Director General of Immigration, Silmy Karim, has recently expressed his confidence that the ambitious goal of granting 1,000 Golden Visas, a type of visa launched to attract foreign investors and global talents to Indonesia, will be met by the end of this year.
During the Joint Immigration Sympathetic Passport Service event for Central Java at De Tjolomadoe, Karanganyar, on Saturday, the 5th of October, Karim further elaborated on his optimism about achieving such a target before the current year wraps up.
“Alhamdulillah [praise be to God that] this year’s target is 1,000 recipients and, hopefully, it can be achieved by the end of 2024,” he remarked during the event.
Having said that, Karim underlined that the purpose has never been about granting as many Golden Visas to foreigners as possible.
“It’s not about reaching a large number as the Golden Visa is highly exclusive, specific, and must provide benefits for Indonesia,” he continued.
The recipients of the Golden Visa must meet certain requirements, such as having invested US$25 million (around Rp40 billion) in Indonesia or holding savings of US$700,000 (around Rp11.3 billion) in an Indonesian national bank. One notable recipient of the Golden Visa is South Korean native, Shin Tae-yong, who is the coach of the Indonesian national football team.
“He [Shin Tae-yong] received the Golden Visa due to his contributions to Indonesian football. He’s categorised as ‘Global Talent’,” Karim added.
The Golden Visa holders are expected to enjoy several exclusive benefits. These benefits include a relatively longer stay period of up to 10 years, priority access to immigration services at international airports, and more convenience during their stay in Indonesia as Golden Visa holders are not required to obtain a limited stay permit (ITAS) from the immigration office. The Golden Visa holders fall into several categories or types: (i) Individual Investors; (ii) Corporate Investors; (iii) Former Indonesian Citizens; (iv) Descendants of Former Indonesian Citizens; (v) Second Homes; (vi) Global Talents, and; (vii) World Figures.