Unlimited KITAP

[Shadrach]

If you're considering an "unlimited" kitap, i suggest giving a good long hard look at naturalization. I remember thinking once i had KITAP it would be the end of a lot of problems one has with these visas.

If not, then you'll forever be bound to the ever changing visa and immigration policies.

I think that foreigners will forever be walking on Eggs, while living in Indonesia. No matter what you do, get married to an Indonesian, , have this visa, or that visa, or live here for many years, you will always be bound by the immigration rules here. They are not set in stone, and could change at any time. This could be from change of government, economic instability, War, etc.
So if you like living here, enjoy it while you can. You never know what the future will bring.

 

[harryopal1]

If you're considering an "unlimited" kitap, i suggest giving a good long hard look at naturalization. I remember thinking once i had KITAP it would be the end of a lot of problems one has with these visas.

If not, then you'll forever be bound to the ever changing visa and immigration policies.

Were I to naturalize I would lose my Austrlian pension and Medicare. I always like to have a fall back position and if things went totally awry it is nice to know I can always bugger off back to Australia.

 

[OomBen]

Were I to naturalize I would lose my Austrlian pension and Medicare. I always like to have a fall back position and if things went totally awry it is nice to know I can always bugger off back to Australia.

Just curious how you'd lose your pension.

If one was an American and retired and decided to move abroad and then renounce their US citizenship, they'd still receive their social security benefits as this is something you've contributed towards while working. There's a few exceptions but if you had a normal job, it's yours to use. But healthcare abroad likely wouldn't be covered but i cant say for certain...this too is something that is paid for by normal working employees in the states.

 

[OomBen]

Oh after a quick google search you are correct @harryopal1

I guess the decision would be much more difficult for Australians to walk away from the pension monies.

 

[fastpitch17]

Just curious how you'd lose your pension.

If one was an American and retired and decided to move abroad and then renounce their US citizenship, they'd still receive their social security benefits as this is something you've contributed towards while working. There's a few exceptions but if you had a normal job, it's yours to use. But healthcare abroad likely wouldn't be covered but i cant say for certain...this too is something that is paid for by normal working employees in the states.

If US citizen is employed abroad they would need an employer provided insurance for any health care. If no provided health care or person is not employed, there is no US provided health care besides one getting private insurance. Even though a US citizen or anyone who has worked in the US had contributed to the Medicare system for all their work years, it is only good within the boarders of the US and it's Territory's. I could use Medicare if I returned to the US, signed up for it and then waited 3 months for it to start. So, if there is an immediate need, not much good.

 

[marcus]

If you're considering an "unlimited" kitap, i suggest giving a good long hard look at naturalization.

I intend to live the rest of my life in Indonesia , but I never considered naturalization and KITAP as similar options .

I remember thinking once i had KITAP it would be the end of a lot of problems one has with these visas. If not, then you'll forever be bound to the ever changing visa and immigration policies.

I guess you are giving too much importance to both the unlimited time KITAP and the Immigration policies .

To me , the first is just one of the many options available in order to live in Indonesia . About the second : I have been dealing with Immigration since (year) 2000 and it is becoming easier and easier . I don't think this trend will change .

 

[marcus]

I think that foreigners will forever be walking on Eggs, while living in Indonesia...

I disagree . If you know the rules , it is not difficult to live within their limits .

 

[Helpful Herbert]

Naturalisation involves giving up your own original citizenship, so that is a pretty big step for a lot of people.

The immigration system for long term residents with a local spouse has shown incredible improvements over the last 15 years - it is unrecognisable. With the unlimited MERP, you are now able to stay here for as long as you want, exiting and entering the country whenever you want, and the only thing you have to do is to report to immigration (free of charge) once every 5 years. For 5 years you don't have any obligations at all (except not to break the law). Of course allowing dual citizenship would be better, but it is still a pretty amazing deal.

 

[fastpitch17]

I am an American who resides in Indonesia. I will remain an American while continuing to reside in Indonesia. I have never entertained the thought of giving up my nationality and am sure I never will. I also never plan to reside in the US again. Not sure I could sanely circumvent the chaos without killing or being killed.

 

[harryopal1]

I am an American who resides in Indonesia. I will remain an American while continuing to reside in Indonesia. I have never entertained the thought of giving up my nationality and am sure I never will. I also never plan to reside in the US again. Not sure I could sanely circumvent the chaos without killing or being killed.

The longer one stays away from home it seems the more negative notions one has about how life is there now. In the 70s there were so many chilling stories about crime in New York that made it seem an incredibly uninviting place to visit. First visit there was about 1982 and while taken aback by the numbers of homeless and mentally damaged people living on the streets it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated even though I had and still have the overriding impression that this is a country at war with itself especially given the widespread use of guns and the enormous difference between those with wealth and those struggling to survive. A number of other visits and the nature of politics there still leaves me with that overall sense of being happy to visit but not wanting to live in the USA.

I have to return to Australia each year so I am not so alienated even though increasingly it seems like a foreign country and crime seems rampant. Not quite sure if this impression is perhaps more created by the tendency for news media to sensationalize crime. In cities such as Townsville, northern Queensland, and Alice Springs, central Australia, one is caught between stories that suggest a huge increase in crime, especially youth crime and then occasional reports that indicate crime level statistics do not reflect the levels of fear and anxiety that the continuing negative stories create.

