Spousal KITAS to KITAP conversion (also applicable for Spousal SosBud to KITAS).

[jstar]

Correct, in JKT they made it compulsory.

Obvious question; spam folder? Could be delayed with Lebaran holiday etc.

 

[jaxpang81]

Correct, in JKT they made it compulsory.

Obvious question; spam folder? Could be delayed with Lebaran holiday etc.

Yes, i did check my Spam folder too, but nothing. I guess so, was delayed and probably forgotten.

 

[jaxpang81]

Hi all, I've finally gotten KITAS online via Whatsapp & Email without going all the way to their office.
Last week, when I finally decided to pay a visit, I went on google search for 1 last time. and voila! found their twitter which has email and phone number. I addresed my complain (politely of course) to both their email and whatsapp. I didnt get respond immediately, but at almost the end of the day, I got respond from whatsapp saying they were sorry for the inconvenience and attached the KITAS online (with passport size too). The email was only responded the next day. Here are their email & phone number : [email protected] +62 811-9273-003
Note: the email address & phone may only apply to Imigrasi Jakarta Barat.

 

[Vulgarian]

I'm currently converting my spousal KITAS to KITAP and I had a visit today from Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi.

Three officers turned up with no warning and said they needed to check a few things. I must admit, I was a bit concerned. I hadn't heard of Dirjen doing a home visit (my local Kanim had come earlier in the process, as expected) and three officers seemed excessive unless they were expecting trouble of some sort.

In the end it was fine - they asked the same questions as Kanim had (plus asking if I'd submitted all the necessary documents, which obviously I had or I wouldn't have got this far), took photos and took off, but it's left me scratching my head. Has anyone else had this?

P. S. Many thanks for the guide to this process on this site. It was a great help.

 

[dafluff]

I'm currently converting my spousal KITAS to KITAP and I had a visit today from Direktorat Jenderal Imigrasi.

Three officers turned up with no warning and said they needed to check a few things. I must admit, I was a bit concerned. I hadn't heard of Dirjen doing a home visit (my local Kanim had come earlier in the process, as expected) and three officers seemed excessive unless they were expecting trouble of some sort.

In the end it was fine - they asked the same questions as Kanim had (plus asking if I'd submitted all the necessary documents, which obviously I had or I wouldn't have got this far), took photos and took off, but it's left me scratching my head. Has anyone else had this?

P. S. Many thanks for the guide to this process on this site. It was a great help.

Congrats on advancing your process of KITAP conversion. Never heard of DitJen visits in particular...but it is not unusual for official visits in Indonesia to be multiple officials. After all it's a paid day to travel around and sit at a warung kopi for a few hours...

 

[Vulgarian]

I suppose so. I was worried it was a shakedown, but they actually asked me if I'd encountered any corruption during the whole process.

As they were leaving, they told me to tell any of my friends who were overstaying their visas to contact their local Kanim and get everything sorted - consider yourselves told!

 

[MamangDudul]

Hello there,

some people make me worried again. Everybody tells me horror storys about different things that do not fit to what I know.

I want to apply spouse sponsored KITAP next year. I already know all the stuff that I have to do.

The situation is we both don't work cause my inheritance is enough for a couple of years. Iam 35, we are married since 2010. The money is partly on my account and partly on my wifes account.

I tell all these details cause someone told us that he (retired) wanted to make a spouse sponsored KITAP and they asked him all those questions about where is the money from, whose house is it bla bla. Then he told me he need 21 million rupiah income per month, but he has that kind of money from his monthly retirement money so no problem for him.

Somehow I feel the story is quite confusing and it seems he mixed up retirement visa/KITAP or whatever with spouse sponsored KITAP.

Does anything of this fits to my situation or do I have to worrie about anything.? Maybe someone has experience about that.


Thanks,

Marius

 

[jstar]

There are many people like you, with a spouse sponsored KITAP in a non officially working capacity, present on this forum.

Don't worry too much.

