Indonesia Opens Lifetime Residency Scheme for Diaspora, With Fees and Rights Under Scrutiny

Lifetime Residency Without a Second Citizenship

Indonesia has opened applications for the Global Citizenship of Indonesia (GCI), offering former citizens and people with Indonesian roots an unlimited permanent stay permit while allowing them to keep their foreign nationality. As of December 30, 2025, the scheme promises a more stable connection to Indonesia, although detailed implementing rules are still being finalized.

Applicants face a reported government fee of approximately 34.8 million Indonesian rupiah, alongside financial requirements that vary by category. Former citizens may need to hold investments worth around $5,000, while descendants in the second generation may face a higher threshold. Those costs have become a central concern among diaspora members assessing whether the program offers a practical route home.

The government wants the initiative to bring back skills, investment and business activity from Indonesians living overseas. It also offers a response to a longstanding legal problem: Indonesia does not recognize dual citizenship for adults, leaving people who become citizens elsewhere with fewer options for maintaining a permanent base in their country of origin.

GCI addresses that problem through immigration status. Holders remain foreign nationals but receive permission to live in Indonesia indefinitely, without repeatedly renewing their underlying residence permit. The program also provides opportunities to work and do business, subject to restrictions that matter for anyone considering a job with an Indonesian employer.

Indonesia has drawn inspiration from India's Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme. Supporters welcome the prospect of easier family visits and a lasting home in Indonesia. Critics question whether the fees, investment commitments and continuing limits on property ownership will make the program accessible to a broad range of people.

What the Permit Actually Provides

GCI is formally an Unlimited Permanent Stay Permit, known in Indonesian as KITAP Tanpa Batas Waktu. Its central benefit is residence without an expiry date. Holders can retain their foreign passport while living in Indonesia without the repeated applications associated with permission to stay for a limited period.

Indonesian citizenship carries rights that GCI does not provide. Permit holders cannot vote or hold public office. For families whose members have different nationalities, the scheme creates a way to settle together in Indonesia while keeping those existing nationalities.

GCI also differs from the Limited Stay Visa (ITAS) and the standard Permanent Stay Permit (ITAP). Those arrangements are often linked to employment, investment or marriage to an Indonesian citizen. GCI places particular weight on ancestry, former citizenship and family connections, although its eligible categories also include spouses.

Holders receive an unlimited Multiple Entry Re-Entry Permit (MERP), allowing repeated travel into and out of Indonesia. The MERP itself requires renewal every five years, while the underlying permanent residence status continues. A person can therefore have lifetime permission to reside in Indonesia while still needing to complete that travel permit renewal.

The scheme also removes the need to find a local sponsor, a requirement often associated with other permits such as KITAS. For someone returning independently, that can make a permanent move easier to organize. The government presents the arrangement as a way to maintain diaspora ties within Indonesia's existing rules on nationality.

Who Can Apply, and Who Is Excluded?

Former Indonesian citizens are a primary eligible group. This includes people who renounced or lost Indonesian nationality after acquiring citizenship in another country. Their children and grandchildren can also qualify, extending eligibility through the second degree of descent.

Children born from a marriage between an Indonesian citizen and a foreign national are included. Legal spouses of Indonesian citizens may apply, as may spouses of former Indonesian citizens who meet the relevant requirements. Together, these categories address the needs of families whose connections to Indonesia involve both ancestry and marriage.

Indonesia has also set exclusions linked to nationality, employment history and national interests. The program is unavailable to foreigners from countries or territories that were historically part of Indonesian territory. People involved in separatist activities or actions considered contrary to Indonesia's national interest are disqualified.

People who have served, or are serving, as civil servants, intelligence officers or military personnel in foreign countries are also excluded. Applicants therefore need to assess their eligibility against both the family connection requirements and these restrictions.

The ancestry provisions may be especially useful for families that have lived abroad for generations but continue to identify with Indonesia. The spouse provisions serve a different practical purpose: they allow eligible couples to consider a permanent move together instead of arranging separate forms of residence.

Documents, Fees and Financial Commitments

Applications go through the Directorate General of Immigration's official eVisa portal. The digital system is intended to handle visa issuance, the conversion of permits and the granting of re-entry permits through a single facility, making applications accessible from abroad.

