Press release Immigration 🎫 🛂

jstar

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Indonesia's immigration law has been revised and the new law has been in force since 19 September 2024. A total of nine changes have been made. The following three changes relate to foreign passport holders.

Immigration officers are allowed to carry a weapon

Before the immigration law was amended, immigration officers did not wear weapons. However, the work of immigration officers - supervision and enforcement - involves major risks, according to Director-General for Immigration Affairs Silmy Karim.

For example, a tragic incident occurred last year, in which an immigration officer was killed by a foreign terror suspect who tried to escape from a detention cell.

Risks lurk in particular for immigration workers working in border areas and conflict-sensitive areas. Employees may face threats, aggression and violence. According to Karim, a weapon can serve as protection and as a deterrent.

Longer denial of access to Indonesia

Another signal that the Indonesian immigration service wants to use to alert foreigners to comply with Indonesian regulations is a longer denial of entry to Indonesia.

A 10-year denied access can be imposed on problem makers. Karim also mentions the possibility of a lifetime deprivation of access to Indonesia.

Longer validity period MERP

This is for many of us the cherry on the cake: As we know to be allowed to travel freely in and out of Indonesia, foreign passport holders who are in possession of a temporary residence permit (ITAS) or permanent residence permit (ITAP) must have a MERP (Multiple Entry Re-entry Permit). This entry and exit permit was valid for a maximum of two years before the amendment to the law.

As a result, a holder of an ITAP, which has a ‘validity period’ of five years, had to renew the MERP after two years. 'That is no longer necessary', says Director General of Immigration Affairs Silmy Karim. The MERP now has the same validity period as the ITAS/ITAP 😳 Which obviously will lead to a lot of questions and unclarity.
 
Since my next ‘reporting for KITAP holders’ is quite far away; perhaps someone who does this the coming months can confirm here that the new MERP was 5 years (or in the unlikely case unlimited) and communicate the costs?
 
Since my next ‘reporting for KITAP holders’ is quite far away; perhaps someone who does this the coming months can confirm here that the new MERP was 5 years (or in the unlikely case unlimited) and communicate the costs?
I doubt that implementation instructions are out yet, but it seems to me quite likely that the next MERP you get will be issued until the end of your current 5 years, and your subsequent MERP will be for the same 5 years as your next reporting period.

I would expect the cost to be the same or very similar to the current 1.75j for 2 years, which would be 4,375,000 for 5 years. If you next MERP on your current 5 year period is for some odd amount of time, they will probably assess the fee by round up to the nearest full year and multiply that by an annual cost of 875,000.
 
I'll also keep an eye out for tooled-up immigration officers 🔫
Those snazzy new uniforms really do look like they should have a gat attached, don't they? Maybe a nice Colt on a thigh holster (over the trousers, of course) or a double rig under the arms (peeking out of an open jacket) would take it to the next level.

Seems like I squeaked under the wire on that new merp reg. New ITAP hasn't been issued yet, but I've already paid for it.
 
Does this mean immigration officers can now shoot you if you argue?
This isn't America. You'd probably have to argue loudly.

I'm a pretty argumentative sort and they have generally been patient with me. They insist on things contrary to the regulations, but they do it patiently. By contrast, my terror at the bad things that might happen to me if they make a mistake tends to make me a bit short and overly-direct. So far, neither of us seems to suffer for our shortcomings.
 
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I got into a heated discussion with a TSA officer at LAX once. Their system at the security check did not recognize my brand new passport yet. My spouse told me I was kind of intimidating. The employee asked to be replaced.

NB: As of May 2025 you’d need a US driver license with a ⭐️ on the front to be able to fly domestically. They call it REAL ID.
 
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NB: As of May 2025 you’d need a US driver license with a ⭐️ on the front to be able to fly domestically. They call it REAL ID.
Not really true about Real ID. They’ve been trying to implement it for at least a decade. They keep pushing the date back again and again. All sorts of other ID will work fine, a passport, other government ID’s.

I still use my US drivers license that was issued over 30 years ago.
 
Ooh, that is interesting! I'm about to start the unlimited KITAP process, and a longer MERP would be great.

I'll also keep an eye out for tooled-up immigration officers 🔫
Well, this news has yet to be implemented at Imigrasi Tangerang.

I thought for a moment that they hadn't heard about the revised law, but after I showed them the press release they assured me that they'd known what I was talking about all along, of course - and who am I to gainsay them, I suppose.

They're waiting for a surat ederan from the ministry. The expected date of this is when Allah wills it, which seems about right.
 

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