 

[MamangDudul]

There are many people like you, with a spouse sponsored KITAP in a non officially working capacity, present on this forum.

Don't worry too much.

Hi,

thanks for the answer. I mean is any monthly income even important in my situation or do they only care about the number on my wife's bank account?

 

[jstar]

KITAP is somewhat more subjective than KITAS. (That one is practically never refused.) They do investigate more and want to see that it's all official and viable. In my case and with some others I have knowledge of, they were not interested in pension or monthly allowances or so, nor in foreign properties etc. They did look (granted, briefly) into the financial situation of my spouse.

 

[make_batik_great_again]

Thanks to all who shared their experiences here.

Since the title of the thread and also some comments here stated that the process is also applicable for SosBud -> KITAS: From my own experience and from discussions on social media I know that, recently, many people had to leave Indonesia in order to get a KITAS, although already having a SosBud. Officers at the Immigrasi claimed that direct conversion SosBud to KITAS within Indonesia is not possible anymore. Therefore, the foreigners were told to apply Telex VISA, pick up VITAS overseas (e.g. Malaysia, Singapore) and then apply for KITAS after being back in Indonesia.

I do not know for sure if this really corresponds to the current laws; but it seems that many foreigners experienced this and prefered to accept the "change of process" over arguing.

 

[jstar]

SosBud to KITAS within Indonesia is not possible anymore. Therefore, the foreigners were told to apply Telex VISA, pick up VITAS overseas (e.g. Malaysia, Singapore) and then apply for KITAS after being back in Indonesia.

The Budaya Sosial Visa CANNOT BE CONVERTED to Family Kitas

I had a KITAS family Visa and because expired last 11 th April, I tried to find information on the forum about how to apply again for a new KITAS Keluarga. Reading the forum and the posts of some people about this topic, I had clear there was two ways to go, applying for the Telex to Jakarta...

www.expatindo.org

 

[make_batik_great_again]

The Budaya Sosial Visa CANNOT BE CONVERTED to Family Kitas

I had a KITAS family Visa and because expired last 11 th April, I tried to find information on the forum about how to apply again for a new KITAS Keluarga. Reading the forum and the posts of some people about this topic, I had clear there was two ways to go, applying for the Telex to Jakarta...

www.expatindo.org

Thanks for the link to the other thread. Then it seems that also people from this forum already experienced that new rule. Then I think it was good that I mentioned it as well in this thread (for people who are looking only through this discussion and do not have the information from the other thread)..

Maybe @dafluff could edit his opening post (#1) of this thread and add the information that the process of getting KITAS coming from SosBud is not working like this anymore. Otherwise people might interpret the #1 post as a tutorial how to get from SosBud to KITAS since the thread title says it is also applicable for that.

 

[jstar]

The weird thing is that we never got an official communication that the 'SosBud route' would not be accepted anymore. Personally I have never seen a Ruling or Procedure or so from Immigration that VITAS is the (only) way to go.

 

[make_batik_great_again]

This is why I also thought of disagreeing with them when they told me that I have to leave the country in order to get my KITAS. But it appeared to become a difficult discussion since they were very clear about their view. So I decided to save myself time and effort (probably not money since it was obviousely not cheap with all that costs for flight, hotel, vitas, kitas).

If anybody was able to successfully convert SosBud into KITAS without Telex/leaving country etc., might be useful to post here. Maybe other Immigrasi offices handle things differently. But since I haven´t heard of anyone being successful "the old way" in the last months, I fear the Telex route is the only way accepted (even though never officially announced that way).

 

[dafluff]

The weird thing is that we never got an official communication that the 'SosBud route' would not be accepted anymore. Personally I have never seen a Ruling or Procedure or so from Immigration that VITAS is the (only) way to go.

Well, last I checked the law hasn't changed and UU Nomor 6 Tahun 2011 Tentang Keimigrasian is still in effect. That law authorizes changes from ITK (ie. the visa known as SosBud), to ITAS.

