Saturday, July 12, 2014

How to renew Indonesian's domestic maid's passport DIY with updated info on Feb 26,2019




How to renew Indonesian domestic maid’s passport DIY without an agent’s help

Updated with new information on Feb 26, 2019



In the past when a maid needed to renew their passport, it was typical that we would approach a maid agent to carry out the necessary.

In the most recent case of our Indonesian maid having to renew her passport here in Singapore, I decided to DIY and to find out the procedures which from hearsay was uncomplicated and extremely straight forward.

Henceforward I could save paying a fee to the agent and for all future cases, I could thus renew the passports of future maids without a hitch.

For anyone interested to DIY like me, foremost before proceeding, please check on the expiry date of your maid’s work permit and her passport.  

Normally , it was advisable by the Embassy that the passport should be renewed at least 2 weeks before the expiry of the work permit, not the expiry of her passport or whichever expire earlier.

Before the actual day , one must get ready all the necessary documents and to choose a suitable date.

Consequently, on 8 July 2014, our maid together with the Employer mentioned in the work permit went together with myself for this matter.

We chose Tuesday as Monday, being all Mondays were often crowded everywhere because of the weekends.




These are the following documents to bring along:

1) Form PERDIM 11 form which can be downloaded from the Embassy website  (http://www.embassypages.com/missions/embassy5051/  OR  http://kemlu.go.id/singapore/Pages/AboutUs.aspx?IDP=51&l=en  ) or obtain one from the counter upon arrival. Just get the maid to fill it in as it is in Indonesian language, but make sure she fill it with black ink pen.

2) One photocopy of Employer’s I/C ( front and back)


3) One photocopy of maid’s passport, front and back page and also bring the original passport

4) One copy of her Singapore work permit (front and back) and also the original work permit.

 5) You can bring along other form of identifications like Driver’s license, EZ link card, etc. This is to help you submit one ID at the security counter while you bring the original work permit or passport or I/C to the counter for the renewal.

That’s all the documents you need to bring. Remember to bring cash ( S $38) for the payment of the new passport. It seems that they do not accept credit cards, or Nets.




THE DAY OF RENEWAL OF PASSPORT

Take note of the Embassy address:

Indonesian Embassy in Singapore

No: 7, Chatsworth Road

Singapore 249761
( Between Botanic Gardens and Redhill MRT) besides Tanglin Road.

Telephone   (+65) 6737-7422

Telefax         (+65) 6737-5037

E-mail          info@indonesianembassy.sg

Website:      www.kemlu.go.id/singapore/




On that date, set out early. Be ahead of time so that you can park your car along the side road of the Embassy which has limited space but be prepared that you may get an illegal parking ticket.

It may be more convenient to go by taxi and also then return by taxi .  Getting  a taxi along the main road of the Embassy is effortless as many people will arrive there by taxi and you can easily get one to go back. In addition, you can also radio a taxi or use Mobileapps like Grabtaxi.

The Embassy opens on normal business day at 9am to 12 noon (Monday to Friday except PH) for passport renewal.

But when you arrive, you will find that there may be already a short queue at the security guard’s post.

Upon clearing the security, proceed to the first floor waiting area at the main building. There is sufficient signage to guide you there.

Upon entering, take a queue number and wait to be called at Counter 1, 2 and 3. You can wait at the reception area for your number. Meanwhile, you can use the restrooms located on the same floor.

Unless you are first five in the line, you may take your breakfast at the canteen which is located just behind the reception area in the outside garden area ( 5 metres away)



Simple breakfast should cost you about S$6 each. The waiting time to submit the passport renewal should take about 10 mins to 30 mins depending on the queue and your queue number.

Please note that you need not be present at this renewal submission as the maid should be able to carry it out on her own as it is very simple.

After the maid has submitted the documents to the counter and all things being in order, she will be given a form for collection of the new passport with the date of collection stated on it. 

Usually, the collection date should be 3 days later in the afternoon only (between 2.30pm to 5pm except PH) and from the same counters.

Since the application was made on Tuesday morning, hence the collection day would be on Friday afternoon.

For collection of domestic worker passport, a work agreement must be produced. The work agreement is issued by Consular Department (second floor of the Indonesian Embassy) after the domestic worker and her employer are interviewed by our officer.

Before proceeding to the second floor, the maid must pay at the cashier’s counter for the passport renewal which costs S$38 for 48 pages passport.

