Enforcement of immigration laws
In connection with the issuance of Law No. 28/1997 dated Oct. 7, 1997, on the Indonesian police force, allow me to put forward the relationship between this law and Law No. 9/1992 on immigration with its enforcement regulations.
Government Regulation No. 31/1994, dated Oct. 14, 1994, was based on the control of aliens and immigration measures, particularly with respect to aliens (Article 14 subarticle 1 j, Article 15 subarticle 11 of Law No. 28/97; articles 60 and 61 of Law No. 9/92 and articles 9, 10, 19 of Government Regulation No. 31/94).
In practice the two articles in the law on immigration and the three articles in the government regulation have not been consistently implemented by the police. Article 60 stipulates that "whoever provides overnight accommodations to an alien and fails to report this to an officer of the police force of the Republic of Indonesia or a regional administration official within 24 (twenty-four) hours after the arrival of the said alien, shall be penalized with imprisonment with a maximum period of 1 (one) year or a fine of up to Rp 5 million".
While Article 61 stipulates that "an alien who already possesses a stay permit but fails to report to the police force of the Republic of Indonesia of his/her stay or his/her domicile within 30 (thirty) days from the time when he/she obtains the residence permit, shall be penalized with imprisonment with a maximum period of 1 (one) year or a fine of up to Rp 5 million". (Note: articles 10 and 19 mention more or less the same thing).
Every alien in Indonesia in possession of a residence permit from the immigration office has performed the obligation set forth in Article 61 and Article 19, namely by obtaining an SKLD (self-report certificate) from the police.
While every alien who visits Indonesia as a tourist or for business purposes by virtue of a visitation permit from the immigration office is reported by the those providing accommodation, be it the hotel or those responsible for the company's boarding house, where these aliens stay (Article 60/Article 9/Article 10)
This is accomplished by obtaining an STM (a reporting certificate). (Note: perhaps the obligation to obtain the STM arises only in the case of an alien staying at his friend's or relative's house, whether this friend or relative is an Indonesian citizen or also an alien already in possession of a stay permit/SKLD (see Article 10 of Government Regulation No. 31/94).
Those staying at a hotel are to be registered in a visitors book and a list of aliens pursuant to Article 9 of Government Regulation No. 31/94.
In reality, the police also require that with respect to all aliens -- whether they come for a visit or they already have a residence permit and are in possession of a work permit and SKLD -- job providers report and obtain an STM for them, because to the understanding of the police, "a person providing overnight accommodations" is construed as being the same as "a company providing employment".
This has caused confusion about the meaning and the implementation of these two articles. If you read the STM form, you will find that it is not relevant to an alien who already has a residence (renting or owning a house or condominium) because the alien does not spend the night at the residence of someone making the report, but stays at his or her own house.
Due to this confusion, I have enthusiastically read Law No. 28/97, which, in my opinion, would perhaps be made more clear if it was connected with Law No. 9/92. It turns out that the law on the police force mentions only the following:
Article 14 subarticle 1 j: In performing the tasks as meant in Article 13, the Indonesian Police Force shall exercise control of aliens found in the territory of Indonesia in coordination with relevant government agencies pursuant to the law.
And Article 15 subarticle 1 l: In the framework of performing the tasks as meant in Article 13 and Article 14, the Indonesian Police Force is generally authorized to issue a permit and/or a certificate needed in the context of providing services to the community.
In connection with the above, I ask the following to the authorities (the police and immigration officials): "Is it true that the implementation of the law on immigration affairs is carried out as mentioned above (with an alien in possession of an SKLD -- pursuant to Article 61/Article 19 -- also needing to be reported)?
This means that an alien already in possession of a stay permit, along with other complete documents, such as a work permit from the Ministry of Manpower/BKPM, SKLD from the police, SKPPS (temporary resident registration certificate) from the population service and SKTT (domicile certificate for an alien) from the local subdistrict or village will still be categorized as one not in possession of complete documents when the alien applies for an STM.
The enforcement of articles 60, 9 and 10 should actually be focused on aliens who have come only for a temporary visit by virtue of a visitation permit and not for those already in possession of a limited/permanent stay permit.
We who have to handle matters related to aliens in our respective companies hope to receive satisfactory information which might clarify the enforcement of the two laws mentioned above.
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