KITAS and Work Permit (IMTA)

When a foreign national performs functional, technical, or operational responsibilities in Indonesia, both a KITAS and a Work Permit are required. The Work Permit or RPTKA approval from the Ministry of Manpower authorizes the company to employ the foreign national in a specific position. The KITAS gives the individual the right to reside in Indonesia under that employment arrangement. Both must be in place, and both must reflect the same job title and work location.

The DKP-TKA obligation of USD 100 per month applies to Work KITAS holders and must be paid upfront for the full approved permit period at the time of application. For a two-year work permit, this means USD 2,400 is due at application. Visaku communicates this cost clearly before submission so that companies can plan their assignment budgets accordingly.

Visaku specific focus in managing KITAS and Work Permit combinations is on the alignment between the job title on the RPTKA, the actual functions being performed, and the work location registered in the Ministry of Manpower system. All three must be consistent at the point of application and must remain consistent throughout the permit period.

Dependent Visa

Family members accompanying a primary permit holder in Indonesia require their own immigration authorization. Visaku manages dependent visa applications for spouses, children, and other qualifying family members, covering documentation verification, status alignment with the primary permit holder, and submission through the correct visa category.

One transition that most families are not aware of in advance is the age cutoff for dependent children. At 18, a child is no longer eligible for the dependent KITAS category and must transition to a student KITAS or another visa type. This transition does not happen automatically. If it is not initiated before the child’s 18th birthday, the permit expires without a valid successor category in place and the overstay period begins.

Visaku recommends initiating the transition planning three to six months before the 18th birthday. The documentation requirements for a student KITAS differ from those for a dependent KITAS, and the lead time for gathering enrollment verification and other supporting documents is longer than most families expect.

Investor KITAS (E28A)

The Investor KITAS is the correct permit category for foreign shareholders who hold a qualifying equity position in a PT PMA and serve as Director or Commissioner. Its key advantage over a Work KITAS is that it does not require RPTKA approval and is exempt from the DKP-TKA obligation of USD 1,200 per year.

The requirement that most companies miss is the shareholding threshold. While a PT PMA can be established with paid-up capital of IDR 2.5 billion, sponsoring an Investor KITAS requires the individual shareholder to hold at least IDR 10 billion in personal share ownership. This is not a company-level capital requirement. It is an individual-level ownership requirement. A shareholder who holds 30 percent of a company with IDR 5 billion in paid-up capital holds IDR 1.5 billion personally and does not meet the threshold, regardless of the company’s total investment value.

Visaku verifies shareholding composition against the sponsorship requirement before any Investor KITAS application is prepared, so that the eligibility condition is confirmed rather than assumed.

KITAS (Temporary Stay Permit)

Not every foreign national in a corporate role requires a work permit. Directors, commissioners, and advisory personnel who are not performing hands-on operational functions may be correctly placed on a KITAS without work authorization, depending on the nature of their actual activities.

The critical compliance point is alignment. The permit category must reflect what the person actually does. A corporate representative who attends board meetings, reviews reports, and participates in strategic planning does not require a work permit. A corporate representative who manages a team, oversees operations, or trains staff does. The distinction is not always clear in practice, and placing someone in the wrong category creates exposure that surfaces when the actual activity is observed during an inspection.

Visaku reviews the intended activities of each foreign national before recommending a permit category, and monitors for activity changes that require a permit reclassification during the assignment period.