Mixed Marriage outside of Indonesia

Bad_azz

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I have written this thread with the intent for it to be a place to discuss our own experience(s) getting married to someone of a different nationality / religion outside of Indonesia
Also a place to seek advice and to share related anecdotes.
I hope it will cover the documents requested, needed, not needed the hoops to jump through, the procedures needed once entering Indonesia with the new marriage fait-accompli.
I will recount my personal experience getting married in Thailand in my next post.



Thanks
B_a
 
I got married in the USA with my lovely Indonesian wife. It's the same process as it is for American citizens getting married to other Americans. I can't say for foreigners that go to the USA to get married though.

First step was to propose. She said yes!
Second step was to go to the city clerk wherever they're located in your city or sometimes located at the courthouse. I believe you need two forms of ID, so I used my passport and my US Drivers license. My wife used her US Drivers license and passport as well, but you can also use a birth certificate as well as a form of ID. I think it needs to be a certified copy (not be a copy of tdowntownhe copy).
Third was to fill out our information. They ask you if you'd like an extra copy of your marriage certificate, sure why not? Keep one with you and keep one with your family back in the USA for safekeeping.
Fourth we tied the knot. We had a pastor at our wedding who signed the legal paper and two friends who signed as witnesses. The pastor took the paper and i believe brought it back to the city clerk to be processed. She said she'd take care of it...so she did.
Fifth part..well...you just sort of wait for a week or so and then it arrives in the mail.

Something to consider is that when you're filling out the paperwork, you can change your name. My wife decided to hyphenate her last name and the clerk said that she's supposed to legally change it sometime in the future but it's open-ended...no time limit.

As for the religious end of things, you can worship you cat and your soon to be spouse can worship potatoes. It's irrelevant.

Indonesian Part:
It's been a while bit i think it was mostly going to Catatan Sipil and running papers from them to a translator, go out get a family photo (think passport photo but you're next to your spouse), and back to Catatan Sipil to register the marriage. Sadly, the certificate doesn't look nice and they just post the photo you give them on the paper.

Papers needed for Catatan Sipil are birth certificates for both of you, marriage certificate, translated marriage certificate by an authorized translator, the Kartu Keluarga from your Indonesian spouse...i think that's i.

The US part of it was rather easy. The Indonesian part of it just took a lot of time.

Hope this helps!
 
Cheers for the reminder Ben :)
I had forgotten & I have mine to edit & post yet, been ridiculously busy this weekend.
 
Haha no worries. I remember a bit of your story with how your hubby needed permission from his parents. Hahaha, I'll be waiting to read your story, much more lively than mine.
 
Important point. Once married outside Indonesia you will need to report the marriage to the Indonesian Embassy/ Consulate and supply them with proof of marriage documents so you can obtain a Surat Keterangan Pernikahan di Luar Negari. Cost = US$20.00. You need to have this form to turn over to the Capitan Sipil in order to obtain a Laporan Perkawinan. You must report your marriage with in 30 days of arrival to Indonesia or you could face a fine up to Rp1 juta.
 
Last edited:
Important point. Once married outside Indonesia you will need to report the marriage to the Indonesian Embassy/ Consulate and supply them with proof of marriage documents so you can obtain a Surat Keterangan Pernikahan di Luar Negari. Cost = US$5.00. You need to have this form to turn over to the Capitan Sipil in order to obtain a Laporan Perkawinan. You must report your marriage with in 30 days of arrival to Indonesia or you could face a fine up to Rp1 juta.
I think that $5 cost may be quite out of date.
 
I think that $5 cost may be quite out of date.

Yeah, it was for us but then again, we are old. Looks like the current fee is = US$20.00
Sorry for the error. I have edited the post.
 
Getting married in Bangkok, mixed marriage; nationality and religion...
Originally posted elsewhere :26-07-12, 15:48


I will be flying off to Bangkok in a few days time to get married.
I have been asked if I would make a thread about what is involved, the pitfalls, the bureaucracy and just the experience in general.
So here we go...
I am a UK citizen of no particular religious persuasion- however I am betting that I will have to state something ... I was raised as a Christian in my early years so I am assuming that will be the easy option.
I will be marrying an Indonesian man of Islamic faith.


So far it has not been plain sailing because his documents were lost, so we have had to do the rounds getting a new KTP, birth certificate and passport.


However, this process has taken less than a month- I'm still getting over the shock of that... I have not asked him, however I suspect that maybe some cash changed hands to expedite the process (better I don't know about this).
We finally collected his passport on the 25th of July.


