Work permits for foreigners issued by several agencies
By Johannes Simbolon
JAKARTA (JP): Work permits for foreigners are issued by a number of government offices.
According to Hermanto R., spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications provides permits for those working in the tourism industry, the Investment Coordinating Body provides permits for those working in joint-investment and foreign investment enterprises, the Nusantara Bonded Zone management provides for people working for businesses in the zone, the Batam Island Authority provides for people working on the island, while the Manpower Office of Riau issues permits for those working on Bintan island.
All permits for those working in fields not covered by the above five agencies are provided by the Ministry of Manpower.
A permit is issued in the following way:
A company wanting to employ foreign workers must file a Foreign Workers Employment Plan with one of the above-mentioned offices. The plan provides the details on the number of foreign workers, their nationalities, future positions, salary level, length of stay, and who will be the recipient of the transfer of technology.
"The names of the Indonesian counterparts and their educational backgrounds must be mentioned clearly there," said Hermanto.
The plan is filed with related government agencies. Mining companies, for example, consult the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The related agencies will assess the plan in reference to negative lists.
The negative lists outline which jobs are closed to foreign workers and the maximum period a foreigner can be assigned to do it.
Each office issues a negative list regarding all sectors under its supervision.
If the negative list bars the job to foreigners, the agency will reject the request. If the number of requested foreign workers is considered too high, or their length of stay exceeds the limit, the offices suggest a change in plan.
After the plan is approved, the agencies send TA O1 forms to the immigration office to obtain visas for the foreign workers. The immigration office checks with the Indonesian intelligence body to determine if any of the foreigners is blacklisted.
Once the intelligence body gives the nod, the immigration office sends a telex to the Indonesian embassies in the country of origin of the foreign workers, telling them to issue the work visas.
The workers may come to Indonesia once they receive their work visas. Upon arrival, they must report to the immigration office for their temporary-stay permit and to the agencies which issue their work permits.
There is supposedly no charge for the services, except for foreigner's tax.
According to a 1990 Minister of Manpower regulation on foreign worker placement, if a foreigner continues working here after his permit expires, his employers, on his behalf, must pay US$150 each month for a "training program fee".
"The fee goes to each of the related agencies to be used in the training programs they run to develop the skills of Indonesian workers," said Hermanto.
The training program fee from the foreigners, he said, adds to the fund allocated by the government.
The training program fee, however, was nullified by a 1995 presidential decree on foreign workers. It was replaced with a monthly "foreign worker fee". The amount of fee to be paid is conspicuously not specified in the decree.
The presidential decree has yet to be enforced. A Ministry of Manpower decree on the original decree's implementation must be issued first.
"Hopefully, the ministerial decree will be issued this year," said H.J. Iskandarsyah, the Ministry of Manpower's director general for manpower placement affairs.