KITAP: the permanent stay permit, and the three years before it

Five years at a time, renewable without limit — reached by conversion, after three years for an investor or a second-home holder.

KITAP, the permanent stay permit, from the regulation

The KITAP is what a foreign home owner who means to stay ends up wanting: one card, five years at a time, renewable without limit. The regulation is clear about who can reach it and how long it takes — and it is not on day one for an investor or a second-home holder.

Who can get one, and when

A permanent permit can go to holders of a limited-stay permit for work, clergy, foreign investment, family reunification, repatriation or the second-home family (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 120(1)), by conversion from a limited-stay permit (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 120(3)). Workers qualify only as the top executive of a company or the head of a foreign company's representative office (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 120(5)). The waiting time depends on the route:

The application is due at the latest 30 days before the limited-stay permit expires (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 174(2)), with a valid passport, a signed integration statement, the limited-stay permit, and the sponsor's guarantee and ID where there is a sponsor (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 175).

The commitment has to be met first

A limited-stay permit cannot be converted while the commitment required for the first limited-stay permit has not been fulfilled (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 178). For a second-home holder that means the US$130,000 deposit or the apartment (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 56(2)(a); Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 56(2)(b)); for an investor, the company or the bonds (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 39(2); Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 39(3)). An investor converting under the category in the regulation’s art. 114(1)(c)(1) also shows a shareholding of at least IDR 15 billion (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 176(2)(c)). The second home visa. The Golden Visa.

Who gets one directly

A few people skip the KITAS stage altogether: former dual-citizen children who chose foreign citizenship, children born in Indonesia to permanent holders, and Indonesians who lost citizenship while in Indonesia (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 120(2), (4)). For everyone else the road runs through a KITAS and its waiting time, and the law counts the holder at the end of it among residents (penduduk) of Indonesia (Immigration Law art. 54(3), as amended by Law 6/2023 art. 106) — which is why the choice of first permit matters more than it looks when the aim is to stay.

How long it lasts

A KITAP runs 5 years (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 121(1)) and comes as a virtual or physical card (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 122(1)). It can be extended for an unlimited period (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 128(1)); the extension is filed from 3 months before, up to the day it expires (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 128(3)), and a paid application is not counted as overstay if processing runs past expiry (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 128(4)). Holders of an unlimited-term permit report every 5 years, free of charge (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 132(1)).

The 5-yearly report and the house

The report can take into account company papers, labor permits, recent bank statements, the latest land and building tax (PBB), financial statements, tax returns, income, bonds or shareholdings, among others (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 132(3)). For a foreigner holding a home on hak pakai, the PBB receipt is part of the paper trail that keeps the permit and the home consistent with each other. The annual property tax (PBB).

What the law adds

The law lists permanent permits for limited-stay holders as clergy, workers, investors and second home; mixed-marriage families; spouses and children of permanent holders; and former citizens (Immigration Law art. 54(1), as amended by Law 6/2023 art. 106), and makes holders residents (penduduk) of Indonesia (Immigration Law art. 54(3), as amended by Law 6/2023 art. 106). A KITAP ends on leaving Indonesia for more than 1 year or not intending to return, not extending after 5 years, becoming a citizen, cancellation, deportation, or death (Immigration Law (Law 6/2011) art. 62(1)) — the one-year absence rule is the one that catches owners who keep a Bali home but spend a long stretch abroad. A permit is canceled outright for crimes against the State, activities endangering State security, or breach of the integration statement, among others (Immigration Law (Law 6/2011) art. 62(2)) — the integration statement signed on conversion (Permenkumham 22/2023 art. 175) is one of the things a holder can breach.

What it does for ownership

A foreigner’s home requires a valid immigration document (PP 18/2021 art. 69(1)) — on the elucidation, a visa, a passport or a stay permit (PP 18/2021, elucidation to art. 69(1)). A KITAP is the longest-lived stay permit, and the one that matches a 30-year land right best. It does not turn hak pakai into freehold: the land right keeps its own term — 30 years first (PP 18/2021 art. 52(1)) — and the heir still needs a permit of their own (PP 18/2021 art. 69(2)–(3)). Hak pakai explained.

This is commentary on the official text, not immigration advice. We do not arrange permits.

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