Child Leaving the country with a new British passport

[ZeroManning]

Hi! I am having a few concerns regarding the passport status of my child. The current scenario is as folows:

I was married to an Indonesian wife and after having a child we ended up getting a divorce. I am now re-married to an Indonesian and my child is 14 years old. He currently has a British passport, but after attempting to renew his Indonesian passport I was told that he would not be able to get a new one without my ex-wives permission. The problem here is I am no longer in contact with her for years and realistically will not be able to contact her.

My question is if Mr and my son want to travel abroad for a holiday, say to Singapore, would he be able to leave the country with his British passport? He has never entered or left the country on the British passport before, so I am unsure if he would get flagged at immigration. Would he have trouble re-entering the country? I am under a kitas with my current wife so I would be covered, but I'd be worried if my son would be placed on a 30 day visitor visa. He is Indonesian, born in Indonesia and has a birth certificate here.

Any help would be great appreciated

 

[snpark]

So his visa is in his Indo passport? And it expires? Visa is from current wife

You need to get it moved to the UK passport first

Get a good agent. It's just less headache.

Then he can leave and renenter on the UK


Suggest you also get a new UK passport soon renew it and just keep one passport for in and out Indonesia

At 18 he can't have dual nat anyway

So as long as there is a legal visa in 1 passport stick to that

Getting the new UK passport just means it's new up to date King and UK version valid for 10years and the ex won't know the number.

Probably others will have ideas too.

It's all doable and easier with an agent let then waste time at the immigration

 

[marcus]

... I was married to an Indonesian wife and after having a child we ended up getting a divorce ... my child is 14 years old. He currently has a British passport ... He is Indonesian, born in Indonesia and has a birth certificate here.

My question is if Me and my son want to travel abroad ... would he be able to leave the country with his British passport? ...

No , unless you/he can prove he has dual citizenship (British + Indonesian) . And you cannot prove with his birth certificate . You will need an 'Affidavit ' (dual citizenship statement) or a 'Sertifikat Pendaftaran Anak Berkewarganegaraan Ganda' (ABG)/'Certificate of Proof of Registration of a Child with Dual Citizenship' .

Note : In my view, if you didn't apply for your son's dual citizenship , he is only a British citizen , since he got the British passport .

Would he have trouble re-entering the country? ...

No , if he uses his British passport + the dual citizenship's proof . Otherwise , yes , he will be considered just a British and should get a Visa .

 

[pantaiema]

It is not clear where your son is now, is it in ID or the UK! The information below is assuming he is currently in Indonesia and want to travel to Singapore (or wherever) with you.

Does he already have an affidavit? If not, he may have difficulty leaving Indonesia, let alone re-entering Indonesia. Even if he is travelling with both of his biological parents (you and your ex-wife) he will have the problem re-entering Indonesia. As he was born in 2012, he still have the time to process his affidavit. He will need an affidavit later anyway when he decide to choose his British citizenship and renouncing his Indonesian citizenship at the age of 18+3yo.
Another thing to consider is the complication if he is currently living in Indonesia, does not elect (declare) which nationality he want to keep later after reaching the age of (18+3yo). I just posted the case similar but not like for like (post #49). He was in fortunate situation as he got the minister to push the case forward.

Steps for a dual citizen below 21, having been living in Indonesia since birth, to go abroad with his foreign passport (empty of stamps)

I think what’s causing confusion here is that you haven’t clearly and confidently stated that you have seen he actually has an affidavit on his passport. In post #27, you wrote: ‘As far as I know, my son SHOULD have an affidavit in his foreign passport to be able to leave Indonesia, but the...

www.expatindo.org

In the past, there have been several reports that children with limited dual nationality do not need a passport to enter or leave Indonesia. Instead, they only need an affidavit and their foreign passport. In your son case you mentioned 'after attempting to Renew his Indonesian passport ..' This indicate that he might already have an affidavit. Typically they will only give an Indonesian passport when you have registered his limited dual citizenship. Unless, of course if the immigration is not aware that he is a mixed marriage children as nobody tells them. Did the immigration official inform you that he could still travel in and out ID with his foreign passport + affidavit ?? If he said yes, then you do not need the complication to renew his ID passport.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

You definitely need an affidavit to be able to go through passport control either way. The only problem is I think from memory you need the permission\documents of the mother to get an affidavit. Unless you could prove you have sole custody maybe?
I suggest you go to the local immigration office and ask them.

 

[jstar]

Yep that could be a problem. Esp. since the mother is the WNI.

In many countries it is also necessary to have a letter of consent if only one of the parents travels with a minor. I’ve never seen that being required iin RI but someone at the border could always ask…

 

[centurion]

No , unless you/he can prove he has dual citizenship (British + Indonesian) . And you cannot prove with his birth certificate . You will need an 'Affidavit ' (dual citizenship statement) or a 'Sertifikat Pendaftaran Anak Berkewarganegaraan Ganda' (ABG)/'Certificate of Proof of Registration of a Child with Dual Citizenship' .

Note : In my view, if you didn't apply for your son's dual citizenship , he is only a British citizen , since he got the British passport .

No , if he uses his British passport + the dual citizenship's proof . Otherwise , yes , he will be considered just a British and should get a Visa .

You are correct. Basically he is illegally in Indonesia and can be deported.

 

[pantaiema]

You are correct. Basically he is illegally in Indonesia and can be deported.

This is misleading. Under Indonesian new citizenship law (UU_No_12_2006), a child born from a mixed marriage involving an Indonesian parent is granted limited dual citizenship by operation of law, not through administrative documents such as an affidavit. His citizenship is based on UU_No_12_2006 article 4, 5, 6

The affidavit is not proof of citizenship; it is only an immigration facilitation document used to assist border control and travel for children who already qualify under the law. As he is an Indonesian citizen, he is entitled to live in Indonesia until the deadline to make an election.

In this case, the OP son is 14 years old, one parent is wni and the WNI mother is still legally acknowledged (e.g no divorce and/or no official full custodian from the father). He was born in Indonesia, so he is still fully within the legal category of a minor with recognised limited dual citizenship status. As an Indonesian citizen, he is entitled to live in Indonesia until the age of 18+3.

Also this is a solid proof from the OP statement:
"He currently has a British passport, but after attempting to renew his Indonesian passport I was told that he would not be able to get a new one without my ex-wives permission"
If what you said was true, he would have faced an immediate deportation as he was already known by the immigration to live in the country illegally.

It will be entirely different if the son was born before 2006, e.g before the new limited dual citizenship for children UU_No_12_2006 was introduced.

The obligation to choose a single nationality only arises at age 18, with a transition period up to age 21, as provided under Indonesian citizenship law. If a person does not make a declaration of choice within that period, the consequence is the loss of Indonesian citizenship by operation of law.