After that, she must wait at the reception area again to wait her name to be called into the Biometric Room for her thumbprint and her signature.

After all these matters are fulfilled, only then will the Employer needs to proceed with the maid to the 2nd storey of the same building for a short interview for work agreement.




When both of you reach the 2nd storey, take another queue number and wait. The Embassy staff will call both of you thereafter for a short interview when they will enquire about her current pay and her off days. The whole interview takes less than 5 minutes.

By now, all matters are in order, just wait again at the reception before the Embassy staff will return to you the collection form duly cleared and in good order.

Now after all this, you and your maid can go back, which in our case, the whole procedure only takes 1 to one half hours.


ON THE DAY OF COLLECTION

Three days later, your maid can go alone to the Embassy following the same procedure at the same premise to collect her new passport.

The new passport can also be collected by the Employer, the maid herself or someone with the same address of the Employer with an authorization letter.

Remember to bring the collection form.

You can only collect the passport in the afternoon (Monday to Friday except PH) between 2.30pm to 5pm.


The whole procedure to collect the passport is again very simple and fast with the passport collected in just 30 minutes.







UPDATED on Feb 26, 2019


Five years had since lapsed from my last visit to the Embassy. So, I was pleasantly surprised at some of the improvements in many areas during my recent visit to the Embassy on 26 Feb 2019.



Services improved/ changes/ Important matters to note


Please ensure that proper attire and suitable shoes were worn for both the Employer, the Domestic helpers and all visitors to the Embassy. Those who wore slippers like flip-flop would definitely be turned away, hence it could unnecessarily be a wasted fruitless trip.

At the security guard post, following the security check-in, a label sticker with barcode and photo of the visitor would be issued. This should be displayed on one’s clothing’s by pasting the sticker on the front of one’s body throughout the visit inside the Embassy.





Immediately you should proceed to queue up at the new modest bench counters adjacent to the security post, with the right-side counter for passport and visa application and the left side counter for all consular matters.

The duties of these 2 staffs for these counters would be to check all your documents to ensure that all forms and attachments were correct before you could proceed to the main building to continue the necessary applications.

All the necessary queue number for the appropriate application would presently be issued by these 2 counter staffs, hence cutting down the mad rush for the queue number as in the past.






I later found out that the queue number on the monitor screen in the main hall of passport/visa section at the first storey was the same as the monitor screen of the consular section on the second storey. These monitor screens for all queues were operated concurrently.

For those who were applying for both passport matters and also getting the contract agreement on the second storey, there was no need to get another queue number at the second storey because it would be issued after the applicant for the passport had completed the biometric scan in the biometric room at the first storey.

Another improvement for the passport section, the passport could be collected one day earlier than before. Hence since the passport application was made on Tuesday, the collection was made possible on Thursday, not Friday.

Nonetheless for the contract agreement at second storey, there was a requirement to apply with another different form obtained from the receptionist, where the Employer should declare the amount of salary of the domestic helper and the number of off-days.




PERFORMANCE BOND


Since Feb 1, 2018, Employers of new Indonesian 
domestic workers would be required to furnish a Performance Bond of $6000 to the Embassy to ensure that the Employers would abide by the terms of the employment contract issued by the Embassy. The aim was to improve protection for the workers, the bond premium being $74.90 inclusive of GST.


This could be a paperless submission with immediate issuance of the letter of guarantee, however payment was strictly by credit card.

For those domestic helpers who had worked many years in Singapore with a monthly salary of $600 per month or higher and 2 Sundays off-day per month would be exempted.



Some Important Note


For the interview with the Consular staff for the contract agreement, diligent attention to the calling of the queue number must be maintained.

The reason was that the monitor screen could announce 5 running numbers at the same time. If for some reasons, it was missed, then a new queue number must be obtained at the Consular queue back at the security post.

This happened to me as I unknowingly missed my queue number being called and had to walk back to the security post at the Consular queue to obtain a new queue number. This alone caused the queue number to increase from number 13 to number 29, hence a loss of 15 minutes.




During the interview, if the Employer could not be present, another person of the same address could act on behalf. It was advisable to bring the original IC of the Employer, including a letter of authorisation.

In my case, the letter of authorisation was requested by the officer. Fortunately, I had prepared the letter of authorisation, just in case if required and it definitely turned out to be extremely handy and useful.

