JAKARTA - The House of Representatives and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights agreed on Thursday to introduce drastic rule changes relating to residential and work permits for foreign spouses in mixed marriages, signing a long-awaited draft immigration bill.
Lawmaker Pieter Zulkifli of the Democratic Party said the draft bill could go before a plenary session of the House next Thursday. Eva Kusuma Sundari, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that under the new rules, expatriates married to Indonesians would automatically be granted a permanent residence permit as long as the Indonesian spouse can provide sponsorship.
These expatriates currently have to annually renew a temporary residence permit, also known as Kitas.
The bill would even allow these expatriates to stay in the country after divorcing their Indonesian partner as long as their marriage lasted at least 10 years.
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