Expats residing in Indonesia told to register themselves

JAKARTA (JP): All expatriates residing in Indonesia will be required to register at local immigration offices between Aug. 10 and Oct. 10.

The Immigration Office announced on Monday that registration would be mandatory for all overseas nationals living in Indonesia for more than three months.

These will include those foreigners who have been residing in the country without proper permits.

Staff working for diplomatic missions, as well as their dependents, are exempted from registering. These include those accredited to international organizations.

Registration will be free, the Immigration Office claims, with foreigners only being required to fill out a registration form and to present copies of their personal documents and up-to-date passport photos.

Director of Information at the Immigration Office, Hamsuk S. Wijaya, told journalists on Monday that the registration process was part of his office's periodic census of foreigners living in the country. It was last conducted in 1992.

"The registration of foreign citizens is (usually) held once every five years," Hamsuk said pointing to the fact that this would actually be the first such registration process since the introduction of Immigration Law No. 9 in 1992.

"Besides ascertaining the number of foreigners who currently live here, the registration process is also aimed at giving better protection and services to them," he said.

Hamsuk said that the Immigration Office plans to build a centralized database by issuing a Foreigner's Identification Number (NIOA).

Each expatriate during their registration will receive an identification number which would in the future be used as a reference for various other purposes.

"Foreigners can come to their local immigration office or other designated places. It will be free of charge," Hamsuk promised.

Those registering will have to fill out a form and present their immigration documents such as a passport, a permanent resident's card (KITAP), temporary resident's card (KITAS), a foreigner's registration book, along with five 4x6 passport photographs.

According to Hamsuk, those who do not have the necessary documents, apart from a passport, can still register by filling out the form and presenting their passport-sized photographs.

While it was recommended that expats personally come to the immigration office, anyone who had "reasonable reasons" would not have to appear in person provided that his or her representative or agent was provided with a power of attorney signifying that he was representing the expatriate in question.

Hamsuk stressed that registration was mandatory and those neglecting to do so could face sanctions.

Article 51 of Law No. 9 states that a one-year jail sentence and a Rp 5 million fine could be imposed.

Hamsuk further said that based on his office's data, the number of foreigners in the country had declined over the past five years.

"Compared to the number of foreigners in 1999 when there were 4,089,540 here, the number of foreigners in 2000 was only 3,256,854," Hamsuk said, while adding that there were over 4.7 million foreigners here in 1996.

"Many foreigners are worried about whether this country is safe enough for investment or conducting business. Meanwhile, in the tourism field, we all know that some countries have warned their citizens about entering our country for security reasons," Hamsuk said.

He also revealed that as many as 2,000 foreigners in the country were in some sort of legal difficulty, including those arrested in drugs cases.(tso)