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P2MI Regulation 17/2025: who pays placement costs for Indonesian migrant workers

Written by KarirAman editorial team Approved by Kaiser Khan (editor), Updated

In force

P2MI Regulation 17/2025 makes the employer pay placement costs by default; any cost charged to the worker must be itemised in the placement agreement.

Summary

  • P2MI Regulation 17/2025 was signed on 19 August 2025 and promulgated and in force from 26 August 2025.
  • Its basis is Law 18/2017 Article 30(1): migrant workers cannot be charged placement costs.
  • By default, every placement-cost component is borne by the employer (Article 2(6)).
  • A worker can be charged only under an Article 3 exception, and the cost must be listed and itemised in the Perjanjian Penempatan.
  • It repealed BP2MI Regulation 9/2020 on placement-fee exemption and its amendment, BP2MI Regulation 1/2021.
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On this page
  1. What does P2MI Regulation 17/2025 cover?
  2. Who pays placement costs?
  3. Which costs count as placement costs?
  4. When can a worker be charged placement costs?
  5. What happens if an agency breaks the rules?
  6. What did P2MI Regulation 17/2025 change?
Number
Permen P2MI/BP2MI No. 17 Tahun 2025
Type
Permen
Date

Official document (PDF) Official page

What does P2MI Regulation 17/2025 cover?

P2MI/BP2MI Regulation 17/2025 on Placement Costs for Indonesian Migrant Workers (Permen P2MI 17/2025) was signed on 19 August 2025 and, according to the BPK legal database, promulgated and in force from 26 August 2025. It implements Article 30(2) of Law 18/2017. It sets the placement-cost components, who pays them, when exceptions apply, the agency's duty to list costs in the Perjanjian Penempatan (placement agreement), monitoring, and sanctions for licensed agencies (P3MI).

Who pays placement costs?

Read the rules in this order:

  1. Law 18/2017 Article 30(1): migrant workers cannot be charged placement costs.
  2. P2MI Regulation 17/2025: every placement-cost component is borne by the employer (Article 2(6)). A worker can be charged for specific components only if the job falls under an Article 3 exception, and the P3MI must list the components and amounts charged to the worker in the Perjanjian Penempatan (Article 5).
  3. Red flag: any request for money outside what is written and itemised in the Perjanjian Penempatan, especially in cash or to a personal account, is a red flag.

When a company sends its own employees abroad, it bears all placement costs (Article 4).

Which costs count as placement costs?

Article 2 splits placement costs into two groups:

Placement-cost components under P2MI Regulation 17/2025, Article 2
GroupComponents
Preparation costs (paragraphs 2 and 3)Training (language, job-specific technical training and any other training the destination requires), competency certification, the company's service fee, local transport from home to the departure point, work visa, departure ticket, return ticket, accommodation
Placement-related costs (paragraphs 4 and 5)Medical and psychological examination, migrant worker social security, apostille, required documents such as the marital status letter and the passport

Article 2(6): all of these components are borne by the employer. A worker's personal needs are not placement costs (Article 1, point 1).

When can a worker be charged placement costs?

Article 3(1) allows exceptions only for certain jobs or services whose cost arrangements are already set in:

  1. legislation, including the destination country's law;
  2. international law;
  3. a bilateral, regional or multilateral agreement; or
  4. a cooperation agreement between the placement executor and the employer or its business partner.

If a component becomes the worker's cost under such an exception, the worker is directed to government financing programmes or other lawful financing (Article 3(3) and (4)). The Minister may also cap each component (Article 6).

Before you pay anything, ask for and read the Perjanjian Penempatan. Do not pay any cost that is not written and itemised in that document.

What happens if an agency breaks the rules?

The Minister monitors and evaluates placement costs periodically or when needed, and may publish the results on the KP2MI/BP2MI website (Article 7). An agency that breaks the placement-cost rules faces administrative sanctions: a written warning, suspension of some or all placement activities, and/or revocation of its SIP3MI licence (Article 8). Separately, Law 18/2017 Article 72(a) and Article 86 make it a crime to charge a prospective worker for costs the employer has already borne.

What did P2MI Regulation 17/2025 change?

Article 9 repealed BP2MI Regulation 9/2020 on Placement-Fee Exemption and its amendment, BP2MI Regulation 1/2021. The 2020 rule exempted only ten jobs, such as domestic workers and elderly caregivers, from placement fees. Since Regulation 17/2025, the basic rule covers every type of job: the employer pays, and any exception must be written and itemised.

Not legal advice. For your own case, contact the official channels listed.

Frequently asked questions

Does the employer now pay all placement costs?

By default, yes: Article 2(6) of P2MI Regulation 17/2025 makes every placement-cost component the employer's burden. Article 3 allows exceptions for certain jobs, and any cost charged to the worker must be listed with its amount in the Perjanjian Penempatan (Article 5).

Are the passport and medical check placement costs?

Yes. Article 2(4) and (5) list the medical and psychological examination, migrant worker social security, apostille, the marital status letter and the passport as placement-cost components. Personal needs are not placement costs (Article 1, point 1).

The agency wants cash outside the agreement. What should I do?

Do not pay. Any request for money outside what is written and itemised in the Perjanjian Penempatan, especially in cash or to a personal account, is a red flag. Ask for a copy of the agreement, check the agency on SISKOP2MI, and report it to KP2MI.

Who wrote and reviewed this page?

Written by KarirAman editorial team Published Updated

Prepared with AI assistance. Checked against official sources and approved for publication by Kaiser Khan (editor). Approval date: .

Sources

The facts on this page come from these sources. Dates show when we opened them.

  1. Undang-Undang Nomor 18 Tahun 2017 tentang Pelindungan Pekerja Migran Indonesia Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id) · UU 18/2017 · accessed
  2. Peraturan Menteri P2MI/Kepala BP2MI Nomor 17 Tahun 2025 tentang Biaya Penempatan Pekerja Migran Indonesia Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id) · Permen P2MI 17/2025 · accessed
  3. Permen P2MI/BP2MI Nomor 17 Tahun 2025 tentang Biaya Penempatan Pekerja Migran Indonesia (status di JDIH BPK) JDIH BPK RI (peraturan.bpk.go.id) · Permen P2MI 17/2025 · accessed
  4. Peraturan BP2MI Nomor 09 Tahun 2020 tentang Pembebasan Biaya Penempatan Pekerja Migran Indonesia (Berita Negara 2020 No. 769) Kementerian Hukum RI (peraturan.go.id) · Perban BP2MI 9/2020 · accessed
  5. Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2026 tentang Penyesuaian Pidana JDIH BPK RI (peraturan.bpk.go.id) · UU 1/2026 · accessed
How to cite

KarirAman (2026). P2MI Regulation 17/2025: who pays placement costs for Indonesian migrant workers. Updated 7 October 2026. https://kariraman.com/en/regulations/p2mi-regulation-17-2025-placement-costs/

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