How to obtain Indonesian Citizenship

OomBen

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I'm seeking some information on how to get indonedian citizenship.

To answer some questions one might have.... Why? Because this is home, I don't like having to do business awkwardly due to my citizenship, and...a whole bunch of other headaches would be relieved. If I want to move back to the USA some day, then I'll deal with it. No, I don't want to change my citizenship because of Trump or US politics. I migrated to Indonesia. It is home and will be likely till I get old and die from eating street food.

Quick stats:
Married to WNI for 8+ years
Currently on KITAP (on 2nd year)
Previously on KITAS for 5 years with no breaks or exit only permit.
Mid-November will be 7 years total on KITAS/KITAP, Was on sosbud for 2 months prior to getting KITAS.

Does anyone have a good source for information on how to gain Indonesian citizenship? Otherwise options I think are go knocking at imigrasi or find an immigration lawyer.
 
I'm seeking some information on how to get indonedian citizenship.

To answer some questions one might have.... Why? Because this is home, I don't like having to do business awkwardly due to my citizenship, and...a whole bunch of other headaches would be relieved. If I want to move back to the USA some day, then I'll deal with it. No, I don't want to change my citizenship because of Trump or US politics. I migrated to Indonesia. It is home and will be likely till I get old and die from eating street food.

Quick stats:
Married to WNI for 8+ years
Currently on KITAP (on 2nd year)
Previously on KITAS for 5 years with no breaks or exit only permit.
Mid-November will be 7 years total on KITAS/KITAP, Was on sosbud for 2 months prior to getting KITAS.

Does anyone have a good source for information on how to gain Indonesian citizenship? Otherwise options I think are go knocking at imigrasi or find an immigration lawyer.

Your first stop is not at Imigrasi but at the Kanwil (divisi pelayanan hukum dan HAM, this is a different divisi dan the keimigrasian one) which is the representant of the Ministry of Justice and Human rights at provincial level. In fact, Kantor Imigrasi has little to do with it, save for an important document which is the SKIM. All citizenship matters are the privilege of the Direktorat Administrasi Hukum Umum which is a branch of the Ministry of Justice, and they will be the one handling the whole procedure.

I will try to give you a quick overview of the procedure below. however, double check it because there is quite some times I didn't take a look for an update on the procedure or regulation.

Your first step is a letter (obviously in Bahasa Indonesia) stating you want to gain Indonesian citizenship (Permohonan pendaftaran kewarganegaraan melalui pernyataan) and including:
Your name,
Place and date of birth,
Present citizenship,
Name of your Indonesian spouse,
Place and date of birth of your Indonesian spouse,

You will have to join legalized photocopies of your birth certificate, KTP OA, passport and KITAP, legalized photocopies of the birth certificate and KTP of your indonesian spouse, legalized photocopies of your akta perkawinan or buku nikah (whichever is relevant).

You will have to prove that you have either a job or an income (pension is OK, revenue from term deposit in bank are OK...etc).

You will have to apply for a SKIM to the Kantor Imigrasi. It is the document which states you have resided in Indonesia for at least 5 uninterrupted years or 10 years with breaks in your residency permit. Imigrasi has been known to sometimes be a pain in the neck to issue this document. They may ask a photocopy of your past KITASes and ITASes, photocopies of your visa when you last enter in Indonesia...etc. Don't worry, they will find the document you haven't kept and will ask for it. For all friends I know who went through the procedure, I can't remember any for which it has been simple and straightforward to get the SKIM. Expect some delay here but if it's too long, contact the Kanwil to complain. Anyway, think about it: Imigrasi officers know it's the last time they may have a grip on you.

Your next step will be a visit to your POLDA office to get a SKCK (a certificate saying that you have been a good boy for the time you have been here). This is a bit like a lottery. I have friends who got their SKCK without hassles and others who had to fight hard not to get extorted. Here again keep in mind that cops know why you want the SKCK and why it is important for you.

You can do all the above concurrently, not necessarily one after the other.

When all documents will be complete you will go through at least one interview with a bunch of officials from various agencies. They are usually cool if they detect you are genuinely caring about the country. I know around 10 people who went through or are going through the whole procedure in the past 5 or 6 years. Out of them only 1 reported that during the interview the officials were "difficult". However,, considering the personality of said applicant, I can't blame the officials. I won't say more. The other applicants I know reported that it was formal but convivial with even moments of laughters.

During the whole process you may be visited by officials (Intelkam for example) who may interview family, neighbors, pak RT...etc to find out what breed of applicant you are.

