MERP refresher, share your experience

[El_Goretto]

So I just renewed my MERP for another 2 years as part of my KITAP.

I renewed at the Tangerang immigration office which has been recently renovated. It all went well except for 2 things:

1. I had to go there 3 times when I was under the impression that twice would/should be enough:
   1. First time to drop the form and required documents.
   2. Second time to pay the fee
   3. Third time to pick up my passport and kitap with the stamp
2. When I dropped my passport and original passport, I got a receipt saying they're holding those 2 documents. But when I went back the 2nd time to pay the fee, they took that receipt and only gave me the payment receipt. No proof whatsoever that the KanIm was holding my documents. I asked for some kind of receipt, they were a dick about it and wouldn't lift a finger despite me explaining that the payment receipt would not be enough if I were controlled during an immigration sweep or spot check.

In the end, all was good, and I got my documents back on the third visit.

So what has been your experience with renewing the merp? How many times to the KanIm? Did you get more receipts than I did?

Just want to check before I write an article about this for expatindo.org.

 

[jstar]

You know what's the funny thing? When sponsored by your spouse, (s)he can do it completely, no need for you to show up at all. And my wife had to renew her passport anyway .

You're right, three visits (four if you count picking up the form first): deliver docs, pay and pickup. You need to leave your passport and KITAP. KTP was not even asked for.

Two receipts, two working days between visits.

 

[El_Goretto]

You know what's the funny thing? When sponsored by your spouse, (s)he can do it completely, no need for you to show up at all. And my wife had to renew her passport anyway

Absolutely, but I'm a gentleman, you see?

four if you count picking up the form first

I anticipated that so for the first visit, my wife tagged along and we filled out the forms on the spot for her to sign. We had already prepared the copies of what was needed.

 

[Banana72]

Looks like assuming everything goes smoothly. Pick up your forms on Monday, fresh 'n new MERP by next Wednesday at the latest?

 

[jstar]

Sure.

Even a bit faster. in just over a full week; if you hand over on Wednesday, pay on Monday morning, you can pick up Wednesday early afternoon. As always, you need some luck at the loket ; one day it's empty and the next there are 10 people waiting.

Well, it could be worse (passport for WNI).

 

[El_Goretto]

Looks like assuming everything goes smoothly. Pick up your forms on Monday, fresh 'n new MERP by next Wednesday at the latest?

Depends, it was slightly longer for me in between: 2 to 3 business days in between visits.

 

[tokektokek]

I have just applied for my second 2 year MERP today at Tanjung Perak.

Now, I don't know if this applies to other Imigrasi's but I am a bit pushed for time (I arrived in Indonesia today and my flight back to UK is next Tuesday, didn't help by having my initial flight cancelled and losing first 2 days of my time here from British Airways IT problem) and I explained this to the Imigrasi Officer when he said I had to come back in two days just to pay, and then come back some time next week for pick up when complete. With a little bit of talking from my wife, he agreed to let us pay today and come back in 2 days to pick up my passport with new MERP and KITAP. So it is possible to get it a bit faster, although again I don't know if it is the same everywhere.

I visited Imigrasi on the way to our house from the airport. The other thing I don't like about multiple trips to Imigrasi, is it is quite far from our house and costs me 500,000Rupiah for each round trip - so keeping trips to a minimum is highly beneficial.

I had to fill in the MERP form, complete the Surat jaminan (can't remember the full name) and hand these over in a yellow folder which also contained my passport and photocopy of main page and KITAP/MERP stamps, KITAP and photocopy, and photocopy of my wife's KTP.

After paying, and handing this all back to the imigrasi officer along with the payment slip, he told us to come back on Friday to pickup my passport and KITAP.

One thing I will add which I found is much better at my imigrasi, is that the forms for applying for things are now located on a stand -which means you can pick up what you need yourself, rather than having to queue just to get the forms as I used to have to do.

 

[Samoerai]

Today I went to kantor Imigrasi, because I need to tranfer the 'cap merp' from my old passport to my new passport.

i was under the impression that one doesn't need the 'surat sponsor' and also that the sponsor does not need to be present, because that would be the 'prosedur' for 'urus merp baru'.

Boy was I wrong!

At the counter for 'mutasi paspor' the employee already made the statement that I need to have the sponsor letter and a bunch of other forms.

I said that is for a new merp. My merp is still valid. Just tranfer it from the old to the new passport.

