A bank account in Indonesia: passport plus one document, and a state-owned bank for your visa

Yes, as a foreigner you can open a bank account in Indonesia, and since 2015 the rules are simpler than many people think. The financial supervisor OJK then informed banks that a foreign currency account for a foreigner may be opened with a passport and one additional document, such as a rental contract, a proof of address or a reference from your bank in the Netherlands. Before that, banks asked among other things for a KITAS. The find is in the visa rules: on the Silver Hair and Second Home routes your deposit must be at a state-owned bank, and you report it within ninety days to the immigration service. The pitfall is in your suitcase: cash from 100 million rupiah you declare to Customs.

Which account can you open?

OJK circular S-246/S.01/2015 of 15 September 2015 concerns foreign currency accounts of foreigners, and has three kinds:

Account	What the bank asks	Balance
Tourist account	only your passport	first deposit at least 2,000 dollars, balance at most 50,000 dollars; higher charges below 10,000 dollars
Account without balance limit	passport and 1 additional document	more than 50,000 dollars
Account for large amounts	passport and additional documents	special balance

As an additional document OJK names, among others, a reference from a bank in your home country, a statement of your home address, your spouse's identity document, a copy of your rental contract, or a credit or debit card. Those are examples: the bank decides what it accepts.

If you live in Indonesia, make sure your residence papers are in order before you go to the bank. According to the civil registry the population documents, for a KITAS holder the SKTT, are the basis for other services, such as the bank. How to get it is in SKTT and NPWP in Indonesia.

What does your visa ask of your bank?

Visa	Bank requirement according to the immigration service
E33F, retirement	bank statement with at least 2,000 dollars over the last three months, and an account showing 3,000 dollars of income a month
E33E, Silver Hair	50,000 dollars in an account in your own name at a state-owned bank, reported within 90 days of arrival
E33, Second Home	130,000 dollars in an account in your own name at a state-owned bank, within 90 days of arrival, or property of 1 million dollars

A deposit at an ordinary bank does not count. For the Silver Hair and the Second Home the immigration service explicitly names a state-owned bank, and an account in your own name. So don't open that account at the bank of your choice, but at a state-owned bank, and keep the proof of your report to the immigration service.

How do you bring money to Indonesia?

Transfer it, and be cautious with cash. According to Customs:

• cash from 100 million rupiah, or the equivalent in foreign currency, you declare on the customs form on arrival;
• foreign banknotes worth 1 billion rupiah or more also require a licence from Bank Indonesia;
• whoever doesn't declare pays a fine of 10 per cent, up to a maximum of 300 million rupiah, deducted directly from the money brought in; without a Bank Indonesia licence another 10 per cent is added.

You declare on the customs form on arrival, the electronic Customs Declaration (BC 2.2); on departure the same applies with form BC 3.2. Whoever forgets receives an official report from Customs, and according to Customs may only take the money along after paying the fine.

What does tax do with your account?

Whoever becomes a resident taxpayer declares in Indonesia, in principle, their income from inside and outside Indonesia. That is separate from where the money is kept. How the tax treaty divides that with the Netherlands is in AOW, pension and tax in Indonesia.

Finally, keep your Dutch account: that is where your pension and your AOW come in, and from where you transfer. The order of ITAS, SKTT and bank is in the journey at /indonesie.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Indonesia or go straight to step 5.2 in the open plan.