After the short interview, the contract agreement would be prepared and made ready for prompt collection at the receptionist at the second storey.




 KPIS CARD

One last matter. In the past, the domestic helper would have to apply for an Indonesia-Singapore Worker’s card ( Kartu Pekerja Indonesia-Singapura KPIS) when they returned to Indonesia for their home leave and they had to apply for this KPIS card at the nearest office in their hometown.

The card was to facilitate them when they leave their country for without it, they could not leave Indonesia. However, the application at their hometown could be very tedious as I understood that it might require several trips, hence hardly productive for sure!




Now the greatest change was that the local Embassy at Singapore had brought this service to the doorstep of the domestic workers, i.e. here at the local Embassy in Singapore.

Thus, as soon as the contract agreement matters were attended to, the domestic worker should go immediately to the room beside the receptionist for the making of this card and it would be FREE. It could be ready in about 10 minutes. 



Sample of the card could be seen below.






That's all, folks. Hope this blog can help you greatly .Take care and thanks for visiting this blog.

From Ms Yeowhwa Tan aka Tan Yeow Hwa




61 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! :)

Can I check with u? You mentioned that employer has to be there to be interviewed and below you mentioned that they can sole to it alone. I am a little confused. Does the employer need to appear o be interviewed then can collect? Or the helper an do everything by herself?

Thanks in advance!

Great post

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Regarding your query, the Employer must be present at the application of renewal of maid's passport. The Employer needs to show his or her face for part of application process when the form for application is lodged at the counter. After that, the maid can handle most of the process herself like the bio metric, etc.

Also if your maid wants to take her annual leave, the Employer can proceed to the 2nd storey to apply for the working contract which needs the Employer and the maid to attend an interview with officer before the working contract valid for 2 years us given on the same day.

For collection of the new passport, the maid can collect it alone 3 days later but only in the afternoon.

Unknown said...

Hi like to check with u. U mentioned that the passport has to renew before the wp expired and not the passort expiry date.
My helper passport is expiring on 18 jil 2017 and her wp on 20 jul 2018. Shld i bring her to renew her passport?

Thanks.

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi Linda, yes...renew her passport immediately because her passport will expire on 18 Jul 2017. Do not wait because you only have less than 1 month to renew.

Next year , before her WP expire, it must be renewed.

BobbyQ said...

Hi,
Sorry if this has been somewhat answered but just wanted to be sure. My FDW work permit expires 7 Dec 2017. Her passport expires 29 Nov 2017. If she was to renew her passport now, what will be her new expiry date? Will it be sync with her work permit's expiry i.e. 7 Dec 2017? Thanks.

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi BobbyQ, you must note that the Passport and the work permit are from 2 different depts and from 2 countries. Hence they operate independently yet in conjunction with each other.

Hence MOM will inform the Employer one month before the expiry of the work permit for further action.Hence MOM will inform before 7 Nov 2017 giving you 1 month to extend her work permit.

On the passport which is issued by the Indonesian Embassy, they will not inform the maid who has to initate extension of her passport herself. It is best to renew her passport at least 1 month before the expiry date ie 29 Oct 2017.It only takes them 3 days to extend her passport by another 5 years from the date of your application. In this case , the passport will be extended from 29 Oct 2017 to 28 Oct 2022.However if the maid wants to return for work leave, the passport must have 6 months' validity period.

Unknown said...

Hi,I totally overlooked my helper passport and has been expired 4 months ago.Would it have caused me any problem or penalty for renewing late?

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi, Fazellah, I have no experience in such incident but your maid is technically overstaying. Best is to go to the Embassy immediately. Maybe they will renew but will penalise with a fine.

Anonymous said...

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sensible article.

Unknown said...

Hi,
May I confirm if my maid just wants to renew her passport and not going for her home leave, then the employer need not go with the maid during the passport renewal application process. That is, there is no need to be interviewed to get the work agreement. Thanks.

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi Catherine, yes...it seems likely as you suggest but I am not sure. Best to check with the Embassy on this. Thanks for visiting this blog.

Anonymous said...

How many passport sized photos are required?

Yeowhwa Tan said...

On the number of photos to bring, do bring a few...maybe 4. If insufficient, you can take photos there...they have photo booth.

Unknown said...

