If you wish to work in Bali and receive a salary you need a work permit. A Business Visa is not enough. The gateway for getting a work permit in Indonesia is to find the company that will employ you and has all the legal documents and structure to do so. The company that wants to hire a foreigner will have to “prove”, that they need a foreigner to do this particular job.
You can’t get a work permit for being a waiter or barman or even department head for a small hotel for example. The idea behind is, to protect the local work force and encourage that there is some transfer of knowledge from a foreigner to the local work force.
YES. In order to be legally employed in Bali (Indonesia) a foreigner needs to have a valid work permit and temporary (or limited) stay permit. People often refer to the work permit simply as the KITAS, while this is not technically correct.
There are foreigners in Bali, who are working as tourist guides, yoga teachers, dive teachers, English teachers, real estate agents, even cooks etc without having a work permit. It is an illegal practice. There is a special task force in Bali with the sole purpose of finding illegal foreign workers. If one gets caught working illegally, they will usually get deported – and pay a fine (and the employer).
The KITAS is the temporary stay permit and the actual work permit is called IMTA (previously IKTA). They are both connected and issued at the same time.
When somebody asks you about KITAS, they will most likely refer to the work permit. The KITAS can be valid for either six months or 12 months and needs to be renewed. Previously a KITAS was valid for 12 months, but this has changed for a specific type of jobs.
To get the KITAS & IMTA you have to be sponsored by the company you are going to work for. This company will have to APPLY for a KITAS (Kartu Izin Tinggal Sementara) = Temporary Stay Permit Card and get the permit to hire you for a SPECIFIC job, for which you need to be qualified for. Your certificates and CV must relfect, that you are suitable for this position. More details about the requirements and process can be found below in this article.
No, you cannot work for anybody else, or do anything else for that matter. Your work permit is linked to the employer and to a specific job description. You are not allowed to work for anybody else or even in a position that is different from the one you are hired for. If you cvhange an employer, the entire process would have to be done again.
ITAS is the abbreviation of Limited Stay Permit, and KITAS is Limited Stay Permit CARD. Both are actually therefore the same, namely a temporary or limited stay visa in Indonesia. The only difference is that KITAS is a physical card, and ITAS is the permit itself. The “K” in KITAS stands for “Kartu” (which can nowadays be a simple printout on paper).
Yes, you can get a KITAS as a shareholder of a local company as a foreigner. The KITAS is therefore then the limited stay permit which would NOT allow you to actively work in your company but it would allow you to stay in Indonesia. It’s not a work permit (IMTA).
More info on the Investor / Shareholder KITAS
The law states that you have to apply from outside of Indonesia (offshore). If you reside in Indonesia while your company is applying for a KITAS for you (on a tourist visa for example), then you will at some point have to leave and re-enter Indonesia.
You will first get a temporary Visa to enter into Indonesia from abroad. It’s a single entry Visa. Once you arrived in Indonesia, your passport will have to be handed to the immigration officials, and you will get an appointment to come to the immigration office for finger prints and photo within 30 days. Only after that appointment, you will get your passport back and receive the actual KITAS within another 4 to 6 weeks.
To get a work permit (KITAS / IMTA) for Bali you need:
In addition to the above documents, your sponsor company will need to provide a lot of documents. Once the documents are complete, the company’s HR department or an agent will start the application process. The company will have to pay between 1000 and 1500US$ to get a KITAS
Accompanying family members will also need a visa. It means that if for example your wife and two children join you, the company will have to apply for 4 KITAS
Documents required for Family KITAS ( spouse & children)
a. Colour Scan of Passport ( should include data pages & all pages with a stamp )
b. Certificate of Marriage (in English or Bahasa Indonesia)
c. Certificate of Birth (in English or Bahasa Indonesia)
d. Photo size 3x4cm, 4x6cm each size 4pcs with red background
3. KITAS for students (index 316)
4. Retirement Visa KITAS (index 319)
* The above information is deemed accurate at the time of publication but can change without notice. Please check with your embassy or visa agent.
