Moving to Indonesia as a Muslim: Visas, Costs, Schools and Halal Life

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, an archipelago where daily life, prices and rules change a lot between Jakarta, Java’s cities and the outer islands. This page collects what official and press sources say about residence routes, costs, schools, mosques, halal certification and health cover, with the date each source was read. Indonesia’s immigration portals do not allow automated reading, so the visa figures below come from dated professional and press summaries, and where those summaries disagree we say so. It is information, not advice: nothing here tells you which visa to apply for.

Safety first: read the current advice

Before anything else, read the latest official travel advice. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) page for Indonesia, read on 12 November 2026, shows no “advise against travel” level in the text we could read. Its last update was on 18 September 2026, when it stopped advising against all travel to volcanoes and added information on exclusion zones that local authorities enforce around volcanically active sites. Eruptions occur frequently, and the FCDO tells people to follow local authority advice on areas to avoid. It also notes that escalation in the Middle East has caused widespread travel disruption, with airspace closures and delayed or cancelled flights, even though commercial options to leave Indonesia remain available.

The FCDO’s “Safety and security” page says the terrorism threat is high and that small-scale attacks occur regularly, and it names places of worship among potential targets. It also warns of a heightened risk around Islamic celebrations such as Ramadan, and advises avoiding all protests and political rallies.

The FCDO’s regional page lists the places where it has specific advice:

• Aceh. Sharia law is in force. The page says violence against foreigners is rare but reports Sharia police harassing foreigners, and asks visitors to take particular care in remote areas.
• Central Sulawesi. The political situation is described as unsettled, with conflict between security forces and terrorists predominantly in Sigi, Parigi Moutong and Poso; take particular care in Palu, Poso and Tentena.
• Maluku Islands. Past unrest between religious and tribal groups; take particular care on Ambon Island and Haruku Island.
• Papua region. Armed separatist groups fight security forces, mainly in Highland Papua and Central Papua, and clashes have killed civilians, including foreign nationals. The security situation is described as unpredictable, the UK has no permanent presence there, and hospital facilities are limited.

Read the full FCDO advice. The US State Department also publishes an advisory. Search reports we read show Level 2, “Exercise increased caution”, with a “do not travel” notice for Central Papua and Highland Papua, but the live page refused automated access, so check travel.state.gov directly. Families should weigh these notices for themselves; this site does not judge any country.

Residence routes at a glance

Indonesia’s visas and stay permits are administered by the Directorate General of Immigration, with applications through its e-visa portal. The table below summarises figures from KPMG’s January 2024 note on the Golden Visa framework and from IMI Daily for the remote worker visa. Treat the figures as pointers and confirm them with the Directorate General of Immigration before any application; sources disagree on several details. Consider a professional review as well.

Route	Stay	Headline condition as reported
Golden Visa, individual investor without a company	5 years	USD 350,000 in government bonds, shares or mutual funds of listed Indonesian companies
Golden Visa, same category	10 years	USD 700,000 in those instruments, or an apartment priced at USD 1 million or more
Golden Visa, company founder	5 or 10 years	USD 2.5 million or USD 5 million
Second home visa	5 years	USD 130,000 deposited in a state-owned bank, or an apartment of at least USD 1 million
Second home, elderly foreigners (60+)	5 years	USD 50,000 in a state-owned bank plus USD 3,000 a month in income or allowance
Remote worker visa (E33G)	1 year	About USD 60,000 a year from a foreign employer or clients

The rupiah floats, and a market rate of about IDR 18,096 per US dollar was reported on 10 November 2026 by Databoks. Dollar amounts in this section are the ones stated in the sources.

Golden Visa and second home

KPMG’s flash alert of 19 January 2024 describes the Golden Visa framework under Ministry of Law and Human Rights Regulation No. 22 of 2023, in four categories: capital investment, family reunion, repatriation of former citizens and their descendants, and “second home”. The family reunion category covers a spouse or children joining an existing permit holder, with stays of five or ten years. The second home category carries the USD 130,000 bank deposit or USD 1 million apartment condition and a five-year stay. KPMG lists a separate sub-category for people aged 60 or over. These are figures from early 2024, so verify that they still apply.

Remote worker visa

IMI Daily, in a page updated in July 2026, describes the E33G remote worker visa as requiring income of about USD 60,000 a year, documented through a foreign employer or foreign clients, and a bank balance of at least USD 2,000 held over the three months before applying. It reports an initial one-year stay, a minimum of 183 days a year in Indonesia to keep the status, and applications through the e-visa portal under Regulation No. 22 of 2023 as amended by Regulation No. 11 of 2024. Sources conflict on renewal, and on whether freelancers without a contract qualify, so this is one to verify first-hand.

