valid for 60 days and can only be obtained within Indonesian territory, if the foreigner leaves Indonesia, the bridging visa is no longer valid.

Other visa types in Indonesia

There are a variety of visas foreign visitors can apply for depending on their purpose of visit.

Business visas

This is a single-entry visa valid for 60 days upon arrival and can be extended up to four times. This type of visa is intended for businesspeople who are engaging in meetings in the country, attending conferences, or undertaking market research.

This visa must be sponsored by a legal entity in Indonesia and the holders are not allowed to gain employment while in the country.

Multiple entry business visas

Multiple entry business visas allow foreign visitors to make repeated trips to Indonesia for one year. The visa, however, has a 60-day limit upon arrival, meaning that visitors will have to leave the country before it expires before entering Indonesia again.

The requirements for obtaining this visa type are the same as that of the business visa. The fee is US$100.

Application requirements

The application requirements for the business visa are as follows:

  • A passport valid for at least six months;
  • A letter of invitation from the Indonesian-based sponsor mentioning the purpose of the applicant’s visit, and length of stay. The Indonesian sponsor will also need to do an online application to the immigration office in Jakarta on behalf of the applicant;
  • The process usually takes five working days by which the immigration office will issue a visa approval letter. This will then be sent to the applicant’s nearest Indonesian Embassy, which will issue the visa.
  • A business cover letter from the applicant’s own company;
  • One passport-sized photograph (white background);
  • A copy of the applicant’s round-trip, electronic airline ticket;
  • Pay the US$50 fee; and
  • A bank statement proving the applicant has at least US$1,500.

Working visas

A work visa (IMTA) can only be applied by the Indonesian company that will hire the foreign worker. The company must prove to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that the foreign applicant must fulfill certain positions.

Foreign employees are not allowed to obtain work in the following sectors:

  • Human resource management;
  • Legal;
  • Health and safety;
  • Quality control; and
  • Supply chain management.

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