Frank, a 55-year-old retiree who resides in Bali, was initially unconcerned when he found out about the second home visa, which was launched by the Indonesian government on Oct. 25.
“I heard [about the second home visa] some weeks ago [from] social media,” the German former engineer told Coconuts in a recent interview.
“But I didn’t take it too seriously at first because it didn’t make sense to me.”
Frank, who asked to be referred to only by his given name for privacy reasons, then asked his visa agents about the new type of visa. When they confirmed to him the information about its steep financial requirements, he was baffled – to say the least.
The surat edaran (circular letter) from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights detailing the regulations for the second home visa stipulates that applicants should present proof of funds amounting to IDR2 billion (US$127,648) in a personal account of the foreigner or a guarantor in an Indonesian state-owned bank account – or proof of ownership of a luxury property in Indonesia under the foreigner’s name.
Second home visa holders are entitled to stay in Indonesia for up to 10 years.
The regulations also state that elderly foreigners who currently hold limited stay permits or permanent stay permits that are still valid for more than 180 days from the enactment of the circular letter are required to change to a second home visa.
The circular states that the new rules will go into effect 60 days from the date it was issued – which will fall on either Dec. 23 or 24.
Frank, who has spent the past decade in Bali, currently holds a retirement KITAS (temporary stay permit) that will expire on Feb. 13 next year. He told Coconuts that he is already researching other places to live such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.
“I cannot change [my KITAS] into the second home visa. I do not have that amount of money (nor does my visa agent/sponsor). And if I had, I would not put it in a bank, where I cannot touch it anymore,” Frank said.
“This visa does not make sense for retirees, because if you plan to spend the last years of your life in another country, and you managed to save that amount of money, you want to spend it in the last years of your life, rather than seeing it blocked in a bank.”
Frank is not the only one mulling other options.
Sue, an American retiree who, just like Frank, asked that we use her nickname to protect her privacy, told Coconuts that she, too, found it difficult to comprehend how existing retirement visas would be revoked by the introduction of the second home visa.
Sue, currently 78, first visited the Island of Gods in 1974 and more than a decade later began working as a garment and handicraft exporter before retiring here at the end of 2020 (the same year the pandemic hit the island).
“Hard to believe that the retirement visa was revoked with no warning and no consideration for the people involved, that they had invested quite a bit of money in leasing and/or building here once that they knew that they had the retirement KITAS and that it could renew every year and after 5 years move to a 5 year renewal,” Sue said, referring to the regulations on the current retirement KITAS.
Chris, 74, who is from the U.K., said that, in addition to the difficulty of raising IDR2 billion in cash in the first place, he would find it difficult to entrust that amount of money in an Indonesian bank, even if he had it.
Chris, who first arrived in Bali in 2011, said that he already asked his visa agent about what to do next, but they only told him that the situation is still unclear and they are still waiting for the immigration authorities to hold a seminar to explain the whole situation.
“If they [the government] insist on this change I shall have to leave. This will not only detach me from Bali but also disrupt a long term personal relationship,” he added.
Pio Salvator Ginting, a Bali-based attorney who specializes in providing visa services to foreigners, said that while he understood the government’s economic justification for adopting the second home visa, he did not think that elderly foreigners who want to retire here should be put in the same category as “rich people who want to stay long in Indonesia.”
“Elderly foreigners do not necessarily have IDR2 billion in their bank accounts. If they prefer to leave Indonesia because they cannot meet the proof of funds requirement, then it would contribute negatively to the Indonesian economy,” Pio said.
Coconuts reached out multiple times to the representatives of the Bali Office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights for clarification on the new rules but did not receive a response.
Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun, the head of Bali Province’s Tourism Agency, told Coconuts that, despite the issuance of the circular letter, they were still waiting for the technical guidelines on the second home visa which, up until today, have not been issued.
He also confirmed that until the technical guidelines are issued, the new regulations could not be enforced.
“We will communicate with the Immigration Department on this matter,” he said, when asked about the concerns amongst expats retirees in Bali. He acknowledged the difficulties the new scheme would represent, adding “It will be difficult for retirement visa holders to have IDR2 billion.”
Without certainty over when the technical guidelines will be issued and the deadline for the new regulation set to kick in shortly, confusion and anxiety over the new visa scheme is certainly understandable. The change has the potential to not only radically affect the lives of many expat retirees but also seriously impact Bali’s still recovering economy.
“Expats in Bali spend most or all of their retirement income on local businesses. If these changes force many of them, like me, to leave, it could have a severe impact on the local economy and the lives of local people,” Chris said, adding that expats also contributed to tourism-reliant Bali during the pandemic.
“We have loved and cared for Indonesia, but it seems Indonesia does not love or care about us,” he added.
Frank chimed in, adding that a lot of trust in the Indonesian government has been lost due to the introduction of the second home visa.
“And trust is something you need, if you want to settle down somewhere,” he added.