However, I concede that immigration officers may decide not to honor the law (most probably don't even know it), and just do what they are told by their bosses.

 

[Vick]

Having just completed this procedure in July 2016, in Denpasar, Bali, I thought I'd outline the step-by-step process for the forum. I would note that the steps are basically the same for SosBud to KITAS, except that in that case you don't need an Integration Statement nor an SKTT.

First visit to Imigrasi
Go to the Kantor Imigrasi that oversees the area where your spouse's KTP is registered. You should ask them for "Formulir untuk konversi KITAS ke KITAP ikut suami/istri". You should get the following forms:

1. Pernyataan dan Jaminan Suami/Istri (Sponsor statement of responsibility)​

2. Surat Permohonan Konversi (Request of Conversion Letter)​

3. Perdim 24, 25, 26, 27 (These are 4 different forms, but they are very similar)​

4. Surat Pernyataan Integrasi (Integration Statement)​

5. Curriculum Vitae (A short summary of your life, work, education and visa status in Indonesia)​

Other than the Integration Letter, the other forms are all the same as you have used already to do SosBud to KITAS, or KITAS extension. So if you kept copies of those (you did, right?), you can just refer to those, updating with any new information as necessary. The Integration Letter is a declaration that you intend to follow Pancasila, Indonesian constitution, laws and customs.

On your own, you will also need to come up with:

1. SKTT (Surat Keterangan Tempat Tinggal)​

2. Buku/Akta Nikah (Marriage certificate)​

3. Surat Lapor Nikah​

4. KK Sponsor​

5. KTP Sponsor​

6. Passport Photos 2x3, 3x4, 4x6, 2 each, on red background​

7. Your passport and copies of all non-empty pages.​

All the above should also be the same as you already did for SosBud to KITAS. Additional comments on the above items:

1. You receive the SKTT from Catatan Sipil, and if you followed procedure, you would have had this done after every KITAS extension previously. It is a letter (or card) showing your address and information analgous to a KTP.
2. Marriage certificate. If you Muslim, then you should have a Buku Nikah from Kantor Urusan Agama, all other religions will have a Akta Nikah from Catatan Sipil (Civil Registry). Marriages from abroad will need the original as well as translation and proof of registration at the local Catatan Sipil. I think the proof of registration is called a Surat Keterangan Bukti Pelaporan Peristiwa Penting di Luar Negeri.
3. A letter stating that your marriage has been registered with your home country. My embassy was pretty relaxed about it, and asked me to write what I wanted the letter to say, so I did, and they printed it out on embassy letterhead and had some official sign it. Your mileage may vary.
4. KK and KTP should list the status of your sponsor as "Married".

Second Visit to Imigrasi (May 30th)
With all the documents above, go to Imigrasi again. Bring copies of originals as well, in case they want to check it but in my case the official at the counter didn't bother. If everything checks out, he will hand you a receipt, and will tell you that an official will visit you at home for the interview. Previously, they could als give you an appointment to come in and do the interview, but I think they only do at-home interviews now. This is the first bottleneck time wise, because the officials usually wait for a good time to visit, especially in Bali where they usually wait until they have a few interviews and do them all in one day. In my case, the interviewers made it to my place about 2 weeks after I dropped of the application.

Interview (June 14th)
A list of interview questions have been posted in our forum here. I don't think I was asked a single one of those. In my case, two of the officers stopped by around 10 am. After a confirming a few basic facts, we found out that his daughter and I went to the same high school in Denpasar (albeit something like 20 years apart), and at that point the interview was basically over. He said he will take care of all the questions when he gets home, and just had me and my wife sign at the paperwork. He also took pictures of me and the wife and kid (older one was at school). He also tells me to go back to Kantor Imigrasi in 3 work days.

