Second Home Visa Indonesia: Lawyer Checklist, Cost, Timeline
Second Home Visa Indonesia: Lawyer Checklist, Cost, Timeline
Published 23 September 2026 · 9 minute read · The Bali Lawyer
The second home visa Indonesia introduced in 2023 lets a foreigner live in the country for five or ten years without a local sponsor or job, provided they can show substantial funds or property. In practice, roughly IDR 2 billion (about USD 130,000, confirm the current figure with immigration or your lawyer before transferring anything) parked in an Indonesian bank deposit is the standard route. It does not grant permanent residency and it does not automatically give you the right to work for an Indonesian company. Most rejected applications fail on documentation, not on the money itself.
Table of contents
- What the second home visa actually is
- Second home visa Indonesia requirements
- What a lawyer checks before you file
- Second home visa Indonesia cost
- How long does the second home visa take
- Second home visa vs retirement visa vs investor KITAS
- Where applications go wrong
- FAQ
What the second home visa actually is
It is a limited stay permit, index E33, aimed at people who want to base themselves in Indonesia long term without going through the employment sponsorship system. You do not need a company to sponsor you and you do not need to prove you have a job waiting. What you do need to prove is that you can support yourself, either through a bank deposit held in Indonesia or through qualifying property.
It sits between a tourist stay and a work permit. It is not a path to citizenship on its own, and it is not the same instrument as a retirement visa, which has its own age and income rules. If retirement is your actual goal rather than a long-term base for business or family, our page on the retirement visa Bali covers the age threshold and pension proof that route requires instead.
Second home visa Indonesia requirements
The core requirement is financial proof, plus standard identity and health documents. The two accepted routes are a fund deposit and a property route, and they are not treated the same in practice.
- Bank deposit route: funds placed in a term deposit at an approved Indonesian bank, commonly cited around IDR 2 billion. This figure has moved since the visa launched, so confirm the current minimum before you commit funds.
- Property route: ownership or a qualifying long-term right over Indonesian property valued at an equivalent threshold. Because foreigners cannot hold freehold title in Indonesia, this route depends entirely on the legal structure used to hold the property, which is the single most misunderstood part of the whole scheme.
- Valid passport with at least 36 months remaining.
- Applicant aged 18 or over.
- Clean police record from the home country, sometimes requested during processing.
- Health insurance or proof of ability to cover medical costs in Indonesia.
- Bank reference letter and source of funds documentation, particularly for larger deposits.
Dependents, usually spouse and children, can generally be added, but immigration will ask you to show the family relationship is documented and often expects the fund threshold to cover the whole family unit rather than being split thinly across dependents.
What a lawyer checks before you file
A lawyer's job here is less about filling in the application form and more about stopping you from committing money before you know it will actually satisfy immigration. Before we submit anything, we check:
- Whether the bank you plan to use for the deposit is on the accepted list and whether the deposit structure (term, currency, lock-in period) meets current rules, because banks interpret this differently.
- If you are going the property route, whether the legal structure you hold, Hak Pakai, a leasehold arrangement, or a PT PMA holding the asset, will actually be recognised as qualifying, since a straightforward leasehold in a foreigner's own name typically will not.
- Whether your source of funds documentation will survive scrutiny. Large transfers that cannot be traced to a clean origin are a common cause of delay.
- Whether an existing KITAS, work permit, or other stay permit you already hold conflicts with a fresh second home application, or whether it needs to be cancelled first.
- Your tax exposure once you cross 183 days in Indonesia in a 12 month period, which triggers Indonesian tax residency and an NPWP registration obligation regardless of which visa you hold.
- Whether dependents' documents (marriage certificate, birth certificates) are apostilled or legalised correctly for Indonesian use, since this is rejected more often than any other single document.
If your actual intention is to work in Indonesia for an Indonesian entity, the second home visa is the wrong tool and you should be looking at the working visa KITAS in Bali process instead, which involves an employer sponsor and a work permit (IMTA/RPTKA) that the second home visa does not include.
Second home visa Indonesia cost
Costs fall into three buckets: the fund you must hold or invest, the government visa fee, and legal or agency service fees. The fund itself is not a cost, it is money that remains yours in deposit or property, but it is capital you cannot use elsewhere while the visa is active.
| Item | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bank deposit (fund route) | ~IDR 2 billion (~USD 130,000) | Confirm current threshold, held in deposit not spent |
| Government visa fee, 5 year | IDR 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 range | Varies by index and processing office, confirm with immigration |
| Government visa fee, 10 year | Higher than the 5 year fee | Exact figure changes, verify at application time |
| Legal/agency service fee | USD 500 to 1,500 | Depends on complexity, family members, property structuring |
| Document legalisation (apostille, sworn translation) | USD 50 to 300 per document | More for dependents' civil documents |
Anyone quoting you a flat all-in price before seeing your source of funds and document set is guessing. The deposit route is usually cheaper to arrange than the property route because it avoids the legal structuring work.
The single most expensive mistake: transferring the full deposit, or completing a property purchase, before a lawyer has confirmed the exact structure immigration will accept. We have seen applicants place funds through the wrong deposit type, or buy property through a leasehold agreement in their own name, only to find the application rejected after the money is already committed and largely illiquid. Confirm the accepted structure in writing before you move a single rupiah.
