Hello everyone,
I’m here again to share my experience in handling the citizenship administration for my husband, Marcio, a Portuguese foreigner living in Indonesia. Marcio has been living in Indonesia for years and has been continuously extending his KITAS (limited stay permit), and this year, he finally obtained a KITAP (permanent stay permit). Yay! We handled the process of converting his status from ITAS to ITAP by ourselves, without the help of an agent. The requirements for this conversion are not particularly difficult, but the process can be time-consuming.
In this article, I will provide information on the requirements for converting from KITAS to KITAP at Ngurah Rai Immigration Office in Bali. Additionally, I will describe the process we went through. The KITAP application process took three months. We submitted our application on February 10, 2022, and received our KITAP on May 24, 2022. I’ve previously shared our process on my YouTube channel, which you can check out. However, if you prefer to read, please continue with this article.
REQUIREMENTS FOR CONVERTING FROM ITAS TO ITAP
As previously mentioned, the process of converting from KITAS to KITAP can be quite lengthy. Therefore, make sure to apply well in advance of your KITAS expiration date. In our case, Marcio’s KITAS was expiring at the end of March 2022, so I started preparing the necessary documents in early February. Prior to that, I had already inquired with the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office in Bali if it was enough time to apply in February, and they confirmed it was.
Additionally, we applied for the KITAP conversion during the third year of our marriage. According to the rules, KITAP conversion could have been applied after two years of marriage, but in 2021, our second wedding anniversary fell too close to the expiration date of Marcio’s KITAS. So, the immigration officer suggested that we extend the KITAS first and apply for the conversion to KITAP in 2022.
The requirements for converting from KITAS to KITAP are as follows:
- Request letter (example provided by the immigration office)
- Guarantee letter from a sponsor (example provided by the immigration office)
- Power of attorney on sufficient stamp duty (not necessary in my case)
- Curriculum vitae/resume (example provided by the immigration office)
- A copy of the foreigner’s passport that includes their identity, entry stamp, visa, and residence permit
- A copy of the sponsor’s ID card and family card
- Immigration forms available at the immigration office: Perdim 24, 25, and 27
- A copy of the Residential Certificate (SKTT)
- A copy of the KITAP and foreigner’s ID card for extensions (not applicable in my case as we were applying for a new KITAP)
- Statement of integration
Points 1-4, 7, and 10 have a provided format from the immigration office. If you are confused, you can visit the immigration office and ask the officer for an example, along with the required forms for the conversion process. Point 9 does not apply to me since we were applying for a new KITAP and not an extension.
Actually, this is not the first step we took to convert Marcio’s KITAS to KITAP. Before that, Marcio and I had to take care of the address mutation letter first. This is because Marcio’s KITAS address is different from our current residential address. Therefore, we had to go through the address mutation process, moving from the previous address to the current residential address. With that, Marcio’s KITAP address could follow our current residential address. After the address mutation was completed, we then applied to change Marcio’s KITAS status to KITAP. In the application, we also attached the address mutation sheet provided by the immigration office.
KITAS TO KITAP CONVERSION PROCESS
February 10th, 2022 – Marcio and I went to the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office to apply for the conversion of Marcio’s KITAS to KITAP. The officer would direct us to the appropriate counter. After arriving at the counter, the officer checked the completeness of the documents we submitted. The process was relatively short, and after we were declared complete, we were allowed to go home. The officer informed us that the payment receipt would be sent via WhatsApp.
True enough, in the evening, we received payment information for KITAP via WhatsApp. We were asked to pay IDR 6,750,000 for two things, (1) a residence permit for 5 years and (2) a re-entry permit for 2 years. We immediately made the payment via transfer/e-banking.
March 7th, 2022 – After waiting for quite some time, we finally received a visit from officers who came directly to our home. Before the officers arrived, I asked about the next process after payment because there was no progress update for quite some time. Thankfully, the officer called and promised to visit our home.
Two officers came. Both were very friendly and polite. The officers came to check the data and conduct an interview. The interview was not as tense as I had imagined, it was more like a regular conversation and flowed naturally. Perhaps it was a bit nerve-wracking for Marcio when he was asked, because his Indonesian language proficiency was not yet fluent and vulnerable to misunderstandings.
The interview questions were quite detailed, which surprised me a bit hehe. Because there were some things that I did not expect to be asked, such as income, savings, and others. Other questions were quite common, such as about Marcio’s stay in Indonesia, our marriage, and our activities at home. The process took half to one hour, and the officers said goodbye after taking a photo together in front of our home.
Oh, one important thing from this visit. Apparently, there were some additional documents that I needed to complete. The officers asked me to send our wedding photos in Hong Kong and reception photos in Bali via WhatsApp. In addition, we were asked to send the house certificate, which happened to be privately owned. Lastly, we were asked to contact the Civil Registry Office where our marriage was registered. The immigration office wanted the civil registry to respond regarding the validity of our marriage. Whether it had been recorded in the Civil Registry.
After the immigration officers left, I immediately contacted the Buleleng Civil Registry Office via WhatsApp. Thankfully, the civil registry officer was quite responsive. I was immediately sent a reply letter for immigration stating that our marriage was indeed legally registered at the Buleleng Civil Registry Office. Fyuh, thank goodness! I immediately sent the letter to the immigration officers.
April 13, 2022 – We received information that Marcio could come to the immigration office for a photo and biometric data collection. That same day, we went straight to immigration. The process was quite short, not even 15 minutes. After that, we were allowed to go home and wait for further notice.
May 24, 2022 – Good news came, Marcio’s KITAP was ready and could be picked up at the Immigration Office. Yeayyy! We were asked to come with proof of payment. Upon arriving at immigration, we went to counter 1. It turned out that the queue was already long. After submitting the payment proof and waiting, finally Marcio’s name was called. The officer returned Marcio’s passport. Marcio was also given a KITAP and a photocopy of the legalized KITAP for the future electronic ID card (KTP) application. We were so happy!
By the way, KITAP now looks like a national ID card but in green color. If I’m not mistaken, it used to be just a regular paper, like KITAS that could be printed on A4 paper. Personally, I prefer the current KITAP format. It’s simpler and easy to fit in a wallet. So, that’s my and Marcio’s experience in changing the status from KITAS to KITAP. If you have any questions, feel free to write them in the comment section. Thank you for visiting here.
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