We have been to Jakarta a couple of time in recent years without any untoward events. We live in Bali. My WNI wife was born in Sumatra and has the distinct impression that Jakarta would be a dreadful if not dangerous place to live.

In the 1970s I used to prepare weekly news round up reports based on newspapers of around 1870. I do recall public meetings in Sydney based on fears about street gangs that made the city feel very unsafe. The Australian population was then less than 2 million. Now it is just under 28 million but amazing the extent to which the politics and issues, concerns about crime and life generally are so similar.

The round up of all that is I think I generally feel safer and more comfortable living in Indonesia than would be the case were I to return to Australia permanently

 

[Hawk256]

We have been to Jakarta a couple of time in recent years without any untoward events. We live in Bali. My WNI wife was born in Sumatra and has the distinct impression that Jakarta would be a dreadful if not dangerous place to live.

I have lived in quite a few cities in SE Asia. Jakarta doesn't strike me as any more dangerous than any I have stayed in. Mind your own business and be aware of your surroundings. 99% of the time, that is enough.

 

[Shadrach]

It seems many people would like having the unlimited Kitap. Myself included. I don't make long term plans anymore. My life has changed so much since my youth, I just live more in the moment. At the moment I like living here in Bali. Maybe someday that will change, and I'll move back to America.
With the present chaos of such an insane egomaniac becoming President again, I definitely do not want to return. America is a very large country, and there are an infinite variety of places to live. I like the Mountains of California, near lake Tahoe. Small towns, friendly people, all amenities available. Hot summers, cold winters, snow, sunshine, the Ocean not far away. Beautiful clean snowmelt rivers. Little crime.
All the bad news from the media is mostly coming from life in the cities. Most people have the freedom to choose where and how they want to live.
I feel afraid for America now, with such a lunatic as President. Luckily there is a check and balance system that will not let him ruin everything. He is a convicted criminal, and only supports the wealthy. I can only hope most people there wake up and don't let him and his cronies ruin the country.
I would like to have an unlimited Kitap visa, but I want the freedom to stay as long as I like, and go when I like.
I'm sure many of the people I have met here would love to visit America, if they could afford it. I feel all people have the right to live anywhere on this Planet if they want, and like the place.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

It is much safer than any city in Europe I've been to.

 

[Jaime C]

I lived in Jakarta for over a year in a small apartment in 2011-2012. Before that we sometimes stayed in upscale kosts for a few weeks at a time. Never felt unsafe in Jakarta at all.

 

[fastpitch17]

I lived in Jakarta for a little over a year when we first arrived. Visited Jakarta numerous times. Never felt unsafe. When we traveled around Indonesia looking for possibilities for places to reside we never felt unsafe in any place. We kept personal ranking surveys if each place and I only remember their being one place that didn't get high scores for safety and that was attributed to problems of religious diversity. Better now. Our problems with Jakarta were cost of living, traffic, and air pollution.

 

[Nicho]

Were I to naturalize I would lose my Austrlian pension and Medicare. I always like to have a fall back position and if things went totally awry it is nice to know I can always bugger off back to Australia.

I was of the understanding you lost Medicare coverage and other allowances and only received the base rate of pension once you moved overseas anyway .

 

[harryopal1]

I was of the understanding you lost Medicare coverage and other allowances and only received the base rate of pension once you moved overseas anyway .

I have now been in Indonesia 8 years. I return each year for a medical procedure which is covered by Medicare. I have lost my pension card discount for prescriptions. My pension is no longer topped up with rental assistance or utility assistance but I still receive a monthly pension which enables me to live here much more comfortably than would be the case were I to live in Australia.

 

[OomBen]

I am an American who resides in Indonesia. I will remain an American while continuing to reside in Indonesia. I have never entertained the thought of giving up my nationality and am sure I never will. I also never plan to reside in the US again. Not sure I could sanely circumvent the chaos without killing or being killed.

My move to Indonesia was supposed to be for maybe a year or two.

The longer I stayed, the less I wanted to move back.

I gotta tell you this though... it's amazing how little changes when you drop your US citizenship aside from passport stuff.

 

[fastpitch17]

My move to Indonesia was supposed to be for maybe a year or two.

The longer I stayed, the less I wanted to move back.

I gotta tell you this though... it's amazing how little changes when you drop your US citizenship aside from passport stuff.

Passport, cost of changing citizenship, banking since there are no direct deposits from the US to Indonesian banks, the fact I am a veteran and my loyalty remains to the US, family ties and responsibilities towards them.

 

[kripik-pisang]

"if the Merp is mandatory when applying for the unlimited kitap like it is for kitas renewal and conversion to kitap."
Some years ago, when I was still using a visa agent, the agent told me that the MERP was basically a thing of the past as it was automatically "issued" with every new KITAS or KITAS extension, but you wouldn't know it as they don't issue you with anything labelled MERP.
I have been out and in 3 times in the past year and the sight of my KITAS was all that was required.