PENERAPAN ASAS KEPASTIAN HUKUM DALAM PELAYANAN PERPANJANGAN IZIN TINGGAL BAGI ORANG ASING

Abstract

This article discusses the application of the principle of legal certainty in the administrative service of residence permit (Izin Tinggal) extension for foreign nationals in Indonesia. The study departs from the gap between das sollen and das sein: the normative guarantee of legal certainty contained in Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration, Government Regulation Number 31 of 2013 concerning the Implementation of the Immigration Law, Regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights Number 22 of 2023 concerning Visa and Residence Permit, and Law Number 30 of 2014 concerning Government Administration, on one hand, and the reality that many technical procedures of residence permit extension are instead regulated through circular letters (surat edaran), on the other. This research uses normative legal research with statutory and conceptual approaches, analyzing primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials through prescriptive-qualitative and deductive legal reasoning. The findings show that legal certainty, as one of the General Principles of Good Governance (Asas-Asas Umum Pemerintahan yang Baik/AUPB), requires that the requirements, procedure, and duration of residence permit extension services be clear, consistent, and predictable. However, because circular letters are policy rules (beleidsregel) that stand outside the hierarchy of laws and regulations and may be revised unilaterally by the issuing official, their frequent use to regulate matters that substantially affect the rights of foreign nationals creates instability and potential inconsistency in immigration services. This article recommends that technical provisions with significant impact on the rights of foreign nationals be elevated into ministerial regulations so as to strengthen legal certainty and prevent immigration services from resting on unstable policy rules.