Third Visit to Imigrasi (June 20th)
You are handed your entire folder to photocopy. If you are curious, you can peek into it and see the report they wrote out for the KanIm chief to approve your conversion. They apparently just pulled my file and reprinted the one they had from my SosBud to KITAS conversion from years earlier, as it still has my old address. Return the originals and copies, then the counter person will hand out your file to be delivered to KanWil, which is the office supervising the KanIm. I note that in the report for the KanWil they actually had my correct address. Now in Denpasar these two offices are maybe 1 km apart, so I did not mind doing the delivery. I do not know how they handle it in other locales where the KanWil could be in a different city. I heard that in that case they will use interoffice mail, in which case it could take some time.

Visit to KanWil (June 20th)
KanWil is straightforward. The officer there checks your file to make sure the lower office did everything correctly. Then I was offered 2 possibilities: pick up the file from KanWil in 3 working days, then mail it yourself to DitJenIm, or just wait for the interoffice mail, and just check with KanIm in about one month. Doing the first route, could potentially save you 1-2 weeks he said, while doing the latter means less hassle, but you have to wait for the interoffice mail which usually only gets mailed once they have a few files together. Since I was not in a hurry, I chose the 2nd option.

Fourth Visit to Imigrasi (Aug 1st)
I waited a little bit longer than the recommended 30 days, but good news, checking his computer, the guy at the counter gave me a thumbs up: approval has been granted from DitJenIm. He asks if I want to do the photos and fingerprinting today, and I said yes. Got number 67 and the counter shows they are serving number 24. I readied myself for the long wait. The KanIm in Denpasar has two food vendors in the back, so I decided to check it out for breakfast. They had good nasi campur, and with a teh botol, total: Rp 20,000. When I came back from breakfast, the counter was already in the high 40s. That was faster then expected. I overheard a guy say that the target is 20 photos every 30 minutes. Efficiency! Anyway, after photo and fingerprinting, they give you your receipt back and tell you to come back in 3 days.

Final Visit to Imigrasi (Aug 4th)
Pick up passport. You should check for 3 things:

1. Your KITAP stamp, should stay "Permanent Stay Permit", with an expiration date of 5 years,
2. Your MERP, with an expiration of 2 years
3. KITAP card.

Once you have all 3 things, you are done! Don't forget to go and get your KTP Orang Asing with Catatan Sipil next!

Total fees:
Regular KITAP Rp 3,500,000
2 Year MERP Rp 1,750,000
Photo and Biometric Fee Rp 55,000
2 Meterai Rp 12,000

Total Rp 5,317,000 and not a Rupiah more!

Total time:
Since application was accepted: 66 days. However, I did wait longer than the requested times a couple of times, did not mail my file to DitJenIm and Lebaran was smack dab in the middle. So could've been maybe 20 days faster or so.

Any back ground check? Are they gonna call your home country and all the countries youve visited?

 

[Nicho]

Having just completed this procedure in July 2016, in Denpasar, Bali, I thought I'd outline the step-by-step process for the forum. I would note that the steps are basically the same for SosBud to KITAS, except that in that case you don't need an Integration Statement nor an SKTT.

First visit to Imigrasi
Go to the Kantor Imigrasi that oversees the area where your spouse's KTP is registered. You should ask them for "Formulir untuk konversi KITAS ke KITAP ikut suami/istri". You should get the following forms:

1. Pernyataan dan Jaminan Suami/Istri (Sponsor statement of responsibility)​

2. Surat Permohonan Konversi (Request of Conversion Letter)​

3. Perdim 24, 25, 26, 27 (These are 4 different forms, but they are very similar)​

4. Surat Pernyataan Integrasi (Integration Statement)​

5. Curriculum Vitae (A short summary of your life, work, education and visa status in Indonesia)​

Other than the Integration Letter, the other forms are all the same as you have used already to do SosBud to KITAS, or KITAS extension. So if you kept copies of those (you did, right?), you can just refer to those, updating with any new information as necessary. The Integration Letter is a declaration that you intend to follow Pancasila, Indonesian constitution, laws and customs.

