pathoff← All countries for early study

Early study

Indonesia

A parent can buy their way in for five or ten years — the visa is the easy part.

5/5
ingredients confirmed
Every ingredient this page asks for has a figure and a source.
Tuition
~$31k/yr
Indonesia has a very wide school market — Bali and the smaller Jakarta schools run at a fraction of this. This figure prices the top of it.
Living
32.2% of US prices
A comparison of prices, not a budget: it says what things cost here against the United States, not what a month will cost you. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.
Education
Good
Guardian visa
A published route that needs capital, not an employer
Safety
1.918 · 69th of 163
Sixty-ninth globally, though it recorded one of the notable deteriorations in this edition

More is being checked.

Where these figures came from

One row per ingredient. Open any of them for the source, how far we trust it, and when we last checked.

Tuition~$31k/yr

Jakarta Intercultural School, via the US Department of State’s fact sheet carrying the school’s own figures, published 2023-24 annual tuition of $26,750 for elementary, $30,980 for middle school and $31,040 for high school, plus an enrolment fee of $1,920 and a capital fee of $4,250.

Indonesia has a very wide school market — Bali and the smaller Jakarta schools run at a fraction of this. This figure prices the top of it.

Confidence
printed in the source
Living32.2% of US prices

World Bank, 2024, CC BY 4.0: the PPP conversion factor for household consumption is 5104.9843 local currency units per international dollar, against an official exchange rate of 15855.4483 to the US dollar. Their ratio, 0.322, is the price level against the United States, whose own ratio is 1 by construction. Both figures are theirs; the division is ours. See the Pathoff method, section 12.

A comparison of prices, not a budget: it says what things cost here against the United States, not what a month will cost you. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.

Confidence
made by us from the source
EducationGood

Pathoff judgement, no rubric yet: placed against the other countries here from general knowledge of the international-school sector. Under review — see the Pathoff method, section 9-3.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Guardian visaA published route that needs capital, not an employer

Pathoff outcome rubric (the Pathoff method, section 10-1), early outcome band "Partial or conditional access": No guardian status, but the second-home permit is published, runs five or ten years without a sponsor, and covers a whole school career; the retirement permit does the same from age 55. At the top of the band because the routes are long-dated and do not depend on an employer; in it rather than above because they are gated on capital or age.

Confidence
made by us from the source
Rule
No change known to us
Last checked
2026-09
Safety1.918 · 69th of 163

Global Peace Index 2026, Institute for Economics and Peace: score 1.918, ranked 69 of 163. Both figures are theirs; we publish them as they are.

Sixty-ninth globally, though it recorded one of the notable deteriorations in this edition

Confidence
printed in the source

What it is like here

Indonesia is one of the few countries on this site where a parent without a job has a published, long-dated route in: a second-home permit against a deposit of about $130,000, valid five or ten years with no sponsor. Living costs are about a third of the United States. The schools are the expensive part, and Jakarta’s traffic and air are the daily price.

How the process works

1

A parent takes the second-home or retirement permit

The second-home route runs on a deposit in an Indonesian bank rather than a sponsor.

⏱ 2–4 months
2

Decide between Jakarta and everywhere else

The deepest school market is in Jakarta; Bali is cheaper and thinner.

⏱ 3–6 months

Where families cluster

Jakarta (Kemang, Pondok Indah)
The largest school market and the worst commute
Bali (Ubud, Canggu, Sanur)
A growing school market, and a very different life
Bandung
Cooler at altitude, cheaper, a smaller international sector

Open any ingredient above to see where its figure came from, how far we trust it and when we last checked. Nothing here is a substitute for the official source. Last reviewed 2026-09-04.

Photograph of Indonesia by Jakub Hałun, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.