Married to an Indonesian in Thailand

[Digitarius]

I messaged him earlier and asked about the cost and he asked me to send him documents and a copy of my passport so he can quote a price. I told him I have not started the process yet.

I just sent my present sponsor an email stating 4/12 will be my date for the EPO and I guess I have 2 weeks to leave and go to Singapore and apply for a visit visa. That will start the process. Are there any samples of what my wife should write in her letter and does she send it directly to the embassy in Singapore ?

 

[jstar]

Are there any samples of what my wife should write in her letter and does she send it directly to the embassy in Singapore ?

See here:

Sos Bud sponsor letter

Does anyone have a sample of a sponsor letter for a Sosial Budaya visa? TAI

www.expatindo.org

No, you should take the letter with you and hand it over. Don't forget a copy of her passport etc.

 

[ekspat]

..... only after two years of marriage, you can apply for a KITAP. That is a permanent residence permit, it normally succeeds a KITAS. A (K)ITAS sponsored by your spouse you can get right away, since the marriage is official and registered. .....

If your are married overseas, are the two years started to count only after your marriage get officially registered with the Indonesia authorities?

 

[Digitarius]

So my sponsor sent me this response a few days ago.

Please consider —if you will let out, let’s say around 1st May — and (probably) return to Indonesia a week later KITAS will automatically cancelled.

But if you out on 4th May (due date of KITAS) compulsory to make Exit Permit Only (EPO)

Please consider


Then my sponsor sends me the following today.


Anthony, tomorrow (Wednesday, 3rd April) is national holiday.
If you can submit/give the requirement for EPO by today (afternoon), the passport would be returned to you on the 12 April (afternoon).
Reason is immigration office in Jogja asks for the EPO application within 2 weeks and I also anticipate who knows the computer out of order.
The cost is IDR. 1,500,000 (paid full in advance).

Please provide original passport and a copy ticket out of Indonesia.
My business partner Mr Irawan will help you anyway, you may meet him or his staff at immigration office in jogja.

BUT….if you would out Indonesia sometime April and return, then again out Indonesia at the latest of KITAS (4 May 2019) – its fine too.
Application to be submitted to Immigration Office on Monday, 22 April 2019.
FYI 17 – 20 April – holiday.

Kind regards


Am I reading this correct. I can leave and KITAS will cancel with a EPO and I don’t have to pay the sponsor additional fees, which I do not want to do.
I paid this sponsor 14 juta rupiah total. Now they want an additional 1.5 juta. So how should I handle this?

 

[jstar]

If your are married overseas, are the two years started to count only after your marriage get officially registered with the Indonesia authorities?

Correct. Theoretically the wedding date of course but some forum members encountered this discrepancy.

 

[Digitarius]

Jstar read my last entry on here about my sponsor please and let me know what you think please. My expiration date is looming.

 

[jstar]

Yes, the problem is that for both EPO and ERP you need the (collaboration of the) current sponsor. Who is rather powerful in these situations. And there’s another way to make some money if it’s an agent. Even if it’s just to sign a standard form and hand over the KITAS and passport.

Their advice is somewhat flawed btw. Well, partly. It is not advisable to leave the country and to just let the KITAS ‘expire’. Esp. if you plan to go back. Now there is no more fine in place for a lack of EPO (there was one defined by law before), but officials can still make life difficult for you.

Obviously you could take that path and visit the KBRI but then you’d need proof the sponsor is not willing to collaborate. And all that could give you more headaches so personally I’m wondering if it’s not better just to pay the price (and haggle a bit).

 

[Digitarius]

Yeah jstar, this sponsor seems to charge for everything and I am tired of paying them. It seems every few months they add something. I will take my chances and let the KITAS expire. I don't want to deal with the sponsor any longer. I get the feeling they are trying to rip me off. I'm going to let it expire and then apply for a visit visa and have my wife apply to be my sponsor. We will see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.

 

[jstar]

Ok. Keep us informed!

 

[Digitarius]

Yeah I will. My KITAS expires in 7 days.

 

[Digitarius]

jstar when I apply for the visit or social visa would I need to have show that I have to ticket to enter Indonesia and a return/through ticket? Would I need to buy a ticket while I am in Singapore? My wife went online and it is asking about a return/through ticket. Can anyone explain that.

