Jakarta, Sep 3 (EFE).- Indonesia said on Sunday that the government has introduced a “golden visa” scheme to attract foreign investors and boost the national economy.
A press statement from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights said the new visa scheme would grant five years of residence to a businessperson who sets up a company valued at $2.5 million in the country.
The residency permit can go up to 10 years if the investment is worth $5 million.
“Golden visas are granted to foreigners with stay permits of five to 10 years to support the national economy,” Indonesian Immigration Director General Silmy Karim said.
Similarly, applicants can get five years of residency if they invest $350,000 in government bonds and company shares or deposit the money in a bank. A $700,000 invested similarly will guarantee a 10-year residency permit.
For companies seeking long-term permits for their managers, the investment amounts to $25 million for five years and $50 million for 10-year visas.
Once they arrive in Indonesia, golden visa holders no longer need to apply for permit,” Karim said.
Other countries with golden visas are Germany, the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, New Zealand, Italy, and Spain.
“Countries that have implemented golden visas have a positive impact. Denmark, for example, has become one of the leading countries in innovation. The United Arab Emirates has also become a preferred destination for foreign investors,” Silmy said. EFE
Sure, Indonesia is going to fit right in with these other “golden visa” destinations. I mean who would want to live in new Zealand when you can live in Jakarta?!
You’re forgetting Bali is in Inonesia, a lot of rich people would probably like to get a visa + vacation house there, especially rich people who live closer to it like rich Russians, Indians, etc.
No, I didn’t forget.
Bali’s primary appeal is that it’s cheap. If you have a lazy $2.5m to “set up a business” in the jurisdiction of your choosing then you’re probably not going to find Bali appealing in the long term.
Besides which, Bali / Indonesia is well known for it’s malleable (corrupt) regulatory officials, which isn’t ideal for business.
A lot of the time the business is not as important as the visa itself, if you’re filthy rich you can just set up a random business and have a back up plan in case you get chased out of your original country, esppecially if Indonesia doesn’t extradite
It’s only 5 years though.
You got it backwards, it’s absolutely ideal for business because the business owner can do whatever the fuck they want and get away with it (e.g. not disposing hazardous waste properly, misusing ground water extraction, etc). Things are improving and the government has been cracking hard on this in the past 10 years though.
Would you wager several million dollars on your ability to make officials ignore you?
If you got one of these golden visa’s you may as well hang a sign outside your factory that says “will pay bribes to protect my investment”.
But that is exactly what foreign investors did, as long as the profit is way above the bribery expense. It’s mostly in the past though. Multinationals companies here are know for their anti-bribery policy and won’t engage in bribery. They have mandatory CSR programs though, which to some extends, “bribe” the community around them to tolerate their factory in their neighborhood in the form of building roads, providing clean waters, etc.
Setting up business worth 2.5 million doesn’t mean you invest 2.5 million of starting capital.
I think you’ll find that’s exactly how these visas are intended to work.