Sosbud - leave and return.

[harryopal1]

Selamat sore,

My Indonesian wife and I return to Indonesia arriving Tuesday morning. I will be on a Sosbud visa and beginning the process of seeking permanent residence. We have downloaded previous threads so have a general idea of the process. I gather that after a couple of renewals of the Sosbud visa I may be required to leave Indonesia and then return. So, three questions as my Sosbud visa expires in April.
On arrival with a Sosbud can you exit through the Indonesian immigration Kitas visa lane or just through the regular foreigner lane?
About how long a gap before I may be required to leave the country? And is it okay if one leaves and then returns the following day?
I am looking to use the return to pick up some more personal gear which I am leaving with a friend and would like to know how long I am asking him to keep it for me.
Thanks in anticipation of reliable advice.

Yours tropically, Harryopal

 

[Davita]

Selamat sore,

My Indonesian wife and I return to Indonesia arriving Tuesday morning. I will be on a Sosbud visa and beginning the process of seeking permanent residence. We have downloaded previous threads so have a general idea of the process. I gather that after a couple of renewals of the Sosbud visa I may be required to leave Indonesia and then return. So, three questions as my Sosbud visa expires in April.
On arrival with a Sosbud can you exit through the Indonesian immigration Kitas visa lane or just through the regular foreigner lane?
About how long a gap before I may be required to leave the country? And is it okay if one leaves and then returns the following day?
I am looking to use the return to pick up some more personal gear which I am leaving with a friend and would like to know how long I am asking him to keep it for me.
Thanks in anticipation of reliable advice.

Yours tropically, Harryopal

I don't quite follow your post Harry.
I'm sure you are aware that your Sosbud in initially for 60 days then can be extended 4 X 30 days for a total of 180 days. During this time-scale you can apply for a Kitas sponsored by your WNI spouse and you have no need to leave.
If you leave you will need another visa to return as your single-entry Sosbud will be invalid. I'm not sure...maybe others can confirm...but I think, in the case you leave, you will need to re-apply for another Kitas and that will be more problematic as you can only apply for a spousal Kitas derived from a Sosbud.

With regard to arrival you can try through the Indonesian channel if accompanying your WNI spouse...otherwise, it's the foreigner channel.

BTW A Kitas is a temporary visa.... a Kitap is permanent.

 

[harryopal1]

Davita,

Thanks for the response. There are so many threads and I had thought I had seen it suggested that someone had to leave and return but on reflection I think that was not with a Sosbud. Thanks for the prompt reply..

 

[macvert]

Hi Harry, in the past at least it was very common practice to have a SocBud & when it was about to expire ie before 4 extensions of 30 days each ie 180 days all up, , fly out to Singapore, get a new SocBud thru an agent in Singapore & fly back in, I've done it all on the same day.

I'm thinking that maybe your best bet if it suits is to get onto the KITAS ASAP & tell your friend you will be back to get your stuff in about 4 months at most which will cover it easily.
Note ....Once you have your KITAS you automatically get a multiple Exit / Re - entry permit which basically enables you to come & go as you wish.

I know what you're thinking, but no problem, once you apply for KITAS & Immigration has your passport they give you a receipt which covers you .... so no need to worry about SocBud Extensions while your KITAS is being processed or being asked to produce your passport somewhere, the only drama that may arise is if you absolutely need to leave Indo in an emergency & so need your passport to do so.

 

[dafluff]

As long as your SosBud is sponsored by your wife, you can convert it to spousal KITAS without having to leave the country.

 

[Davita]

As long as your SosBud is sponsored by your wife, you can convert it to spousal KITAS without having to leave the country.

That's true but the OP's situation asks...if one leaves RI and the Sosbud becomes invalid...how to return to that point of application of spousal sosbud to spousal kitas?

 

[dafluff]

That's true but the OP's situation asks...if one leaves RI and the Sosbud becomes invalid...how to return to that point of application of spousal sosbud to spousal kitas?

I see.

Well first things first, as many people in this forum have already proven, you can get a KITAS fairly quickly easily. Especially since the SosBud is still good until April. So my recommendation would be to do this instead of resetting the whole thing.

If that's not possible, then leave the country and you can choose 2 paths: Come back in with SosBud, you can basically do this immediately, if you do it in Singapore. I heard some embassy's will not issue back-to-back SosBuds (Bangkok is one of them). With SosBud, you're in the same boat as before.

Or alternatively get VITAS pre-approved and come back with that. For a step-by-step online process, see here: https://www.expatindo.org/online-kitas-application-procedure/

 

[klaatu]

If the airport is busy(usually) and I'm with my indo wife,I use the kitas lane no matter what visa I'm on..

 

[harryopal1]

Thanks for the various responses. We came through the Indonesian immigration lane at Denpasar without any problems and got our 80 kilos of bits and pieces through without any Custom problems.

 

[Davita]

Thanks for the various responses. We came through the Indonesian immigration lane at Denpasar without any problems and got our 80 kilos of bits and pieces through without any Custom problems.

Welcome...did you eventually enter on a single -entry Sosbud or did you enter with another visa?

If on the Sosbud you will need to get the application in for your spousal kitas ASAP. However your spouse will need a Bali KTP to sponsor your application.

 

[harryopal1]

Thank you Davita,

Yes, Sosbud. We have followed the step by step threads on this subject. My wife's son is getting married this month and she has gone to Bandung for the preparations. As soon as she returns we will be pursuing the Kitas application. Her id is Bandung but when she gets back she will be seeking a Kipam (I hope that is the right term} with a registered address in Seminyak so that the visa processing can be done in Bali rather than Bandung.

Whenever I get involved in these kind of bureaucratic processes I pity refugees who arrive in a country without adequate paperwork and not speaking the local language. Life can be complicated.

As we move along I will post the steps.

Yours tropically, harryopal

 

[Davita]

My understanding is a Kipem is a temporary ID when an Indonesian is temporarily employed/student etc. outside his own KTP address....and has plans to return. It isn't for anyone changing permanent address.
My Javanese driver has one for Bali.
I might be entirely wrong but think that may not suffice for your wife to sponsor for your Kitas...I hope I'm wrong.... but you may wish to double-check before setting targets for your visas.