Indonesia’s US$8 million visa scandal threatens drive for talent, investors
Public-sector corruption is an ‘open secret’ in Indonesia, analysts say, urging Jakarta to make the application process more transparent
The country’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last week arrested eight high-ranking immigration officials, including then deputy minister Silmy Karim, for allegedly extorting foreigners seeking residency and work permits in Indonesia. KPK also detained nine visa agents acting as intermediaries between applicants and immigration officials.
The suspects are accused of running a “systemic” extortion scheme from 2022 to 2026, where they collected “extra fees” totalling 145.5 billion rupiah (US$8 million) from foreigners at immigration counters.
Foreigners were charged a fee of up to 1.5 million rupiah to speed up residency permits processing, or risk their applications stalling or getting rejected, KPK said, adding that Silmy allegedly pocketed a “regular allocation” of 100 million rupiah per week.
KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto told reporters on June 4 that the suspects allegedly used the money to buy personal assets and establish businesses such as a towing company – showing how the acts were carried out “systematically”.