Wedding in Indonesia, There are many married couples in Indonesia where either the wife or the husband is a foreigner, and the spouse is from Indonesia.
The regulations between Indonesian wives, and Indonesian husbands, are very different. This difference in treatment seems to be related to the issue of working. Foreign wives of Indonesian husbands are assumed by the Indonesian government to be housewives and mothers. Foreign husbands of Indonesian women are assumed to be looking for a job. The Indonesian government treats these two cases very differently. Foreign wives can easily enter, then foreign husbands, in Indonesia, women need a marriage certificate. Foreign husbands must have a sponsor and work permit, they are treated like every foreigner who wants to work in Indonesia, after that the KITAS can be issued.
A common question from those new ex-pats is what are the benefits of being married to an Indonesian spouse?
Residence Permit (KITAP)
If you are married to an Indonesian, you are eligible to apply for a non-permanent residence permit (KITAS) and once you have been married for more than two years for a permanent residence (KITAP).
Since this is a residence permit sponsored by the spouse, you don’t need to pay the annual USD1200 to the Ministry of Manpower. However, this is also the downside – with such KITAS/KITAP you are not allowed to be employed in Indonesia.
If you wish to be employed in Indonesia, your employer must acquire a work permit and pay the annual USD1200.
If the wife or the spouse wants to have an Indonesian citizenship, she or he needs to live in Indonesia since 5 consecutive years.
Owning land in Indonesia
There are no benefits to being married when it comes to owning land in Indonesia. Indonesian land belongs to Indonesian people and your spouse’s rights don’t expand to you.
In case you purchase land together with your Indonesian spouse and the spouse dies, the foreign national has one year to sell the land to an Indonesian person. If he/she fails to do it, the land will be taken from the foreign national by the state.
If acquiring land is your main motivation, then you need to register a company and get the rights to use the land for 30 + 20 years