Cost of living: headline figures

Prices differ sharply between cities, and we found no official household budget table, so no rent or grocery basket is given. Three sourced pointers:

• Inflation. Bank Indonesia’s release of 2 November 2026, based on data from the national statistics agency BPS, reports consumer price inflation of 0.22% on the month and 3.23% on the year in October 2026, down from 3.28% in September. Volatile food inflation was 5.81% on the year.
• Electricity. CNBC Indonesia’s list of 3 August 2026 gives non-subsidised household tariffs of Rp 1,352 per kWh for 900 VA connections and Rp 1,445 per kWh for 1,300 and 2,200 VA connections (about USD 0.075 and USD 0.08), unchanged for the third quarter. A Metro TV list in late October 2026 reported them unchanged for the fourth quarter; that rests on press reports, not an energy ministry notice we could read.
• Currency. The rupiah traded near IDR 18,000 per dollar through much of 2026, according to Databoks reports, so dollar prices move with the exchange rate.

Schools and Islamic education

We did not find an official list of schools or a source we could verify on pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) for foreign families, so this page does not describe them. For international options, the legal category is the SPK school (Satuan Pendidikan Kerja Sama), a school running a foreign curriculum under a cooperation agreement with an accredited foreign institution. Sampoerna Academy and Now! Jakarta describe the rules as follows, based on Regulation No. 31 of 2014: Indonesian pupils in these schools must take religious education, Bahasa Indonesia and civics, while foreign-passport pupils are not required to take the religion course and instead take Indonesian studies. The sources vary on details such as weekly hours and national exams, and they are school-side guides rather than the regulation text, so check the current rules with each school and the education ministry.

Read alsoMalaysia: residence, schools, halal life and costs

Mosques and religious life

About 87% of Indonesians are Muslim, according to Ministry of Religious Affairs data from 2022, as cited by Pew Research Center. Pew adds that each adult must list a religion on their ID card and that the blasphemy law recognises six religions. Databoks, citing Ministry of Religious Affairs data, reported 290,161 mosques as of May 2022, spread across the provinces. Counts vary by source because some include smaller prayer rooms (musala), so treat the figure as indicative. Friday prayer times and the working week differ by employer and region, and we did not find a single official source for them, so confirm with your employer and local mosque.

Halal food

Halal certification is governed by Law No. 33 of 2014 on halal product assurance, with the national agency BPJPH issuing certificates. The deadlines have been phased. The US International Trade Administration reported on 2 April 2025 that Government Regulation 42/2024, issued on 18 October 2024, extended the food and beverage deadline for importers and retailers to no later than 17 October 2026, excluding meat and meat products from that extension. Emerhub reported on 17 October 2026 that Government Regulation 40/2026, promulgated on 14 October 2026 and confirmed by BPJPH, amends that regulation: most affected categories, including domestic micro and small food businesses and imported food and beverages, now have a phase-in ending on 17 October 2028. It also moves cosmetics, health supplements and several consumer goods to the same date. The two reports differ on timing and we could not read either regulation, so check BPJPH for the current deadline. When shopping, look for the certification mark on the pack and ask the seller if you are unsure.

Healthcare

Indonesia’s national health insurance (JKN) is run by BPJS Kesehatan. What’s New Indonesia’s guide says foreigners who have legally resided in Indonesia for at least six consecutive months are eligible, cites Law No. 24 of 2011, and notes that registration requires a KITAS or KITAP stay permit. Other sources say that foreign workers of six months or more are required to join, and that employers usually register formal employees. Some sources say retirees and non-workers may not qualify, and expat forums report officers refusing some applications, so the position for your own situation must be confirmed with BPJS Kesehatan. We state the rule only and do not rate or recommend any insurance product. The FCDO notes that hospital facilities are limited in Papua.

Your first 90 days: a checklist of official steps

This list reflects procedure as published, not personal advice.

1. Before travel. Check the FCDO and State Department advice again, and the status of your flights, since Middle East escalation has caused airspace closures.
2. Permit. Check the Directorate General of Immigration’s e-visa portal for the category you are considering; do not rely on this page’s figures alone.
3. Health cover. Ask how the six-month BPJS rule applies to your permit type.
4. Schools. Ask each school whether it is an SPK school and how religion, Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia are taught.
5. Food. Learn to read the halal certification mark, and note that certification deadlines are still moving.
6. Community. Find your local mosque and its Friday timing, and your employer’s Ramadan arrangements.

For comparison with another South-East Asian destination, see Malaysia. Scholarly questions about migration itself are covered in Making hijrah, and the ranking page explains why any ranking depends on the criterion you pick. For finding a congregation, see choosing a Muslim community abroad.