How to renew Indonesia Foreign Domestic Worker KTKLN

Post edit : Hot of the press! The newly elected Indonesian president Jokowi put a solid stop to this requirement. About time! Hooray! - 30 Nov 2014

KTKLN is basically an attempt to protect Indonesian who works in another country. One seemingly obvious benefit is the insurance. Why the operative word 'seemingly'? Because, in the event of the mishaps, it is quite unclear of what is the terms and conditions, as well as how to process the claim.

On some websites, there are some quotes that a worker who has been covered by insurance in the country of employment does not need to purchase the insurance bundled with the application. However, although I'm an indonesian myself, I am pessimistic that the officers there understand this ruling. Cost of the 'bundled' insurance is about 200 thousands rupiahs (about SGD 20-25). To me, I chose not to waste the energy on challenging the counter on this. 

If we are not aiming for the insurance coverage, why bother with this card? Well, for a very practical reason. Without this card, the FDW (my experience is with a FDW, so for simplicity all terms in this post will refer to FDW) will not be able to pass through imigration on her way out of Indonesia. How so? Before imigration, after check in, the FDW's passport need to get a special stamp at a special counter, which can only be obtained by showing the KTKLN. Please read on...

Recently, sporadic information on the interenet suggested that the card has been put under great scrutiny, both on the protection mechanism and its handling. Hooray that it has been pointed out that the card is not a required travel document and hence, not having the card shall not be a reason to stop one from going out of Indonesia.

On our last trip, we managed to clear the imigration without a single question about the card. The counter mentioned above is no longer operating. No more stamp necessary. Howerver, we did renew the card for our own 'insurance'.

Document necessary:

1. A valid contract endorsed by the Indonesian embassy in Singapore. This contract is provided free of charge. Just bring employer IC, FDW passport and work permit to level 2 of the embassy. Employer and FDW must be present to sign the contract. I called this number to confirm : 67377422 (hint hint... Advisable for you to do so).

2. FDW passport

3. FDW work permit

4. Stamp duty 6000 rupiahs * 2

Where is the location? Please hold your breath... Unlike Singapore where everything is so convenient, there are only 38 locations in Indonesia to do this. For fourth most populated country in the world, believe me, this is very very scarce. For example, around Jakarta alone, there is only one office to do this. With the traffic jam and all, one shall prepare a day dedicated to do this. We chose to submit first thing in the morning. After submitting, even though there's no other applicant, it takes several prompting to get the processing moving. Get location list from Indonesian embassy when you renew the contract.

Steps:

1. Submit all docs above

2. Go for medical check up. Result will be available straight away.

3. Buy insurance

4. FDW photo taking

5. Voila... you got it.

Good luck :D