Immigration Violations by Foreigners Dominated by Residence Permit Misuse and Scamming
The Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections (Imipas) has revealed that misuse of residence permits remained the dominant violation committed by foreign nationals (WNA) throughout 2026. The modus operandi identified includes scamming and online gambling.
“The type of violation is still residence permit misuse, Sir. But the modus operandi is now linked to AI. At present, scams, scamming and online gambling still quite dominate the methods they use to carry out these acts,” said Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement, Yuldi Yusman, during a press briefing at the Immigration Office on Wednesday (12/8).
According to Yuldi, enforcement becomes more complex when criminal activities are carried out by foreign nationals in Indonesia, but the victims are located abroad. This situation makes the investigation process into the predicate offence more difficult.
“However, we face some obstacles when they commit these criminal acts in Indonesia, but the victims are abroad. For example, the perpetrators are from Vietnam or China,” he said.
“This is one of our handicaps in carrying out or escalating matters to pro-justitia or investigation,” Yuldi continued.
Nevertheless, Immigration can still take action against foreign nationals through immigration aspects, particularly regarding residence permit misuse.
“So we do not conduct investigations into the scam logistics or investment scam offences, but rather into matters relating to their residence permits. Because that can also be pursued through pro-justitia,” he said.
Yuldi explained that such violations may involve two different legal offences, namely general criminal offences and immigration offences.
“They do indeed commit two different criminal offences. One offence relates to the Criminal Code, and the other relates to immigration,” he said.
In terms of nationality, Yuldi stated that Chinese nationals constitute the largest group of foreign nationals committing residence permit misuse offences. They are followed by foreign nationals from Vietnam, Nigeria, Malaysia and Afghanistan.
“China still ranks first in committing residence permit misuse offences. Followed by Vietnam, Nigeria, Malaysia and Afghanistan. Those are the top five,” said Yuldi.