Jakarta – When Brad (not his real name), a 33-year-old American citizen, landed a job in Jakarta, he was warned by his colleagues that he might have to deal with the country's infamous immigration bureaucracy as well as corrupt officials.
After arriving in Jakarta last July, it was only several weeks later that Brad experienced such problems.
Several people claiming to be officials from the immigration directorate general came to Brad's office days before the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri to try to blackmail his company for employing him as well as other foreigners.
"I was never blackmailed at the airport, but in my office we were visited by these 'officials' a few times and had to have our legal person deal with it," Brad told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
"I was told that's just how it is over here," he said. "I just didn't want to get into any immigration trouble and get kicked out of the country. I have heard way too many horror stories."
Brad's story was just one of many examples of the prevalent corruption involving Indonesian immigration officials, and it might help explain why Indonesia still employs far fewer expatriates compared to some of its neighbors.
According to data from the directorate general of immigration, there were only 55,010 foreigners who held working visas in Indonesia in 2011 – a small number compared to, for example, Singapore, which has approximately 1.7 million foreigners working in various banks and multinational firms in the country.
However, with its thriving economy and bright economic outlook in 2012, Indonesia is expected to offer more jobs to foreigners and become a honey pot for expatriates this year.
According to 2011 immigration office statistics, the number of foreign residents in Indonesia – excluding tourists and foreign emissaries – rose by 6 percent to 111,752 last year, while the number of foreigners with working visas increased by 10 percent to 55,010, compared to 49,389 in 2010.
Maryoto, a spokesperson for the immigration directorate general at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, said that his immigration directorate general had implemented many breakthrough policies to reduce the complexity of visa and working permit issuances to encourage more expatriates to work, do business and invest in the country.
Foreigners who do business and work in Indonesia now can get work permits as soon as they arrive at Indonesian international airports through the "on-arrival" system, instead of stumbling through the lengthy bureaucracy at the immigration office, Maryoto said on Monday.
Under the new system, the immigration directorate general can directly issue a two-year, rather than a one-year, work permit for foreign investors and expatriates in certain areas in Indonesia, such as in the oil-rich province of Riau and expatriate-laden island of Batam.
Maryoto, however, did not deny the fact that there were still many corrupt immigration officials who extorted foreigners and their companies. "However, we encourage them to report these cases to us as we would punish these officials without exception," he said on Monday.
Bureaucratic reform within his ministry is still ongoing, Maryoto said, pledging that the immigration directorate general would work harder to punish "naughty" officials and improve its services for foreign expatriates this year. (sat)