What Will Happen If I'm Found illegal Working In Indonesia?

  • Jul 09, 2024

Don’t break Indonesia's visa laws. 
This seems obvious but we hear enough

stories of people doing this and ending up with big penalty and in visa

blacklist.

If you intend to work in Indonesia, you must apply for a work permit from

the relevant authorities.

What will be considered working illegally in Indonesia:
1.Working in Indonesia without a work permit.

2.Working in Indonesia after the work permit has expired.

3.Providing fake info to obtain a work permit and working visa (for

example, you are employed by company A, while getting your work permit

under company B).

4.Overseas students working full time or beyond what their university’s or

college’s work-study programs allow, or doing any business while studying

at school.

5.Foreign spouse holding Kitas visa but working in Indonesia.

Some people think that a KITAS is a work visa. It is not. You can have a KITAS but not

be allowed to work (such as Retirement or Dependent KITAS). A foreigner is only

allowed to work in Indonesia after they’ve received a work permit (IMTA).

If you break these rules, the consequences can be serious.

Punishments for violations:
Foreigners who do anything unrelated to their visa type will be ordered to

leave the country within a certain period (decided by the police) if they are

considered not fit to continue staying in Indonesia. This is called being

ordered to leave. Serious violators will be deported. These are two

different things;

For those working illegally in Indonesia, there may be more serious

consequences:

1.A penalty between 2,000,000 IDR and 40,000,000 IDR; the exact amount

is at discretion of the police.

2.In severe cases, foreigners may be put in jail for 5-15 days as well as

having to pay a fine.

3.They may also be deported or ordered to leave Indonesia.

The punishment will be decided based on how serious of the violation and

whether it is intentional or unintentional. However, the law doesn’t specify

what circumstances are serious and intentional, and how to measure them,

so ultimately this is based on the judgment of the police.

The company will be fined between 10,000,000 IDR and 200,000,000IDR,

and any illegal income they have made will be confiscated.

What to do if you are caught illegally employment:
Try to be polite and explain the reason why you are breaking the law to

the best of your ability. Be contrite and apologetic and try to persuade

them to give you a lighter punishment. Don’t get rude or argue too much or be aggressive, as this will only make things worse for you. The police

can decide what to do with you, and that means they can be easier or

harder depending on whether they like you or not.

It is possible that the police will be sympathetic to your situation and will

allow you to leave without paying a fine or going to jail, but you should

prepare yourself for the worst. You may spend 5-15 days in a local jail and

you will be sent back to your home country after paying a fine.

Conclusion:
Illegal working will leave you a very bad record at INDONESIA

IMMIGRATION, customs and Indonesian embassy whenever you process

your visa. Worse still, if you are “ordered to leave” you may be banned

from working in Indonesia for two years, If you are deported, the law says

that you will be blacklisted and not be able to return to Indonesia for 5-

10 years.

To avoid any punishment or bad record, it is necessary and a must to apply

work permit if you intend to work and stay in Indonesia. With the

putting new company and visa laws into effect is not as difficult as

You might consider registering both your own business and a work permit.

in Indonesia. Being your own boss and working for yourself is accepted by more

and more foreigners, considering the low requirements for minimum

registered capital, fast process time, and lower cost than it was previously.

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