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Panic, confusion over second-home visa sweeps expat community
Foreigners who have lived in Indonesia for years or decades are anxious about new visa rules that will kick in later this month and require that retirees hold substantial funds in the country.
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A man carries a surfboard in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 17, 2022. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
F
oreigners who have lived in Indonesia for years or decades are anxious about new visa rules that will kick in later this month, which require retirees to hold substantial funds in the country.
The government has issued a circular telling holders of retirement stay permits to convert to the so-called second home visa, but many in the expat pensioners community say they do not have the assets needed for the new visa type and worry about their future.
"Immigration officers are uncertain how to interpret the new regulations, which increases the stress on people seeking accurate information," said Russell (not his real name), a 72-year-old Australian retiree living in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
According to Immigration Directorate General Circular No. IMI-0740.GR.01.01/2022, released on Oct. 25, the new policy around the second home visa is to take effect on Dec. 24.
The new visa type requires proof of funds amounting to Rp 2 billion (US$128,000) in a personal account in one of Indonesia’s state-owned banks or proof of luxury property ownership in the country, neither of which are easy requirements to fulfill for most pensioners.
Read also: Immigration Directorate General launches second home visa
“What’s going to happen for me is I’ve made my life [in Bali], and on Dec. 24, if they announce these are the rules, then I’m just going to euthanize my dogs, and then I’m going [back to Australia] to euthanize myself,” recounted a 58-year-old pensioner from the United Kingdom called Charles (not his real name) about the troubling plan of an Australian pensioner he knows.
