New visa policy

New visa policy

Since many officials at the Ministry of Justice have explained
that the decision to review the visa policy was based on the
principle of reciprocity, I would like to express the hope that
this principle will be applied fairly.

This means for Belgian citizens living in Indonesia and
married to Indonesian women:
* The right to get a foreign ID from the local villages where
they live.
* The right to extend their visa locally at the village level.
* No corruption, collusion or nepotism involved in any of the
visa procedures (the most difficult part, indeed).
* More humane and simpler procedures, and of course without any
discrimination (no fingerprinting, no need for a bunch of the
same pictures every month, no need to go four times per month to
various offices for visit visa holders, etc. to push us to join
the local "visa agent" mafia).
* The right to apply for a new visa without having to leave the
country.
* The right to apply for Indonesian citizenship after three years
in Indonesia and through an accelerated procedure of two months
maximum for those married to an Indonesian citizen (be it a woman
or man).
* The right for a foreigner to buy land, a car and a house
privately in Indonesia and to start any kind of business in any
sector of activity.
* The right for an Indonesian mother married to a foreigner to
give Indonesian citizenship to her children from their birth
and/or to pass on at her death her possessions to her non-
Indonesian national children or husband.
* The right for any foreigner married to an Indonesian citizen to
get a stay permit for a normal fee -- here it is no more than 36
euro and it is managed by the village administration -- and with
no special tax attached except for a foreigner earning money in
the formal sector, as is also the case for any other Indonesian
citizen.

In any case, the new policy will certainly not benefit the
Indonesian people or the national tourist industry,

YVAN MAGAIN
Tubize, Belgium