What does emigrating to Indonesia cost?
Answer three questions and you get an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The items work differently here than elsewhere. The year's rent you pay up front, and the agent and visa costs come back every year. The car isn't among them, because it can't come along.
Looking for the whole route to Indonesia, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 10.800 – € 26.300
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months (with a year's rent in advance)€ 9.000 – € 22.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 1.200 – € 2.900
- De verhuizing
- € 600 – € 1.400
- De eerste maanden
- € 9.000 – € 22.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Visa, agent and paperwork(estimate)€ 800 – € 1.400
- Private health insurance (with evacuation cover)(estimate)€ 400 – € 1.500
The premium depends strongly on your age. Indonesia is not a treaty country: there is no S1 and no CAK, so the Netherlands does not pay for your care there. And the visa routes require insurance. An international policy with evacuation cover to Singapore costs US$ 2,000 to 5,000 per person per year. Insurers use entry limits around seventy-five: the age above which you can no longer take out a new policy. The item below covers the first months' premium around the application.
De verhuizing
- The journey(estimate)€ 600 – € 1.400
This covers the tickets plus generous excess baggage, because the strategy here is suitcases before containers: take what fits in your luggage and ship as little as possible. The flight takes sixteen to eighteen hours, with one stopover via Singapore, Doha or Dubai. There is no direct connection.
De eerste maanden
- The first months (with a year's rent in advance)(estimate)€ 9.000 – € 22.000
This is the item that makes this destination different. On Bali you pay a year's contract up front, in one go, plus deposit. A house or villa costs, depending on the location, US$ 800 to well over US$ 2,000 a month. On signing you pay that times twelve. Add the first months of daily life, transport and the utility connections. Those who want to pay monthly pay a hefty premium for it, or simply find less on offer.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 5 to 11% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 12.500 to € 27.500.
Buying means something different here from at home. The real risk lies not in the rates but in the construction. Land ownership (hak milik, full ownership) is legally impossible for foreigners. The nominee construction, in which an Indonesian frontman holds the land in his name, is void. The courts have repeatedly seen foreigners lose their entire stake that way. What is possible: a leasehold of 25-30 years, a long-term lease right, or a right of use (hak pakai) in your own name for permit holders. You record it with a notary. The percentages above cover the transfer tax (BPHTB, 5%), the notary and advice for such a legal structure.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
The rates in this calculation haven't been checked against the official sources yet.
Ready to get started with Indonesia?
The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 399 one-off, no subscription.
Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible, and where you start? Take the departure scan for Indonesia →
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with three questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates on your real situation: who's coming, whether the household contents come along and whether the pet comes along. It also watches the deadlines: ninety days for the eVisa and the deposit, fourteen days for the SKTT, and the extension in the last thirty days before expiry, with a passport that's still valid for eighteen months. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Indonesia: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Indonesia change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
64 journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, and the plan keeps an eye on your deadlines. You pay once, and then it's yours.