Government officials to answer questions on work and residence permits of mixed couples in Indonesia

Those of you married to Indonesians will know this story. You have 1,001 questions bout your work permits, your KITAS, your KITAB or your marriage status and what rights it confers or strips to your spouse.

The answers you’ve got are usually vague, conflicting or outright wrong because you rely on your office administrator, who in turn relies on a call  or agent that liaises between you or your office and the Immigration Department. What answers you get usually depends on who you or the agent speaks with.

Part of this confusion is because there is a mismatch between the Immigration Laws and the Manpower Laws that were revised about 10 years apart but mostly the confusion is because the officials down the line have different understandings of how the law should be interpreted and the latest developments.

In a great effort to get some straight answers from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, PerCa or the Masyarakat Perkawinan Campur Indonesia (the Mixed Marriage Community) is organising a discussion with senior officials from the Immigration Department, the Manpower Department, the Civil Registrar and the South Jakarta Religious Office. The panel on The Socialisation of Immigration Regulations for Mixed Families, Manpower and Residence Permits, will attempt to address some of the more common questions that mixed couples have such as:

• What are the rules and regulations of that Mixed couples need to follow, especially those relating to Residence Permits, Labor and Population Administration?
• What documents should be prepared and legalised before getting married? What about those who married abroad? Why and when marriages should be reported and recorded?
•  For a newborn child, when do you have to file an affidavit and apply for a passport?
• What about the residence permit for foreigner husbands or adult children?
• Can husbands and children use the same family card? What is an ID card for a foreigner spouse?
• How to process a work permit for a foreigner husband who works in Indonesia? What about his residence permit?
• Can that husband remain in Indonesia if his work contract is terminated or completed?
• If sponsored by the wife, can the husband work?

Should be an interesting discussion and the number of places is limited so if you are married to a foreigner or are contemplating to do so it may be worthwhile to troop down to the South Jakarta Immigration Office on the 15th of October.