Hi, may I know if I could renew the maid passport on my mum behalf cos m mum is wheelchair bound. Could my mum give an authorised letter for me to handle the renewal on her behalf?

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Juliana, yes I think it is possible especially if your address on your ic is the same as hers. You should get an authorisation letter from her. Still best to find out more from the Embassy but if an agent can do it on the Employer's behalf, surely you can on your mum's behalf.

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Anonymous said...

Hi
May I know if the helper needs to have 6 months validity passport when she wants to return to indonesia for good. Thanks

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi Anonymous, yes I believe travelling to Indonesia needs 6 months validity of passport...even for Indonesians. Don't forget she also needs 6 months' validity to enter Singapore too. So best to extend before depating.

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Anonymous said...

I like to check my maid would like to go back her home town on 30/11/17, but her WP will expiry on 28/03/2018 and her employment agreement issue from Indonesia Embassy will expiry on 16/02/2018. What should we do in this case? Its we have to renewal her employment agreement in Indonesia Embassy for her before she go back to prevent that any problem that cause her cannot come to
Singapore due to this reason.

Thank you so much.

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi Anonymous, your maid's working contract from the Indonesian Embassy only expires on 16 Feb 2018. It is sufficent for her to apply for the KPIS card ( Kartu Pekerja Indonesia Singapura )..which your maid must apply back in Indonesia for an exit pass to leave her country for her return to Singapore after her home leave. She has to apply online with an insurance policy.

Her work permit expires on 28 Mar 2018 and is sufficent for her Nov travel as the work permit can be extended only 1 month before the expiry date..ie on 28 Feb 2018.

That's all. Take care. Thanks for visiting this blog.

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nisa said...

hi my helper passport expire today and i overlooked onit..is it ok to renew it on monday? any penalty?

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Nisa, go immediately to the Embassy to extend it. Frankly I don't know if there is penalty but if there is, it will not be a huge sum. Thanks for reading the blog. Take care.

Michelle said...

I only need to renew my helper's passport. She's not going back home. Do I need to come for the interview too or she can submit and collect on her own?

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Michelle, yes even if your maid does not go back , to renew her passport, you still have to be present for the interview. She can collect the ready passport in her own but for the application and work contract, you must be present.

Take care. Thanks for visiting and reading this blog.

Michelle said...

Take note that from Feb 2018 onwards, employee need to pay extra embassy bond of $74.90 by credit card via AIG website before entering the interview room. Please be prepared. Luckily I have my credit card with me today. I was totally taken by surprise. It will last 2 years and if you renew the employment agreement you have to pay again. So have to pay $38+ 74.9

Good tip about driving license

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi Michelle, thanks for your valuable input which will be useful info for me as well. You are most welcome to update new development that many are not aware of. Thanks again. Take care.

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Unknown said...

hi Michelle, Yeow

Can I be present instead of my wife?
She's the employer.
Do we need to write authorisation letter, or a copy of the IC will do.

regards
pang

Yeowhwa Tan said...

Hi Hk Pang, I believe you can act on behalf of your wife. Bring a duly signed authorisation letter and a copy of her i/c.

Thanks for visiting this blog. Take care

Unknown said...

thanks Yeow for your advise, and your page here. I would say it helps a lot.

I just completed my maid's passport renewal.
other than the long wait for the interview (which just take 10 secs), I would think the process is actually quite smooth.

Lesson learnt

1. I don't need to pay for the embassy bond, which is very different from the advice I got from my agency. Apparently only employers who pay less than 600 and fewer than 2 days off month, will need to sign a new Work Contract, and therefore need to renew work contract and pay embassy bond.

2. I wasn't asked for Letter Authorisation for representing my wife. So it seems that if we stay in the same address, its ok. Anyway, no harm preparing one.

3. Bring some black pens along, in case your maid make any mistakes as all the black pens are quite useless.

4. If you are really pressing for time and you trust your worker for finding her way back, you can join her before the interview and leave immediately after the interview, it can save you alot of time.

5. Last but not least, ask your maid to bring a card, like an ERP card to exchange for visitor pass.

Flolai said...

Hi HK,

Can you assists on the current procedures for the passport renewal? My helper passport will be expiring in Oct 18. She currently having a pay of $600 with 4 off day every month. Thanks

Anonymous said...

I just called the consular. The lady told me that the embassy bond is optional . I will be going there tomorrow. Hopefully, everything is okay!

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