A few months ago, I came across a Twitter thread, which has since been deleted, that was unsettling to many Indonesian netizens, myself included.
Kristen Gray, a U.S. woman who spontaneously decided to leave her home country a few months before the pandemic, shared a story about her new, digital nomadic lifestyle in Bali, Indonesia.
Moving to the East is amazing. It’s a chance to travel affordably and learn about unfamiliar cultures. But Gray seemed to overlook one problem before sharing her story.
Her tweets were not only insensitive — as they encouraged others to travel during the pandemic — but they also revealed she had potentially overstayed her Indonesian tourist visa. In most countries, overstaying your visa is not permitted, and in some, it can even be a considerable offense. And overstaying your visa for more than 60 days is inadmissible in Indonesia.
Gray claimed she was financially struggling prior to moving abroad, and her decision to move to Bali stemmed from her desire to “take a stab at entrepreneurship” and “tap into how [she] could THRIVE.” As a result, she moved to Bali and started a remote graphic design business, which has been beneficial, considering her new, low living cost. She also created a digital book, “Our Bali Life is Yours.”
Rightfully so, some Indonesians felt agitated and furious. Gray was promoting an unlawfully prolonged stay, working in Indonesia while violating terms in her visa and most importantly, she didn’t pay her Indonesian taxes.
In response to a Twitter user who questioned whether Gray had paid her taxes, Gray’s girlfriend wrote, “Why would I have to pay taxes if I never made IRD?” — note that it should be IDR for Indonesian Rupiah, the country’s currency. “I pay American taxes for making USD,” she added.
Gray is not wrong. If she isn’t earning IDR as part of her income, then she doesn’t need to pay her taxes. However, Gray apparently entered the country in January 2020 and extended her stay into the following year. Foreigners must pay their taxes if they have spent “more than 183 days during a 12-month period in Indonesia … regardless of the type of visa they are using to visit the country,” according to an article from ASEAN Briefing.
For the U.S. public, immigration is a controversial subject. While some believe immigrants who are undocumented should have the right to stay in the country, others think they should be deported.
In fact, most residents who are undocumented in the United States are overstaying their visas. If the U.S. government prioritizes minimizing the number of visa overstays, why are Indonesians receiving backlash for doing the same in their country? This incident only shows the existence of a double standard between Western and non-Western cultures.
Ultimately, Gray was deported from Indonesia after immigration officials caught wind of her situation. However, Gray told reporters, “I am not guilty. I have not overstayed my visa. I am not making money in Indonesian Rupiah. I put out a statement about LGBT and I am deported because I am LGBT.”
Gray’s situation had nothing to do with being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. As an Indonesian, it’s frustrating to see how Gray had not only romanticized the idea of making money and living abroad on a prolonged tourist visa, but also publicly promoted the insignificance of paying taxes as a guest of a foreign country.
Gray’s consequences were not surprising, considering how Indonesia has been strict with its COVID-19 protocols during the pandemic.
A Syrian national held a yoga gathering of more than 60 people who were “mostly foreigners” in Bali last June, according to The Jakarta Post. Clearly, Barakeh Wissam, the Syrian citizen, had violated a major COVID-19 social distancing policy in place at the time. As a result, Wissam’s temporary permit was revoked.
Regardless of your race, sexual orientation and citizenship, it’s important to be respectful and adhere to your legal obligations to the country you’re visiting.