Cannot. It's the 'prosedur' .. it is regulation.

I said 'where is that regulation? I want to read the regulation where it says that I need the sponsor letter, etc'.

'Who is the imigrasi officer? You or me?' He said.

'You' I said. 'But, show me this regulation, I want to read that. Or better. I want to speak to your boss.'

One minute later I talked to the boss.

Long story short: I got my 'cap merp' in 10 minutes in my new passport, but still had to fill in some forms.

Done in one visit.

P.s. the red tape (burokrasi) is crazy here. Only because nobody trust anybody here. In this case ... making sure that I am still married to my sponsor.

 

[Brian86]

@Samoerai
I'm glad it worked out for you, but for anyone else considering this, this is a "Mutasi Paspor" which requires Formulir 27 and a sponsor letter. I don't know the specific regulation, but here are the requirements listed on a few regional Imigrasi sites;
Jogja; https://jogja.imigrasi.go.id/mutasi-paspor/#1661842173858-b5f3d823-14e0
Bali; https://imigrasingurahrai.kemenkumham.go.id/web/layanan-warga-negara-asing/mutasi-paspor/

 

[Pak Tani]

The last time I went back to visit my parents, I applied for a new passport there because the old one with a MERP in it was about to expire.
When I picked up my new passport they made some holes in the old one, just like they usually do.
Upon arriving at Soekarno Hatta I handed over both passports to the immigration officer, briefly explained how and why and he nodded, stamped the thing and I was good to go.
Never knew about the need for migrating the MERP stamp to the new booklet.

 

[Brian86]

The last time I went back to visit my parents, I applied for a new passport there because the old one with a MERP in it was about to expire.
When I picked up my new passport they made some holes in the old one, just like they usually do.
Upon arriving at Soekarno Hatta I handed over both passports to the immigration officer, briefly explained how and why and he nodded, stamped the thing and I was good to go.
Never knew about the need for migrating the MERP stamp to the new booklet.

Yes, I do not know the official policy on this, but I know that's common and I've never heard of any trouble traveling with both old and new passports. I did that once for most of a year with several entries in that time, then I got my next visa processed with the new passport. Another time I had years left on my visa, so I went through the 'mutasi paspor' so I would not need to travel with both.

 

[Hawk256]

Today I went to kantor Imigrasi, because I need to tranfer the 'cap merp' from my old passport to my new passport.

i was under the impression that one doesn't need the 'surat sponsor' and also that the sponsor does not need to be present, because that would be the 'prosedur' for 'urus merp baru'.

Boy was I wrong!

At the counter for 'mutasi paspor' the employee already made the statement that I need to have the sponsor letter and a bunch of other forms.

I said that is for a new merp. My merp is still valid. Just tranfer it from the old to the new passport.

Cannot. It's the 'prosedur' .. it is regulation.

I said 'where is that regulation? I want to read the regulation where it says that I need the sponsor letter, etc'.

'Who is the imigrasi officer? You or me?' He said.

'You' I said. 'But, show me this regulation, I want to read that. Or better. I want to speak to your boss.'

One minute later I talked to the boss.

Long story short: I got my 'cap merp' in 10 minutes in my new passport, but still had to fill in some forms.

Done in one visit.

P.s. the red tape (burokrasi) is crazy here. Only because nobody trust anybody here. In this case ... making sure that I am still married to my sponsor.

I did the same process a few months ago and I don't remember needing any forms filled out. My wife was with me but I still don't think she had to do anything. Took them 2 days to do it and no charge. My experience in dealing with goverment employees anywhere is that you are never right and trying to prove that you are only makes things worse. Maybe they are letting a couple of things slide but if you want to follow the letter of the law, you could be in for a suprise. For the most part, you just have to suck it up. Been doing it so many years, I am a pro now. It sucks but it is what it is.

 

[Balifrog]

making sure that I am still married to my sponsor.

Hahaha.....that gave me a good laugh !
Marrying your sponsor

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Personally I would save the 'I want to speak to your boss' routine for something more important than whether or not a sponsor letter is needed.
I transferred the merp and kitap to a new passport recently because it's easier than having to carry 2 passports every time.

 

[Samoerai]

The last time I went back to visit my parents, I applied for a new passport there because the old one with a MERP in it was about to expire.
When I picked up my new passport they made some holes in the old one, just like they usually do.
Upon arriving at Soekarno Hatta I handed over both passports to the immigration officer, briefly explained how and why and he nodded, stamped the thing and I was good to go.
Never knew about the need for migrating the MERP stamp to the new booklet.