During the formal interview, you will very probably be asked to sing the national anthem, asked formal questions about your reasons, checked if you know a bit of Indonesian history and heroes, questioned on the Pancasila and the UUD and very probably asked your opinion about religion (all friends I have been guiding through the procedure or that I have been in contact with, got questions about religion). This is pretty ceremonial and if you are an atheist or an agnostic, if you don't believe that Pancasila is the most wonderful philosophy, it is the time to lie about it). Obviously a fair command of bahasa Indonesia is preferable but I know some people who had only a basic command of Bahasa Indonesia and still went through.

At the end of the procedure and just before being granted Indonesian citizzenship, you will have to submit a document from your embassy stating that you will relinquish your citizenship upon becoming Indonesian.

Sorry, if the above is not clear. Had a long day and little time for the forum. However feel free to ask questions. I will keep an eye on the thread.
 
I'Why? Because this is home,
To me, this reason alone and the way you have phrased it gives me the feeling that you will go through it without much troubles. I wish you the best for it. Just be ready to visit a bunch of kantor2 (with everything it may imply) and be patient.
 
Relinquishing your US citizenship will, I presume, lose any pension entitlements which may or not matter.
 
And I forgot... Once you will be awarded Indonesian citizenship, you will get a nice bonus: more visit to kantor2, to register as an Indonesian citizen in the CatSip, get a KTP, give back your KTP OA...etc, more visit to the kantor Imigrasi to give back your KITAP and cancel your ITAP, visit to the kantor kelurahan to register as a voter...etc
 
And I forgot... Once you will be awarded Indonesian citizenship, you will get a nice bonus: more visit to kantor2, to register as an Indonesian citizen in the CatSip, get a KTP, give back your KTP OA...etc, more visit to the kantor Imigrasi to give back your KITAP and cancel your ITAP, visit to the kantor kelurahan to register as a voter...etc

By which time you will probably come to regret the whole thing and be unable to return from the point of no return

Or be stuck in limbo sans citizenship like Viktor Nikorsky in the Tom Hanks movie, forever destined to habitate in the kantor imigrasi
 
By which time you will probably come to regret the whole thing and be unable to return from the point of no return
I think it is important to give a precision: though Indonesia doesn't recognize dual citizenship for adults, most "western" country do. I know quite a few embassies who are providing the necessary letter to finish the Indonesian procedure but don't force their citizen to actually relinquish citizenship. My intent is not to promote this situation, nor to name the countries whose Embassy is rather lenient with the Indonesian procedure, just to inform.
 
My tongue was in my cheek when I was typing that ;-)
 
Awesome! Thanks for the information. I haven't been the best at getting all my papers, so I guess I'll need to do that asap...mostly just getting my KTP OA, I assume I might need that for a MERP.. Oh plus my passport is expiring next year.

Anyways.... Yeah, I am well aware of how the government is with paperwork. Again, this is home. Things are getting better.

Thanks again!
 
I think it is important to give a precision: though Indonesia doesn't recognize dual citizenship for adults, most "western" country do. I know quite a few embassies who are providing the necessary letter to finish the Indonesian procedure but don't force their citizen to actually relinquish citizenship. My intent is not to promote this situation, nor to name the countries whose Embassy is rather lenient with the Indonesian procedure, just to inform.

I don't know, Atlantis, if I should put this in a different thread, but I just had a situation that touches on this point. When my daughter went to Hukum dan HAM to apply for her certificate that attests that she is solely an Indonesian citizen, they asked for a letter from the US Embassy/Consulate confirming that she was going to give up her US citizenship. They refused and said that she needed to formally apply for a renunciation of her citizenship. We ended up going that route which entailed going to Surabaya to go through the paperwork and formalities and pay (cash or credit card) the $2,350 for the process (most expensive country in the world to give up your citizenship). They also informed us that it was possible that the State Department in Washington might not accept her application, in which case she would have been stuck as she wants to stay in Indonesia. So, to the point here, if a US citizen is going to become an Indonesian citizen they have to formally give up the US citizenship and no going back once the process is started.
 
I don't know, Atlantis, if I should put this in a different thread, but I just had a situation that touches on this point. When my daughter went to Hukum dan HAM to apply for her certificate that attests that she is solely an Indonesian citizen, they asked for a letter from the US Embassy/Consulate confirming that she was going to give up her US citizenship. They refused and said that she needed to formally apply for a renunciation of her citizenship. We ended up going that route which entailed going to Surabaya to go through the paperwork and formalities and pay (cash or credit card) the $2,350 for the process (most expensive country in the world to give up your citizenship). They also informed us that it was possible that the State Department in Washington might not accept her application, in which case she would have been stuck as she wants to stay in Indonesia. So, to the point here, if a US citizen is going to become an Indonesian citizen they have to formally give up the US citizenship and no going back once the process is started.
Indeed, the US embassy is much more stringent than some of their European counterpart.. Not all embassies are flexible on the matter, and the US embassy is well known for not being flexible with paperwork.
 
