JAKARTA – Indonesia launched a new long-term visa scheme on Thursday designed to draw foreign investors, President Joko Widodo announced.
The ‘Golden Visa’ initiative aims to provide visas for up to 10 years in exchange for hefty financial investments and those who can afford it can now avail of the facility.
Under the five-year “golden visa” program, it is to be clarified that individual investors must establish a company worth US$2.5 million while a 10-year visa requires a US$5 million investment.
Those not seeking to establish a company can still qualify for a five-year or ten-year visa by investing US$350,000 and US$700,000 respectively. These funds can be allocated to Indonesian government bonds, public company stocks, or deposits.
Corporate investors have different requirements as a US$25 million investment secures five-year visas for directors and commissioners, while a US$50 million investment is needed for ten-year visas.
Additionally, special provisions have been made for investments in Indonesia’s new US$32 billion capital city being established in Borneo’s jungles. In this city, a US$5 million investment grants a five-year visa, and a US$10 million investment offers a ten-year visa, according to the immigration agency.
Commenting on the visa, President Widodo stated the “golden visa” is aimed at attracting “high-quality travelers” to invest and contribute to Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Silmy Karim, head of the immigration agency, revealed that Indonesia has already granted golden visas to nearly 300 applicants during a trial phase last year, bringing in US$123 million.
Karim also mentioned ongoing discussions about granting special status to foreign nationals of Indonesian descent, similar to India’s Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme. This would allow individuals of Indonesian ancestry to visit, work, and live in Indonesia indefinitely. The new status could be introduced by October.
It is to be highlighted that though Indonesia has launched the Golden Visa scheme, such ‘residency through investment’ schemes are being discouraged by the European Union, claiming that they shelter criminals. In the recent past, Portugal became the second country after Ireland to do away with the Golden Visa scheme despite the fact that Portugal saw a total of 41.9 per cent increase in investments through this programme last year.
