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During the pandemic, we witnessed a dramatic increase in people getting an investor KITAS as a solution to staying long-term in Bali, with no intention to invest in Indonesia.

Agents typically offered the two-year investor KITAS for IDR 17,000,000 and did not inform their client that they had any obligations with this visa, for example, to invest or submit investment reports.

Often, many ‘investors’ have been grouped together in one PMA, sometimes more than 10 investors per company. In many cases, the ‘investors’ had no idea what kind of business their KITAS was sponsored by.

Risks of Investor KITAS

With so many people in one company, all it takes is one of the ‘investors’ to be caught using their visa incorrectly, and the whole company will get investigated. When it is clear the company has been set up fraudulently, the other ‘investors’ will get called into immigration and face fines and potentially deportation.

We have also heard of agents offering clients investor KITAS, but then not providing them with one, instead keeping them on the B211 onshore visa.

Immigration Crack Down

We are hearing reports that immigration officials are now actively looking into PMAs to check if they are doing business in Indonesia. They can do this easily by checking if those in charge of the company are submitting investment reports.

How To Stay Long-Term In Bali

You need to have the correct visa for your time in Bali, Indonesia. If you are here to stay long term and have work opportunities here, it is best to set up your own PMA which you can manage to ensure you are not at risk from unknown parties. If you are not working here (or from here) and stay for up to 6 months at a time, the B211 onshore visa is a better solution.

If you are in doubt about the best visa for you or the status and validity of your KITAS, you can come to our office for a friendly discussion about your options.

Please get in touch on +62 812-3617-8788 or info@visaagencybali.com to organise a meeting.