Yes, that's one way. Jstar told me this too. I could apply for a new passport in my home country and when entering Indonesia again just show them my old passport (with the MERP) and the new one.
But in the end, one has to go to 'kantor imigrasi' for 'mutasi paspor' nevertheless.

 

[Samoerai]

@Samoerai
I'm glad it worked out for you, but for anyone else considering this, this is a "Mutasi Paspor" which requires Formulir 27 and a sponsor letter. I don't know the specific regulation, but here are the requirements listed on a few regional Imigrasi sites;
Jogja; https://jogja.imigrasi.go.id/mutasi-paspor/#1661842173858-b5f3d823-14e0
Bali; https://imigrasingurahrai.kemenkumham.go.id/web/layanan-warga-negara-asing/mutasi-paspor/

The fact that the required documents are different in Yokyakarta and Bali is already strange. I would not be surprised that the regulations for transferring a - still valid - MERP in an old passport to a new passport does not exist at all. It is illogical to hand over documents such as sponsor letter, KTP, Kitas/Kitap, Kartu Keluarga. What for? De MERP in the old passport is still valid and not expired.

I cannot find this 'prosedur' in the visa regulation: https://paralegal.id/peraturan/peraturan-menteri-hukum-dan-hak-asasi-manusia-nomor-22-tahun-2023/

By the way, a stamp like MERP is so 'tempo dulu'. Can they not digitize that and make an e-MERP that can be registered in their system? So, everything can be done online.

And further, why the need for a MERP in a passport? What is the use of a 're-entry permit' in your passport? You already have a residence permit. What danger do they want to prevent with this?

 

[Samoerai]

Personally I would save the 'I want to speak to your boss' routine for something more important than whether or not a sponsor letter is needed.
I transferred the merp and kitap to a new passport recently because it's easier than having to carry 2 passports every time.

It took me 2 hours to get there. And my wife (sponsor) did not come along.

 

[jstar]

I transferred the merp and kitap to a new passport recently because it's easier than having to carry 2 passports every time.

That might be true but the most important reason should be that Immigration needs the link between ITAP and your recent passport. It’s one of these changes you need to report as change of address etc.

 

[Pak Tani]

Yes, that's one way. Jstar told me this too. I could apply for a new passport in my home country and when entering Indonesia again just show them my old passport (with the MERP) and the new one.
But in the end, one has to go to 'kantor imigrasi' for 'mutasi paspor' nevertheless.

If one has to 'mutasi MERP' to the new passport, then you'd expect that the Kitas/Kitap stamp/sticker should also be 'dimutasi'?
Just like you, my immigration office is not around the corner so I am in no mood to do this. And I don't believe I have ever done this in the past.

 

[Brian86]

The fact that the required documents are different in Yokyakarta and Bali is already strange.

They're really not different. The Bali one is just focused on telling you what the applicant needs to bring. Both will do Formulir 27 and photocopy KITAS, but the form is provided by the immigration office and the photocopy can be done by them as well.

I would not be surprised that the regulations for transferring a - still valid - MERP in an old passport to a new passport does not exist at all.
...
I cannot find this 'prosedur' in the visa regulation: https://paralegal.id/peraturan/peraturan-menteri-hukum-dan-hak-asasi-manusia-nomor-22-tahun-2023/

It is referenced in Pasal 79(2) and more specifically Pasal 122(6)h of that regulation. Any change in status of your visa (such as your address, passport number, marital status) must be reported and do a perubahan.
Permenkumham No 36 Tahun 2021 gives the details of what is required, Pasal 14(2) specifically mentioning 'penggantian paspor' and Pasal 18(1)a does say "permohonan dari Orang Asing, Penjamin, atau Penanggung Jawab" which would appear to mean you did not need your sponsor. However, that might be wrapped up within Pasal 18(1)b.

It is illogical to hand over documents such as sponsor letter, KTP, Kitas/Kitap, Kartu Keluarga. What for?
...
And further, why the need for a MERP in a passport? What is the use of a 're-entry permit' in your passport? You already have a residence permit. What danger do they want to prevent with this?

On that we fully agree! But long ago I began to just expect the excessive bureaucracy at every turn, and be pleasantly surprised when something has less bureaucracy.