Who can sponsor a Working KITAS
A Working KITAS (E23) requires a legally registered Indonesian employer. In practice that means one of:
- A PT PMA (foreign investment company) with minimum paid-up capital of IDR 10 billion (approximately USD 640,000).
- A local PT registered with Indonesian shareholders and operating in a sector that permits foreign workers.
- A representative office (KPPA / KP3A / BUJK) registered with BKPM.
- A government body, embassy, NGO or educational institution with approval to employ foreigners.
An individual cannot sponsor a Working KITAS. The common question "can I sponsor my partner to work for me" has the same answer as "can my partner sponsor a KITAS for me": not through the Working KITAS route. You would use the Family KITAS (E31) for that, which does not carry work rights.
The five documents that must be current
Before you lodge the VITAS, confirm the sponsor company has all five of these in force and aligned with the new hire's position:
- RPTKA (Rencana Penggunaan Tenaga Kerja Asing): the manpower plan that lists every foreign role the company is approved to hire for. The new hire's job title must appear here. If it doesn't, RPTKA must be amended before anything else moves, and amendment typically takes 2 to 4 weeks.
- IMTA (Izin Memperkerjakan Tenaga Kerja Asing): the individual work permit tied to the specific foreign employee, granted after the RPTKA confirms the role. In the current framework IMTA is issued administratively through the same online manpower portal as the RPTKA.
- DKPTKA (Dana Kompensasi Penggunaan Tenaga Kerja Asing): the USD 100 per month compensation payment the company makes for each foreign worker, paid annually in advance. This must be paid and receipted before VITAS lodgement.
- Domicile certificate (Surat Keterangan Domisili): the local kelurahan confirmation that the company actually operates at its registered address. Valid for 12 months, frequently overlooked until it expires.
- NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha): the single business identification number issued through OSS. Must be active with the correct KBLI codes for the company's actual business activity.
The real-world failure modes
In our cases the sponsor-side failures we see most often are:
- RPTKA role mismatch. The new hire's job title is not on the RPTKA. HR submits anyway, and immigration bounces the VITAS two weeks in. Always check the RPTKA first.
- Expired domicile certificate. The kelurahan paperwork lapsed 6 months ago and nobody noticed because the business kept running.
- PT PMA with unpaid capital. The company has IDR 10bn on paper but has not actually transferred the paid-up portion. No VITAS until that is reconciled.
- DKPTKA paid for the wrong number of months. The company pays for 12 months of one worker instead of the correct multi-year bracket, and the receipt number does not match.
What Kitas VIP does on the sponsor side
Before we touch the applicant's file we audit the sponsor company against the checklist above and send HR a one-page report of anything that needs attention. In most cases this saves 2 to 4 weeks of back-and-forth later. For foreign companies hiring into Indonesia for the first time, we can also introduce a trusted corporate services partner to handle the PT PMA formation, RPTKA lodgement and OSS registration steps end to end.