also called ITAS · Kartu Izin Tinggal Terbatas · limited stay permit · limited stay permit Indonesia
Indonesia's limited-stay permit card, the document you actually hold once a visa has been converted into permission to live in the country for a fixed period.
The KITAS is the actual card you hold once Indonesia has turned your visa into permission to live there for a set period. The visa gets you through the door; the KITAS is what lets you stay, open a local bank account and sign a lease. It is almost always tied to one specific sponsor and has its own expiry, so it is a separate thing to track from the visa that started it.
You arrive in Bali proud that your visa came through, then find you cannot open a local bank account or sign a proper lease yet, because those hang on the KITAS, which is a further step. And because it is tied to your sponsor, if that relationship ends, the permit can end with it, whatever your plans were.
The visa gets you in, the KITAS is what lets you stay, open a local bank account and sign a lease, and it is almost always tied to a specific sponsor and its own expiry. People plan around the visa and are surprised the permit is a separate step. If the sponsor relationship ends, the KITAS can end with it.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are stages of the right to stay in Indonesia.
A B211A is a single-entry visit visa for business or social visits, extendable in-country; a KITAS is the limited-stay permit card you hold once a visa is converted into permission to live there for a fixed period; and a KITAP is the permanent-stay card you can move up to after holding a KITAS for several years.
A new term lands on this site every day, and the email is how you get it the day it lands. No digest, no roundup, no pitch. One term, what it means, and what it costs you to get it wrong.
Unsubscribe in one click, any time. We do not sell or share your address.