We had to get some documents together to give to the Indonesian embassy in Bangkok (obviously)
The documents that he needed are known as N1, N2, N3 and N4... obtainable from the kelurahan (don't ask me too many details about this- I left that part to him once I told him what was needed.
There is also another document that he had to sign (not so sure exactly what it is- however) I believe it to be a statement of being free to marry legitimately (these are essentials- get them done before you go to Thailand- it saves time money and heartache).
I as a UK citizen have to go to the embassy with my passport (and maybe my birth certificate) and a completed copy of a form that is downloadable from the UK embassy in Bangkok site.


Why Bangkok?
1;In essence there is no required residency pre wedding, however in actual practice the process with the Indonesian embassy in Bangkok is likely to take a minmum of 6 working days- apparently because we are of differing faiths. (3 days if of the same faith- however if that was the case I would probably not go out of the country in the first place).
2; It is cheaper for hotels than Singapore too.
3; Neither of us have visited it before.


So we have booked 2 full weeks there.


I will add to this thread as the process unfolds - who knows, I could have got it all wrong and it could just end up being a holiday...
One of the best pieces of advice I once got from a forum member... "expect nothing much, except that, if it can go wrong it will go wrong and that way you will not have the stress and disappointment".


So- let's see if I come back from just a nice holiday or as a "Mrs Squirrel'.
~~~
Total cost so far [NB: these are 2012 prices]
There is a budget of 20juta IR for the whole thing- plus spending/shopping money in Bangkok


The flights were 5.7 juta (most definitely cheaper at other times of the year)
I had to extend the stay due to 2 days public holiday - so had to change the flights... 800,000IR


The hotel cost approximately £390 (pounds sterling) for 10 nights - that is for a suite in a 4 star hotel.
I got a 55% discount on the hotel.
(it pays to shop around)


Cost of new passport for the hubby to be 250,000IR
This is where it gets a bit sketchy... cost of replacement KTP and birth certificate for hubby to be...not sure- but less than 1juta IR.
Cost to Indonesian embassy will be $20 US
Cost at UK embassy will be £65 pounds sterling (The £65 is what the UK embassy charges for signing and stamping the affirmation of freedom to marry document).
Transport to and from the airport, private driver and car... expensive but 1.5 juta (Bluebird group quoted 875,000 each way plus tolls and parking)
The cost of a prenup= 1.1jutaIR including 2 notarised copies... this was drawn up and signed in the same day- we had some interesting quotes re price and length of processing time for this... from 900,000IR to 25juta IT from 2 hours to 2 months.
I just went for the convenience of the one who did it while we waited, it took 2 hours.


So far it has cost in the region of £1000 sterling.
So I think I am on or below budget...


~~~~~~~


Update from Bangkok...


Arrived safe and sound, lesson number 1 learned, do not exchange Indonesian Rupiahs at the airport... ridiculous rates.
UK embassy (on Wireless road), a total breeze, be prepared for a bag search before entry and be prepared to have to leave electronic items at the main gate- hand-phones, cameras, laptops etc.
Go to the consular section and press the screen on the information point, it generates a ticket number, wait for your number to be called.
Hand in the form and show passport wait of 30 minutes then go to next window, sign form and they sign and stamp it- cost = £65
All nice and simple walk away with official document.


Then go to Indonesian embassy... press bell on gate then enter.
There were no security measures and no organised system of waiting- first come first served. (this could well have changed by now).
However - here is where our problems started... the information we had states that parental permission not necessary for over 20yr old.
Hahahaha ok- my informant was very much mistaken, in regards to the the idiot we had to deal with.


So we had to contact Bandung and get this permission letter signed by parents and stamped officially - I think by the RT.
The embassy told us that an email of this document would be acceptable...so, next day we returned with the copy of the document.
Nope - now a copy is no good- they now want the original... sigh.
However they did say that they would begin processing the papers and that it will be ok if we show the document when we go to collect.
The process cost =$20 US
So currently sat waiting for an express overnight TNT delivery to my hotel.
Tomorrow is a national holiday here in Thailand... so if the document arrives we take it in on Friday.


Should all go to plan on Friday - we collect the papers and then get translations in to Thai of my papers and of his, then we take them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This process takes a few hours apparently...
It is entirely possible that I will be married on Monday or Tuesday... Then its back to the Indonesian Embassy to register the marriage with them. My informant told me it would take a few days to do this... however the man at the embassy (consular desk) told me "no, it is only 1 day".
Will cross that bridge when we come to it.
The upshot of the parental permission issue is that the guy at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok refused to issue the papers without the permission despite my intended being well over 30 years of age.
Never mind; thankfully UPS has delivered the document today...
We have to return to the embassy on Friday with this document. Then we have to go and get translations and go the the MOFA ... so we are going to be way later than the opening time... if we even get there on Friday- am guessing the "wedding" is likely to be on Monday (if we are lucky) or Tuesday.
 