 

[jstar]

....it is asking about a return/through ticket....

Of course in general they want to be sure that people who enter the country, also get out (on time). Nowadays the airline staff will already roast you before your flight to RI if you don't have a return or onward ticket.

To get rid of the whole nasty yes/no discussion, it might be best to provide something just in case. But nowadays it gets more and more difficult to get a 'temporary' or virtual ticket from a travel agency or airline. Of course you could go for an outward flight that can be canceled. A rather convenient (and cheap) option is also a ticket for the ferry leaving Batam to Singapore.

NB: Keep an eye on what @Saudade comes up with concerning her SosBud (well Visit Visa) to KITAS transition! Did you check with your Kantor Imigrasi?

 

[Digitarius]

Yeah I can't imagine finding a temp ticket or one I can just and receive a refund. I will wait until I get to Singapore and see when I can obtain the visit visa then I will purchase the return ticket. At this point I don't know how long it will take. I should know by Monday sometime.

 

[Digitarius]

Hey jstar I got the visit visa myself. It was pretty easy and it didn't take 3 days. I applied on Monday and picked up visa Tuesday afternoon, and left Singapore on Wednesday. No problems. Now begins the count down to a new KITAS.

 

[Digitarius]

Everything went well in Singapore. I applied for visit visa when I arrived on Monday and received in on Wednesday afternoon and I did not use an agent. I applied for KITAS when I returned to Indonesia on May 6th and it's now June 30 and still no KITAS yet but an immigration officer did come to my house already and talked to me for 5 minutes and left. Now I wait to see what happens.

 

[Saudade]

I tried to convert the visit visa (I guess is the same than sosial budaya visa) to kitas keluarga last April and the staffs at the immigration office told me was not possible anymore to convert it, so I have to get a Telex from Jakarta and go overseas again.
I am very curious if you can do it, let me know please.

 

[Digitarius]

I tried to convert the visit visa (I guess is the same than sosial budaya visa) to kitas keluarga last April and the staffs at the immigration office told me was not possible anymore to convert it, so I have to get a Telex from Jakarta and go overseas again.
I am very curious if you can do it, let me know please.

Oh that I do not know about. That is a family KITAS but I do know you still need a sponsor to sponsor you so if you don't have one that is your first step. And you don't have to go overseas just go to Singapore that is how I got min

 

[jstar]

There have been two ways to get an ITAS:

1. Via VITAS, you go through the process first then pick it up abroad at an embassy after the approval (TELEX), and enter Indonesia with a so called VITAS which has to be converted in ITAS.
2. Via a (Sosial Budaya) visit visa, you go to Indonesia sponsored by your spouse and get through the whole process over here.

@Digitarius , you do the route nr. 2. Method nr. 1 was more popular with people who came to work. Now @Saudade and some others can't do the nr. 2 process, Immigration tells them it's not possible anymore.

 

[Digitarius]

There have been two ways to get an ITAS:

1. Via VITAS, you go through the process first then pick it up abroad at an embassy after the approval (TELEX), and enter Indonesia with a so called VITAS which has to be converted in ITAS.
2. Via a (Sosial Budaya) visit visa, you go to Indonesia sponsored by your spouse and get through the whole process over here.

@Digitarius , you do the route nr. 2. Method nr. 1 was more popular with people who came to work. Now @Saudade and some others can't do the nr. 2 process, Immigration tells them it's not possible anymore.

I didn't know that. Why does immigration say that cannot do nr. 2 anymore I don't understand that?

 

[Digitarius]

When I used a sponsor last year, which was a travel agency, they charged me about 10 juta rupiah for the KITAS. In the process of applying for the KITAS my visit visa expired. They told my I had to renew it while waiting for the KITAS to process. So, I renewed the visit visa and paid 1 juta rupiah additionally to the agent.
I am now, this very moment, in the process of obtaining a new KITAS this time I applied on my own. My visit visa has expired and the immigration office said, as long as I am in the process of applying for the KITAS I do not need to pay for another visit visa as the travel agency claimed and charged me for last year. Beware!