How long does the second home visa take
Once your documents are complete and the deposit or property is in place, e-visa approval commonly takes around 7 to 14 working days. The real variable is not the immigration processing step, it is how long it takes you to get the deposit opened correctly and the supporting documents (bank reference, source of funds letter, apostilled civil documents) ready. Applicants who arrive with everything in order can sometimes clear the whole process inside three to four weeks from first contact to visa in hand. Applicants sorting out fund sources or property structure from scratch should expect it to run longer, sometimes several months, particularly if property is involved.
Second home visa vs retirement visa vs investor KITAS
The second home visa is often confused with Indonesia's other long-stay options, and picking the wrong one wastes both time and money.
| Visa | Sponsor needed | Core requirement | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second home visa | None, self-funded | ~IDR 2 billion deposit or qualifying property | 5 or 10 years |
| Retirement visa | None, age and income based | Minimum age plus proof of pension or income | 1 year, renewable |
| Working KITAS | Indonesian employer | Job offer, work permit (RPTKA/IMTA) | Tied to contract, usually 1 to 2 years |
| Investor KITAS | PT PMA company | Share capital in an Indonesian company | 1 to 2 years, renewable |
| Family/dependent KITAS | Spouse or parent sponsor | Marriage or family relationship to an existing holder | Tied to sponsor's permit |
If your real goal is joining a spouse who already lives in Indonesia rather than parking capital, the Bali family visa or KITAS family visa Bali routes are usually cheaper and faster, since they do not require the large deposit at all.
Where applications go wrong
Most refusals we see trace back to a handful of repeat issues rather than bad luck:
- Property route used without checking foreign ownership limits. Foreigners cannot hold freehold title in Indonesia, so a straightforward purchase in your own name will not qualify. The structure needs to be right before you sign anything, not after.
- Source of funds gaps. A deposit that lands from an account immigration cannot trace to a legitimate income or sale of assets invites extra scrutiny and delay.
- Assuming the visa allows local employment. It does not, by default, let you work for an Indonesian employer. Confusing this with a work permit is a common and costly assumption.
- Letting the deposit threshold quietly drop below the minimum through withdrawals or currency movement, which can jeopardise renewal.
- Missing the 183 day tax residency trigger and not registering an NPWP when required, which creates separate problems down the line unrelated to immigration status itself.
Anyone assembling a foreign-owned company alongside this visa, or unsure whether investor KITAS suits their business plans better, should read our page on the work permit Indonesia and residence visa process before deciding which route to commit capital to.
FAQ
What is the second home visa in Indonesia?
It is a self-sponsored, long-term stay permit (index E33) allowing a foreigner to live in Indonesia for five or ten years without an employer or family sponsor, based on proof of substantial funds or qualifying property. It does not grant permanent residency and does not by itself authorise employment with an Indonesian company.
How much money do you need for the second home visa Indonesia?
The commonly cited threshold is around IDR 2 billion, roughly USD 130,000, held as a deposit in an approved Indonesian bank. This figure has changed since the visa launched in 2023, so confirm the current minimum with immigration or a lawyer before transferring funds, since applying against an outdated figure can cause rejection.
Can you work on Indonesia's second home visa?
Not for an Indonesian employer, no. The second home visa is built around financial self-sufficiency, not employment, so it does not include a work permit. If working locally is your actual goal, you need a working KITAS with employer sponsorship and a separate work permit, not the second home route.
How long does the second home visa take to process?
E-visa approval itself typically runs 7 to 14 working days once the deposit or property and all supporting documents are in order. The full process, including opening the deposit and legalising documents, commonly takes three to four weeks for straightforward cases and considerably longer where property structuring or fund tracing is involved.
Is Indonesia's second home visa the same as a golden visa?
It is often called Indonesia's version of a golden visa in casual use, but it is not permanent residency. It is a renewable long-stay permit tied to maintaining the qualifying deposit or property. Genuine permanent residency (KITAP) in Indonesia follows a separate, longer route and different eligibility rules.
Can family members be included on a second home visa?
Yes, spouses and children are commonly added as dependents, provided the family relationship is documented with properly legalised civil records such as marriage and birth certificates. Immigration generally expects the fund or property threshold to cover the family unit as a whole rather than being divided per dependent.
Does the second home visa lead to permanent residency?
No. It is a limited stay permit valid for five or ten years and renewable, but it does not convert automatically into KITAP, Indonesia's permanent residency status. Permanent residency has its own separate criteria and application path, and holding a second home visa does not shorten that route on its own.
What happens if my deposit drops below the required threshold?
If the balance falls below the minimum required for the second home visa, it can jeopardise renewal at the end of the visa term and may be flagged during any compliance check in the interim. It is worth structuring the deposit with a buffer above the stated minimum and confirming with your bank how withdrawals or fees are treated against that threshold.
For anyone weighing the second home visa against Indonesia's other long-stay options, or wanting a second opinion before committing a large deposit, our team at The Bali Lawyer reviews the documentation and fund structure first, so you know it will be accepted before any money moves. You can also see the full range of options on our visa services Bali page.