The Tactics of Silmy Karim and Others in Extorting Foreign Nationals

In the year the alleged extortion practices occurred, the entire immigration application process for foreign nationals had already been conducted online. Government Regulation Number 45 of 2024 concerning Types and Rates of Non-Tax State Revenue applicable at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has regulated in detail what and how much foreign nationals must pay regarding immigration permits. For example, a visit stay permit with a maximum validity of seven days costs Rp250,000 per application, while the highest rate is Rp2 million for a visit stay permit application with a maximum validity of 180 days. Then, a limited stay permit with a maximum validity of 30 days costs Rp500,000 per application, with the highest rate being Rp12 million for a maximum validity of 10 years. The regulation also governs the fees foreign nationals must prepare for permanent stay permits, re-entry permits, permits to leave Indonesian territory without returning, and reporting changes in civil and immigration status. However, Silmy Karim, who served as Director General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights for the 2023-2024 period before being appointed Vice Minister of Immigration and Corrections for the 2024-2026 period, along with seven others, had their own method of extorting foreign nationals in every service transaction at the Immigration office. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that Silmy and the seven individuals collected Rp145.5 billion during 2022-2026. This money is the alleged proceeds of extortion in the processing of foreign nationals’ stay permits at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections. As a result, on Thursday (4/6), Silmy and the seven others were named by the KPK as suspects in a case of alleged extortion in the processing of foreign nationals’ stay permits at the Directorate General of Immigration. The identities of the other suspects besides Silmy are Acting Director General of Immigration for the 2024-2025 period, Saffar Muhammad Godam; Head of the West Java Regional Office of the Directorate General of Immigration, Jaya Saputra, who once served as Director of Stay Permits and Immigration Status for the 2024-2025 period; and Head of the Class I Special Non-TPI Immigration Office for West Jakarta, Ronald Arman Abdullah. Additionally, they include Sub-Directorate Heads at the Directorate of Stay Permits and Immigration Status, Bagus Bramantyo and Tessar Bayu Setyaji; Head of the ITAS Status Transfer Team, Juniadi Sri Priambudi; and Staff of the Stay Permit Sub-Directorate, Gusti Benardiansyah. This is how Silmy and his associates allegedly extorted foreign nationals.