We finally have the document from the Indonesian embassy...we were there at 9 am and were the only people at the consular desk. Out of the Indonesian embassy by 9-15 and at the MOFA by 9-45 am.
We were told that the MOFA was open today and that we could get translations up there too...
Arrived there by taxi ... cost of 45 + 10 baht in toll fees and cost of 183 baht taxi fare.
MOFA closed. Seurity guy was great though. He got someone to come and take us to get the translations done... a cost of 800baht in total for the 2 documents.
Part of me thinks that it was a bit pricey - however we are ready to go back to MOFA at 8-00 am on Monday and get straight on with that part of the processing.


So now its time to kick back a bit and relax.
"A pint of Magner's?" ...
I don't mind if I do


I got married yesterday- that was not the end of the process by a long way ... hahahaha


Trust me, this has been an endurance test... we almost got divorced the morning after the wedding




The marriage certificate had to be translated to English, then it and the translations had to be legalised and that involved a trip to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a good hour's taxi ride from the hotel- it opens at 8am, to get the express (one day service- at double the charge per document) one has to be there and be in process before 12:00 midday. We arrived at 7am and there were already 60 people waiting, luckily not all for the same dept. We were number 16 in the queue for what we needed.


What made things a bit complex for us was that I also needed to get my SosBud visa application in at the Indonesian Embassy on the same morning, (1 more hour's taxi ride away).
This was attempted by leaving the documents at the MOFA (with a collection time of 12:00 midday).
Hotfooting it down to the embassy submitting the visa application and going back to MOFA.
The visa submitted on Tuesday morning will be ready on Thursday afternoon- yey!!! The SosBud bit was the easy bit.

I have to say our marriage certificates are rather beautiful in pretty colours. Not at all like many I have seen from other countries. Like this :
thailand-marriage-certificate.jpg
 
Question.....It has always been my understanding a Muslim male can marry a non Muslim female legally in Indonesia but not the other way around.
 
I believe the short answer is: the laws of Islam permit that but the laws of the country do not.
 
Was married to my Indonesian wife at the Indo embassy in the UAE so while technically outside Indonesia, it was all done according to Indonesian law and procedure (though as it was the first marriage this particular embassy had ever done, the well-meaning staff had a steep learning curve and there was a fair amount of back and forth on the documentation required). Received buku nikahs on the spot and subsequently had the marriage registered with the authorities in Jakarta as required within 30 days of our next visit. Already had the prenup signed and registered in Indonesia before the wedding.
 
Haha no worries. I remember a bit of your story with how your hubby needed permission from his parents. Hahaha, I'll be waiting to read your story, much more lively than mine.

I didn't know about them when I got married in the UK and after I got back I tried to get them to accept the original documents via DHL courier from Indonesia but they refused and said they can't legalise any wedding documents anymore which was a bit strange. I was left with not being able to register my marriage here.
 
Very interesting thread. We are considering getting married in Australia (to avoid the religious stuff but also as an excuse to visit Australia for a week or two). Has anyone on the forum done this recently? Thailand looks like a good second choice with some notable benefits (cheaper destination, cheaper procedure and almost zero chance of tourist visa refusal for Indonesians). From what I can gather, as long as you plan it well in advance, you don't need several days to get married in Australia - just a day for the wedding and a day to register it at the Indonesian embassy or consulate. The big issue is the tourist visa application being rejected (after you've spent hundreds on flights and so on) because they don't see enough evidence to suggest that the Indonesian partner will return to Indonesia afterwards. No such issue for Thailand.
 
Yeah that's the risk. (And your fiancé stopped at Customs with her sambal or rujak.) Besides having to translate all the required documents (I don't know which country you're from), I heard from a (gay) couple it was extremely easy, the notice had to be given at least a month in advance and that was more or less the only constraint.
 
I think Australia is easier than it used to be. My wife did a visit visa last year online, and it was quick and relatively cheap. I don’t know anyone who has gotten married there from Indonesia recently, though.

We got married in Bangkok years ago, and it took about a week.
 
You need to read that entire message from almost 3 years ago. I never said $5 was 1 juta. I’m familiar with what 1 juta is.

Yes, it's taxi money price in BATS nowadays, so my friend told me

I tell them use my uber voucher, save 20% lol
 
Yes, it's taxi money price in BATS nowadays, so my friend told me

I tell them use my uber voucher, save 20% lol
Except that Uber voucher is no longer good in Indonesia. :)

I went to BATS for my birthday 4 or 5 years ago with my wife. I had a $100 voucher, and wanted to try their huge steak. I didn’t see any ladies that appealing...
 

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