As of 17 December 2024, Indonesia has implemented new visa process policies. These include visa extension, KITAS (stay permit) extension, and exit permit (EPO), from previously could be processed manually in the Immigration Office based on the visa holder’s domicile, now, all processes should be done online in the Immigration e-visa system.
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The change from the manual process to online is to make foreign workers and long-term residents stay compliant with immigration rules without hassling their daily activities to commute to the local Immigration Office only to extend their stay permit or visa.
However, this process transition has caused a lot of confusion between the visa holders and the immigration office as well due to the sudden implementation of the new regulations. Several issues have arisen since the new regulation is applied which we will explain in this article.
Sudden Adjustments
All of these years, the process to extend the visa and stay permit is carried out manually in the Immigration Office by bringing all the documents required for visa extension at least 1 month before the visa expiration date. Since the new visa regulation is implemented, the Immigration Office cannot receive manual or face-to-face extension inquiries and they will refer the people who come to the Immigration Office to do it online which will cause a lot of confusion for some people who are not familiar with the Immigration system.
Data Discrepancies
A year ago, there was a ransomware attack on our Indonesian government system. This caused the Indonesian Government to lose a lot of data and they had to move their data to the safe server.
The Immigration system was using MOLINA before the ransomware happened and now they changed to EVISA. Due to this sudden domain change and the visa extension process transition, all the visa holders need to input their data or create an e-visa account so they can extend their visa online. During this process, it appears that there are a lot of data discrepancies or complications such as:
– The applicant data can be opened from a random e-visa account that is not the account holder or sponsor of the applicant
– The extension option sometimes cannot be found in the e-visa account
– The KITAS type mistakenly read as the wrong index number in the system but the KITAS that is already issued is showing a correct index number
– A valid visa or KITAS number does not show in the list of e-visa account
It is not easy to change the data in the system online if we mistakenly put the wrong information due to the system is still in the development stage. Due to a lack of information and guidance regarding the process transition, there are cases where the visa holders are applying for a new visa instead of extending it and spending more of their budget to still stay in the country.
In conclusion, the Immigration Office will give guidance on how to extend or register your valid visa in the new visa system. Should you experience any of the above issues, Immigration will create a help desk on behalf of you to the Directorate General of Immigration and this will help you during this new transition period.
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