Indeed, the US embassy is much more stringent than some of their European counterpart.. Not all embassies are flexible on the matter, and the US embassy is well known for not being flexible with paperwork.

Agreed. If there is any alternative, whatsoever, avoid visiting the US embassy.
 
Imigrasi (Batam) sent me a file to prepare my SKIM (surat keterangan keimigrasian).
A short/friendly home-visit was made by imigrasi to take some photos and some easy questions. I recieved my SKIM about 3 months after the visit. Biaya SKIM was Rp 3 juta plus Rp55,000. (Biaya pewarganegaraan/naturalization was Rp 2.5 juta.)
 

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Welcome to the forum and thanks for the information @3 sisters, I'm surprised that they even have an online process now!
 
Hello. Let me add some more from my experience. Hope this would help Mr OomBen and somebody else in the future?
*Legalization of my birth certificate ; Licensed translator (penerjemah resmi tersumpah) could legalize the translating document. Ordered through email, then the translated/legalized document was delivered to me quickly on the next day by JNE.
Cost was Rp100k plus JNE fee.
*Legalization of my husband’s KTP, birth certificate, marriage certificate ; Got names/hp#s of PIC in Disduk (Dinas kependudukan)/Catatan sipil from local kelurahan in advance, so we could skip the long lines in kantor2. Lots of photo copies (of both mine and my husband’s), original documents of both mine and my husband’s were required. Also, paper folders (called Map kertas) were needed. Legalization cost was free of charge.
*SKCK (surat keterangan catatan polisian) ; Could arrange at local POLDA rather easily. When filling in the application forms, detailed history of my education/jobs/trips etc were also needed. Used 3 kinds of photos (all yellow background), from front, from left side and from right side. Waited about a month until we received my SKCK. We don’t know the official price but my husband paid a few hundreds thousands rupiah to his friend in POLDA, who helped us. SKCK is valid for 6 months only.
*Payment for online naturalization voucher (Rp 2.5 juta); Be careful as the validity is only for 60 days after the payment. (Masa berlaku voucher adalah 60 hari setelah dilakukan pembayaran.) So, do the payment only after all the required documents are prepared.
*Health certificate (sehat jasmani dan rohani, physical and mental) ; Made 2 types, one for physical health which was easy to get for me, and the other was for mental health. The yes/no computer scoring psychology test with hundreds of tricky questions in bahasa..... They allowed me to use dictionaries (both smart phone with internet access, and my husband sitting near me for in case). Took 2 hours to answer all the questions and got the result (using computer) almost immediately. Paid around Rp 200 - 300k each (Sorry, lost the receipts.)
*4 kinds of Surat pernyataan ; All by hand-writing by myself. Would upload my samples if any request?
 
Your first stop is not at Imigrasi but at the Kanwil (divisi pelayanan hukum dan HAM, this is a different divisi dan the keimigrasian one). In fact, Kantor Imigrasi has little to do with it, save for an important document which is the SKIM. All citizenship matters are the privilege of the Kanwil and they will be the one handling the whole procedure.

You will have to join legalized photocopies of your birth certificate, KTP OA, passport and KITAP, legalized photocopies of the birth certificate and KTP of your indonesian spouse, legalized photocopies of your akta perkawinan or buku nikah (whichever is relevant).
.
Greetings Atlantis. Just need clarification the term "legalized", does it mean original certificate or need doen by the help of notaris? Thanks.
 
1. Why need the mental check up? I did not see in the regulation on the health, did they ask for it?
2. Licensed translator, is that can be a notaris?
3. Payment for online naturalization voucher (Rp 2.5 juta), which website? Last time I try to apply I did not come across this an;y know that need to pay Rp50juta once confim WNI.
Thanks.
 
Hello.

1. Mental check-up; Surat Kesehatan Rohani. (Surat kesehatan Jasmani is for physical health.) I was asked to make those 2 kinds (in Batam).

2. Notaris would be able to legalize the document. Licensed translator (penerjemah resmi tersumpah) can translate and legalize the document at the same time, at a lower price.

3. Payment; During the online application (http://pewarganegaraan.ahu.go.id/)
we can easily get the voucher code for the payment, before uploading the files.
Detailed how-to manual is at http://panduan.ahu.go.id/doku.php?id=pewarganegaraan_pasal_19

The online naturalization cost for those who have Indonesian husband/wife is Rp 2.5 juta.
 
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