Applicants need a passport with at least six months of remaining validity, a recent photograph in passport format and a curriculum vitae (CV). They must also document the connection that makes them eligible. An old Indonesian passport or national identity card, known as a KTP, can help establish former citizenship.

Family Cards (KK), birth certificates and marriage certificates can establish ancestry or family relationships. For descendants, the practical task is to document the family connection across the relevant generations. For spouses, marriage documentation forms part of that evidence.

Financial sufficiency is another requirement. Applicants must show that they can support themselves in Indonesia, typically through bank statements showing a minimum balance or documents establishing annual income. The applicable thresholds depend on the category, including whether someone is a former citizen or a descendant in the second generation.

The reported government fee is approximately 34.8 million rupiah. Depending on their connection to Indonesia, applicants may also need to commit money through bonds, shares, mutual funds or deposits. Former citizens might be required to hold investments worth around $5,000, with a higher threshold potentially applying to descendants in the second generation.

The application fee and an investment commitment represent different demands on an applicant's finances. The fee pays for the government service, while an investment requirement involves holding money in specified assets. Both affect how much money a person needs to make the move, alongside the requirement to demonstrate sufficient means of support.

Work Opportunities Come With Restrictions

GCI is intended to let eligible foreign nationals participate in Indonesia's economy without obtaining additional immigration work permits. Holders can manage personal investments, undertake remote work for foreign companies and establish business ventures. Professionals and entrepreneurs could use the status to maintain an active economic connection to Indonesia.

Employment restrictions remain important. Holders are reportedly restricted from contractual employment that pays a salary directly from an Indonesian company. The activities encouraged under the scheme instead include work outside such contracts, consultancy and business activity.

A person considering a move therefore needs to examine the kind of work involved. Running a venture, managing investments or working remotely for an overseas company can involve a different arrangement from accepting a salaried position with a local employer. The promise of permission to work sits alongside those limits.

The government hopes this flexibility will make it easier for people with overseas experience to contribute their skills. A stable residence status could support a return to Indonesia or a working life divided between countries, while removing the need to repeatedly secure permission to remain.

Why Family Land Remains a Difficult Issue

Indonesia's property rules continue to apply to GCI holders as foreign nationals. Only Indonesian citizens can hold the freehold land title known as Hak Milik. The new residence status leaves that rule in place, which matters to diaspora members hoping to reclaim or own family land.

Foreign nationals generally have more limited routes to property, including rights known as Hak Pakai and ownership of apartments under strata title arrangements. Hak Pakai concerns the right to use property, while strata title concerns ownership of an individual apartment within a building. These arrangements differ from owning land outright under Hak Milik.

Lifetime residence can make it easier to plan a permanent home, yet the property title available remains governed by the holder's foreign nationality. Some diaspora advocates see that continuing restriction as a major gap between the promise of reconnection and the practical rights attached to GCI.

How Indonesia's Scheme Compares With India's

India launched its Overseas Citizenship of India scheme in 2006. It provides people of Indian origin with a lifelong visa allowing multiple entries and the ability to visit, work and live in India indefinitely. More than 4 million OCI cards have been issued, making it an established model for maintaining connections with a large diaspora.

OCI holders have access to several practical rights. They can own residential property, open bank accounts and access educational institutions. They cannot vote, hold constitutional offices or purchase agricultural land.

Indonesia's GCI follows the same broad idea of granting lasting access to a country of origin while preserving foreign nationality. The two programs differ in their costs and legal foundations. India's OCI application fee is relatively modest compared with the fees and investment requirements associated with GCI.

OCI is embedded in India's Citizenship Law, while GCI operates through Indonesian immigration regulations. That difference may affect how residence status connects to property and business rights. Diaspora critics have argued that the Indian model offers more generous benefits in these areas.

Indonesian officials regard OCI as a benchmark and have said they intend to refine GCI over time. Their stated ambition is to improve services so that the Indonesian scheme can match or surpass the quality of its Indian counterpart. For applicants, the immediate decision concerns the rights and financial conditions attached to GCI at its launch.