On your own, you will also need to come up with:

1. SKTT (Surat Keterangan Tempat Tinggal)​

2. Buku/Akta Nikah (Marriage certificate)​

3. Surat Lapor Nikah​

4. KK Sponsor​

5. KTP Sponsor​

6. Passport Photos 2x3, 3x4, 4x6, 2 each, on red background​

7. Your passport and copies of all non-empty pages.​

All the above should also be the same as you already did for SosBud to KITAS. Additional comments on the above items:

1. You receive the SKTT from Catatan Sipil, and if you followed procedure, you would have had this done after every KITAS extension previously. It is a letter (or card) showing your address and information analgous to a KTP.
2. Marriage certificate. If you Muslim, then you should have a Buku Nikah from Kantor Urusan Agama, all other religions will have a Akta Nikah from Catatan Sipil (Civil Registry). Marriages from abroad will need the original as well as translation and proof of registration at the local Catatan Sipil. I think the proof of registration is called a Surat Keterangan Bukti Pelaporan Peristiwa Penting di Luar Negeri.
3. A letter stating that your marriage has been registered with your home country. My embassy was pretty relaxed about it, and asked me to write what I wanted the letter to say, so I did, and they printed it out on embassy letterhead and had some official sign it. Your mileage may vary.
4. KK and KTP should list the status of your sponsor as "Married".

Second Visit to Imigrasi (May 30th)
With all the documents above, go to Imigrasi again. Bring copies of originals as well, in case they want to check it but in my case the official at the counter didn't bother. If everything checks out, he will hand you a receipt, and will tell you that an official will visit you at home for the interview. Previously, they could als give you an appointment to come in and do the interview, but I think they only do at-home interviews now. This is the first bottleneck time wise, because the officials usually wait for a good time to visit, especially in Bali where they usually wait until they have a few interviews and do them all in one day. In my case, the interviewers made it to my place about 2 weeks after I dropped of the application.

Interview (June 14th)
A list of interview questions have been posted in our forum here. I don't think I was asked a single one of those. In my case, two of the officers stopped by around 10 am. After a confirming a few basic facts, we found out that his daughter and I went to the same high school in Denpasar (albeit something like 20 years apart), and at that point the interview was basically over. He said he will take care of all the questions when he gets home, and just had me and my wife sign at the paperwork. He also took pictures of me and the wife and kid (older one was at school). He also tells me to go back to Kantor Imigrasi in 3 work days.

Third Visit to Imigrasi (June 20th)
You are handed your entire folder to photocopy. If you are curious, you can peek into it and see the report they wrote out for the KanIm chief to approve your conversion. They apparently just pulled my file and reprinted the one they had from my SosBud to KITAS conversion from years earlier, as it still has my old address. Return the originals and copies, then the counter person will hand out your file to be delivered to KanWil, which is the office supervising the KanIm. I note that in the report for the KanWil they actually had my correct address. Now in Denpasar these two offices are maybe 1 km apart, so I did not mind doing the delivery. I do not know how they handle it in other locales where the KanWil could be in a different city. I heard that in that case they will use interoffice mail, in which case it could take some time.

Visit to KanWil (June 20th)
KanWil is straightforward. The officer there checks your file to make sure the lower office did everything correctly. Then I was offered 2 possibilities: pick up the file from KanWil in 3 working days, then mail it yourself to DitJenIm, or just wait for the interoffice mail, and just check with KanIm in about one month. Doing the first route, could potentially save you 1-2 weeks he said, while doing the latter means less hassle, but you have to wait for the interoffice mail which usually only gets mailed once they have a few files together. Since I was not in a hurry, I chose the 2nd option.

Fourth Visit to Imigrasi (Aug 1st)
I waited a little bit longer than the recommended 30 days, but good news, checking his computer, the guy at the counter gave me a thumbs up: approval has been granted from DitJenIm. He asks if I want to do the photos and fingerprinting today, and I said yes. Got number 67 and the counter shows they are serving number 24. I readied myself for the long wait. The KanIm in Denpasar has two food vendors in the back, so I decided to check it out for breakfast. They had good nasi campur, and with a teh botol, total: Rp 20,000. When I came back from breakfast, the counter was already in the high 40s. That was faster then expected. I overheard a guy say that the target is 20 photos every 30 minutes. Efficiency! Anyway, after photo and fingerprinting, they give you your receipt back and tell you to come back in 3 days.

