Options To Work On A Spouse Sponsored Kitas

Hi James, The only place I know of that would hire a foreign chef in Jakarta would be a fancy 5 star hotel, which would probably expect a high degree of professional experience and / or credentials. Local cafes or restaraunts wouldn't be able to affort to hire a foreign cook. The wages for a "cook" at a local cafe or restaraunt is very low. Have you visited or lived in Indonesia before?


#2
Hi. Thank you so much for your response. Yes. I have visited previously. But I didn't stay there. I am staying other country. Can I ask you if my wife open a cafe in Indonesia and I help her there in kitchen side but I don't take any salary and no bank accounts. Is that OK or I will face problems?
 
Yes, you need a University degree or proficiency certificate and letter stating at least 5 years of experience from the previous employer(s).

Indonesia does not allow low skilled jobs, meaning in a restaurant you could be only a chef or manager. As a foreigner, you can only work in medium or big companies.

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Hi there. Thank you so much for your reply. May I ask, what if I help my wife in her restaurant but I don't take any salary. Is it will be ok or I will face trouble?
 
#2
Hi. Thank you so much for your response. Yes. I have visited previously. But I didn't stay there. I am staying other country. Can I ask you if my wife open a cafe in Indonesia and I help her there in kitchen side but I don't take any salary and no bank accounts. Is that OK or I will face problems?
Hi James, Culturally and legally its probably a bad idea for you to "work" in the kitchen of your wife's cafe. There are a lot of issues which you won't understand now until you have lived in Indonesia for at least 6 months. My suggestion would be for you to help train the staff and supervise the cafe, not work. The issue is not about being paid for your work. If rumors started spreading that a foreigner was "working" in the kitchen of a small cafe. I'm guessing it would only take a few weeks before immigration officials visited you. Is it really worth the risk of getting in trouble when you could hire a cook for about $350 a month a just train them?
 
Hi James, Culturally and legally its probably a bad idea for you to "work" in the kitchen of your wife's cafe. There are a lot of issues which you won't understand now until you have lived in Indonesia for at least 6 months. My suggestion would be for you to help train the staff and supervise the cafe, not work. The issue is not about being paid for your work. If rumors started spreading that a foreigner was "working" in the kitchen of a small cafe. I'm guessing it would only take a few weeks before immigration officials visited you. Is it really worth the risk of getting in trouble when you could hire a cook for about $350 a month a just train them?


Hi. Thanks a lot for the valuable information. You are right. But I got a information from one person who staying in Jakarta. He told me that if I am holding a Spouse Kitas, then I can apply for additional work permit but in that case I don't need a bachelor degree. I can give my Diploma certificate, proof of experience and can get the work permit. Can I ask you, Is it true?
 
Hi. Thanks a lot for the valuable information. You are right. But I got a information from one person who staying in Jakarta. He told me that if I am holding a Spouse Kitas, then I can apply for additional work permit but in that case I don't need a bachelor degree. I can give my Diploma certificate, proof of experience and can get the work permit. Can I ask you, Is it true?
Hi James, I can not give you current legal ruling for work permits. The law and /or interpretation of it, concerning foreigner work permits has changed a lot since I worked in Indonesia. The ethics and culture in Indonesia maybe completely incomprehensible to you. Business owners almost never actually "work" in their business. They sit around and have employees do the work. Admittedly it's very hard to find good employees but that's how it is here. You may hire and fire 6 employees before finding 1 good worker. The wages for workers in a café in Indonesia are probably between $150 to $350 USD per month depending on the position with free meals per day. So even if you wanted to spend the effort and money to get a work permit; $1200 USD per year, why bother? You would actually lower yourself in the eyes of the locals by doing kitchen work. Is your Indonesian wife suggesting that you will both be "working" in the kitchen of your café or is it just your interpretation of owning a business in Indonesia? If I may ask, what country you are from? This may help me to better convey the differences of living, working, and doing business in Indonesia.
 
Hi. Thanks a lot for the valuable information. You are right. But I got a information from one person who staying in Jakarta. He told me that if I am holding a Spouse Kitas, then I can apply for additional work permit but in that case I don't need a bachelor degree. I can give my Diploma certificate, proof of experience and can get the work permit. Can I ask you, Is it true?

You will need an employer to employ you and process a work permit. From your side, you will need to provide the latest education certificate(usually BA for general managerial/advisory positions) or proficiency certificate (i.e. Chef certificate, Diver, etc..depending on the position and has to be related to that position), a letter from the previous employer stating 5 yrs of experience, and insurance -in your case (spouse sponsored KITAS) they usually ask BPJS health, despite regulation saying any Indonesian health insurance.
If you are director/commissioner of a company you do not need an education certificate.

From the other side, the company sponsor has to provide a plethora of other documents.
 
You will need an employer to employ you and process a work permit. From your side, you will need to provide the latest education certificate(usually BA for general managerial/advisory positions) or proficiency certificate (i.e. Chef certificate, Diver, etc..depending on the position and has to be related to that position), a letter from the previous employer stating 5 yrs of experience, and insurance -in your case (spouse sponsored KITAS) they usually ask BPJS health, despite regulation saying any Indonesian health insurance.
If you are director/commissioner of a company you do not need an education certificate.

From the other side, the company sponsor has to provide a plethora of other documents.

No wonder Indonesia is ranked #73 in ease of doing business according to World Bank.

Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia is below Singapore #2, Malaysia #12, Thailand #21, Brunei #66, and Vietnam #70.

 
Don't know about being a chef, but I have been operating our shop ( of course not a big one ) with my wife for the last two years. Till now I have no problem sitting behind the cash and selling products, it helps my language skill too because I have to talk to the customers, and in the beginning a lot of people asked where I'm actually from ( ofc my skin color isn't white ), probably just out of curiosity. We once had a visit by one of the immigration officials but it was nothing official because he came with his wife, when he saw me, he just asked ' oh you guys open here ' ( previously we asked about that in the immigration office). That's it. So far everything is going well. This is my experience as working ( I don't it's working or not ) and I believe I'm not doing anything illegal. But as we all know, every city is different and immigration officials interpret things differently too. Best of luck for your future plans. (Y)
 
Don't know about being a chef, but I have been operating our shop ( of course not a big one ) with my wife for the last two years. Till now I have no problem sitting behind the cash and selling products, it helps my language skill too because I have to talk to the customers, and in the beginning a lot of people asked where I'm actually from ( ofc my skin color isn't white ), probably just out of curiosity. We once had a visit by one of the immigration officials but it was nothing official because he came with his wife, when he saw me, he just asked ' oh you guys open here ' ( previously we asked about that in the immigration office). That's it. So far everything is going well. This is my experience as working ( I don't it's working or not ) and I believe I'm not doing anything illegal. But as we all know, every city is different and immigration officials interpret things differently too. Best of luck for your future plans. (Y)

By my opinion not recommendable and risky. You cannot sit at the cashier's place, issuing bills and collecting cash is considered a job for a local low skilled worker.
 
Given our situation I don't have any other options and our shop isn't that big yet to hire someone for the cashier. 🙁
 

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