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View all search resultsForeign spouses hit by COVID-19 restrictions
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I
ndonesian citizen Marcellina Lintang, 31, who works as a teacher in Iraq, will finish her contract in July. She is ready to return home but worried that immigration hurdles might soon separate her from her husband, an American citizen who does not have a stay permit for Indonesia.
She is now pulling all the stops to either obtain a stay permit for her husband or extend her visa in Iraq.
She has until July 14 before she is fined for overstaying. As of Saturday, she had yet to receive a decision from the Indonesian embassy on her husband’s future status in Indonesia.
The embassy is currently processing her report and coordinating with Marcellina on the matter.
“The worst scenario, and I hope it does not happen, would be for my son and I to go back to Indonesia while my husband returns to the United States,” she said.
Many Indonesians with foreign spouses living abroad, like Marcellina, are currently in limbo, as they face obstacles to apply for or extend stay permits during the COVID-19 outbreak, although Indonesia has relaxed requirements for foreigners who are already in the country.
The latest regulation by the Law and Human Rights Ministry, which oversees immigration, generally bars foreigners from entering Indonesia unless they have a temporary stay permit (ITAS) or permanent stay permit (ITAP) with a valid entry permit.