Final Visit to Imigrasi (Aug 4th)
Pick up passport. You should check for 3 things:

1. Your KITAP stamp, should stay "Permanent Stay Permit", with an expiration date of 5 years,
2. Your MERP, with an expiration of 2 years
3. KITAP card.

Once you have all 3 things, you are done! Don't forget to go and get your KTP Orang Asing with Catatan Sipil next!

Total fees:
Regular KITAP Rp 3,500,000
2 Year MERP Rp 1,750,000
Photo and Biometric Fee Rp 55,000
2 Meterai Rp 12,000

Total Rp 5,317,000 and not a Rupiah more!

Total time:
Since application was accepted: 66 days. However, I did wait longer than the requested times a couple of times, did not mail my file to DitJenIm and Lebaran was smack dab in the middle. So could've been maybe 20 days faster or so.

Did the same in 2021 . Ali Status/conversion to kitap . Bit different over here in Jawa Timur / Banyuwangi . Went to Imigrasi Jember and got all the required forms etc and was told I'd need a letter of recognition of marriage which I'd never needed before when extending the kitas . Letter of recognition of marriage had to come from the Aussie consulate in Surabaya , mailed all the required documents , which had to be signed and stamped by a Notary , 400,000rp , to them as I'm down in the far south/east 2 day round trip + waiting time , received confirmation they were received and an invoice for 800,000rp to be paid when notified again . 7 days wait . Paid and received the official letter by registered mail 3 days later . Had the home interview and the officer took all my documents with him back to Jember saving me another trip . Went back to the office about 2 weeks later and did all the photo copying etc after receiving an email to come to the office, then all the documents were sent to the Kanwil in Surabaya by Imigrasi Jember . The Kanwill forwarded them to the Director General also in Surabaya . Received email notification of approval almost 3 months later , went to Imigrasi Jember for biometrics where I was given an invoice for payment by bank transfer only , to be paid when notified by email . No payments of any kind accepted at the Jember office as of 2017 . made the payment about a week later then waited for email telling me to pick up completed documents for nearly a month. Finally rang the office only to be told i could come when I want . Everything had been completed the day after I paid , my passport/ new visa/merp etc sat in a tray for almost a month . Was also told the Merp didn't have to be renewed after the 2 years unless I wanted to travel O/Seas . Just be aware that although the rules/laws are supposedly the same throughout Indonesia every office and every officer within the office has there own interpretation of the rules/laws . Was told by several different officers i'd need this and that over the years when extending my kitas only to be told they weren't needed by another officer when i went to hand them in .

 

[pantaiema]

Any back ground check? Are they gonna call your home country and all the countries youve visited?

Typically, foreign home offices are very cautious about sharing confidential information without your consent, except in a few exceptional cases such as emergency or life-threatening situations. Dare to do that ? Many lawyers may be willing to work with you on a "no win, no fee" basis.

 

[pantaiema]

Was also told the Merp didn't have to be renewed after the 2 years unless I wanted to travel O/Seas . Just be aware that although the rules/laws are supposedly the same throughout Indonesia every office and every officer within the office has there own interpretation of the rules/laws . Was told by several different officers i'd need this and that over the years when extending my kitas only to be told they weren't needed by another officer when i went to hand them in .

The MERP is used for entering and re-entering the country; if you do not plan to re-enter, you should not be needing it. However, if you are told by the immigration office where you will extending your ITAS/ITAP, then it might be better to avoid unnecessary arguments.

But this is bot uncommon in Indonesia. I have also heard of cases where a spouse wanting to sponsor someone, s/he will need a passport, not just an Indonesian ID card, even if the spouse has never traveled or plans to travel in the near future.