In Reply to: New visa laws..help posted by balijoy on Thursday, 22. October 2015 at 20:51 Bali Time:
Have spoken to our visa agent, she said that this will effect MANY people.
And yes, if you come on a VOA (paid or not paid) more than 2 times in 12 months, the way the new law can be interpreted is that anyone can be denied entry (whether they actually do it remains to be seen).
Although the aim of this is to try and stop illegal workers, it could (by law) have an effect on everyone that likes to come here often. So don't think just because you come here as a tourist (more than 2 times a year) that you will not be affected by this - you could be (if they so choose - with the new law - 1st Jan - as it is currently noted).
People stay for different reasons ...
In our case we have a business - a PT business.
We employ people - ALL locals.
We DON'T work here, just live here, self supported.
We DO pay tax every month.
We DO the right thing here.
We currently stay for 3 to 4 months at a time, return to Australia for a month or 2, then return to Bali for another 3 to 4 month stay. We currently get a social visa (have done for a few years now), as the other options would be a Business Visa or KITAS (not quite ready for a retirement visa). Just like anyone would do, you try find the most cost effective option (for anything you do) to live (or work) the way you would like to. The social visa has worked best for our situation.
Business visa we can get, that is easy, but you have to go out every 2 months (that is the pain with that option). This also will cost more. A KITAS we can also get, but that will cost a lot more. As I noted, with anything anyone does in their lives, you try and find the most cost effective solution to fit your needs.
Although the base idea of this change is to try and cut back on illegal workers (which we have no issue with at all), what we do currently in our lives will have to change - it will be a pain. Same goes for MANY other foreigners that run businesses here in Indonesia (that are also doing the right thing).
A brown paper bag will fix it for some people, but we will just have to work with it (doing the right thing) ... we just think it is a shame that when you do the right thing, you still get kicked.
Will just have to see what comes from the notification in the coming 2 months (changes and modifications prior to 1st Jan), and then how it will work - from 1st Jan.
Watch this space ...