A Welcome for Some, a Cost Barrier for Others

Setyana Mapasa, an Olympic badminton player who gave up Indonesian citizenship to represent Australia, has welcomed the scheme. She expressed excitement about an unlimited stay permit that would remove barriers she had faced when visiting family or considering job offers in Indonesia.

Other diaspora members value the recognition represented by permanent residence in their ancestral homeland. People who have established lives abroad can still have close family ties and a strong sense of belonging in Indonesia. Permission to return indefinitely offers a practical way to maintain those connections.

Criticism has focused on affordability and the extent of the rights provided. Some Indonesians commenting on social media described the fees and investment requirements as excessive and viewed the initiative as a way for the state to raise revenue rather than a genuine welcome.

Nuning Hallett, a researcher and advocate for diaspora rights and families formed through mixed marriages, argued that GCI does not go far enough. She criticized the gap with India's OCI scheme, particularly on costs and property rights, and said the policy places too much weight on generating revenue through bonds and deposits rather than helping people reconnect.

The reactions reflect different needs within the diaspora. Someone seeking easier visits or a secure base may value the residence permit highly. Someone seeking ownership of family land or an affordable route into a salaried local job will judge the same program against a different set of priorities.

Bringing Skills and Investment Back to Indonesia

Nearly 4,000 Indonesians became Singaporean citizens between 2019 and 2022. That figure helps explain the government's concern about losing skilled people to opportunities overseas. The wider challenge, often called brain drain, arises when a country loses professionals whose knowledge and experience could support its economy.

Indonesia wants GCI to encourage professionals, investors and entrepreneurs to contribute again, either by returning or by investing in Indonesian businesses from abroad. The skills involved range across fields including science, technology and the arts.

The program forms part of a broader effort to modernize immigration services. Indonesia has been improving digital systems and creating visa categories intended to make the country more attractive to international talent. GCI sits alongside options such as the Investor Visa and Second Home Visa within that wider approach, which also seeks to attract wealthy retirees and people working remotely.

The policy's practical appeal will depend on costs and administration as well as residence security. Critics warn that expensive requirements and complicated procedures could discourage the professionals Indonesia hopes to attract. Continuing economic problems and limits on property rights could also leave the scheme more attractive to wealthy applicants than to the wider pool of skilled workers.

Applications Are Open While Rules Take Shape

As of December 30, 2025, applications are being accepted while technical regulations and detailed implementing rules are still being finalized by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Directorate General of Immigration. Some procedures and rights therefore remain subject to clarification or change. No completion date for that work was given.

The policy's development can be placed in a short timeline:

• 2006: India launched OCI, the program Indonesia has used as a model.
• 2019 to 2022: Nearly 4,000 Indonesians became Singaporean citizens.
• December 30, 2025: Indonesia's GCI applications are open, with detailed implementing rules still being finalized.

Officials have indicated that the government is open to adjustments following diaspora feedback and experience with the initial rollout. Possible changes include financial requirements, clearer property provisions and a simpler application process. The government has expressed a commitment to improving the scheme over time.

Legal advice for prospective applicants has focused on preparing documents carefully and monitoring official immigration channels, including the eVisa portal. Consulting immigration specialists may help applicants assess their eligibility and the conditions relevant to their circumstances while the regulations develop.

GCI gives Indonesia a way to offer permanent residence without changing its prohibition on adult dual citizenship. Its value for individual families will depend on how that lasting permission to stay fits with the costs, employment restrictions and property rights that remain part of life as a foreign national.

Key Points

• GCI offers unlimited permanent residence to eligible former Indonesian citizens, descendants and spouses while they retain foreign nationality.
• Eligibility extends to children and grandchildren of former citizens, children from mixed nationality marriages and qualifying spouses.
• The residence permit has no expiry date, but the accompanying multiple entry travel permit requires renewal every five years.
• The reported government fee is approximately 34.8 million rupiah, with financial support and investment requirements varying by category.
• Holders can undertake permitted economic activities, but restrictions apply to salaried contractual employment with Indonesian companies.
• GCI provides no voting rights, access to public office or right to own land under Hak Milik.
• The scheme draws on India's OCI model and aims to attract diaspora skills and investment.
• Applications are open as of December 30, 2025, while detailed implementing rules are still being finalized.