Immigration Officer at Soekarno Hatta Airport asked for new affidavit

hayb05

Active Member
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Aug 19, 2017
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16
Dear all,

Please I would like to have your advice regarding affidavit renewal for dual citizenship kids reside abroad.

I am Indonesian living in Malaysia, got 3 dual cizenship kids. My eldest born on 2005 (has Indonesian citizenship by Surat Keputusan Menteri) and affidavit, Indonesian passport as well as foreign passport. Then 2 other kids born after August 2006 and have affidavit, Indonesian and foreign passports. All affidavit & passports were obtained from Indonesian Embassy Kuala Lumpur.

My kids have been using their foreign passports with affidavit attached, old type ones which have their old passports number and without stating the expiry date. We never faced any problems entering & exiting Jakarta Airport until September 2018. During arrival, no any single comment or question regarding kids’ affidavit, but during departure, the officer told me that these affidavits are no longer valid and should be renewed (electronic, atm card type) at immigration office, he even called another officer to explain to me about the new rule. As I am not residing in Indonesia so I told them that I will renew at Indonesia Embassy Kuala Lumpur. I was surprised actually why the previous officer (I arrived on August 2018) at the arrival hall didn’t say anything about the obligation to renew the affidavits.

Few months later, March 2019, I browsed Indonesia Embassy Kuala Lumpur’s website to find any info about affidavit renewal but found nothing and phone calls to them were not answered. So I applied through their online visa section for affidavits, brought all documents and made appointment. When I arrived there and told Indonesia Embassy Kuala Lumpur’s staff that I need to renew my kids’ affidavit as requested by Jakarta Airport immigration departure officer, the embassy staff was confused and told me that Indonesia Embassy Kuala Lumpur only issues affidavit once and it is valid until age 18 years. Then I showed him Indonesia Embassy in Oslo website that issuing affidavit renewal, again he said that in Kuala Lumpur still only issues once.

So, my understanding is...,it seems got 2 different rules, for dual citizenship kids reside in Indonesia they must have new type affidavits....and for the kids reside overseas still can use their old affidavits? My worry we have to face the immigration officers at airports or any entry points in Indonesia, which rule should we follow? Luckily I still have my kids’ Indonesian passports, so we can use them if the officers deny their old affidavits attached on foreign passports.

Any suggestion, or experience recently from other parents, I highly appreciated. Thank you all for your help.
 
As my Indonesian wife says. Welcome to Indonesia."
Sorry to hear about your difficulties but it seems confusion abounds. We have often been given different information by different officers and the last being two weeks ago applying for a KTP when my wife was given a two page spread sheet which we were later told was irrelevant.

I hope things sort out for you.
 
But the officer did let your children fly out of the country?
 
Luckily I still have my kids’ Indonesian passports, so we can use them if the officers deny their old affidavits attached on foreign passports

See @Helpful Herbert 's remark. Even if possible, I don't know anybody who wouldn't use the RI passport to enter and exit this country?!

Well, perhaps if the RI parent (WNI) isn't there and you as WNA want to queue at the same lane as the kids, but even then...?

electronic, atm card type

Example:
IMG_7972.JPG
 
Shouldn't they use their Indonesian passport when arriving in Indonesia?
My kids only use their foreign passports to travel, we just obtained their Indonesian passports recently 2017 from the Embassy as I think would benefit them during travelling around South East asia region. Still not yet use their Indonesian passports though.
But after this, I think I will use their Indonesian passports to enter and depart from Indonesia to avoid the Immigration hassle :unsure:
 
But the officer did let your children fly out of the country?
Yes, the officers let my kids passed through after I said that I didn’t know about new affidavit and I would renew my kids ones at Indonesian Embassy Kuala Lumpur.
 
I cant really answer your questions but I can share my recent experience. My infant is a dual national (Australian/Indonesian). Both his Australian and Indonesian passports and his affidavit were issued in Australia quiet recently (November 2018). His affidavit is a laminated piece of paper (not a card) and it has an expiry date which aligns with the expiry of his Australian passport (so five year validity). He travelled to Indonesia on his Indonesian passport and the immigration officer also asked to see his affidavit.
 
He travelled to Indonesia on his Indonesian passport and the immigration officer also asked to see his affidavit.
that's surprising, it never happened to us at Jakarta airport. Which airport were you arriving at - Denpasar?
 
My son and wife just flew into Jakarta a few days ago. My son has the half page type affidavit printed on heavy card stock, I think they only used it for about one year around 2009/2010. It has a photo from when he was one month old. No issues going in but we will see when they leave next month if they question it. Have used it with no problems once or twice a year for the past 9 years.
 
Both his Australian and Indonesian passports and his affidavit were issued in Australia quiet recently (November 2018).

Do you mind me asking approximately how long this process took? I need to do same, but since we don't live in a city with an Indonesian Consulate, we'll have to make a special trip [to one that does] so that we can submit the paperwork and collect the documents.
 
Do you mind me asking approximately how long this process took? I need to do same, but since we don't live in a city with an Indonesian Consulate, we'll have to make a special trip [to one that does] so that we can submit the paperwork and collect the documents.
We submitted the applications on a Friday and the passport was ready for pick up the following Tuesday. We had to wait an additional 7 days for the affidavit as there was technical issue. If it wasn’t for the technical issue we would have been able to collect it the same time as the passport. The whole process was much faster than getting his Australian passport!
In Australia they allow you to submit the application in person or via post. Perhaps via the post is an option where you are too.
 
We submitted the applications on a Friday and the passport was ready for pick up the following Tuesday.

Wow, that's great news - actually much quicker than I was expecting!

We had to wait an additional 7 days for the affidavit as there was technical issue.

That was one of my concerns, we've had something similar happen in the past - but it can't be helped, I guess.

In Australia they allow you to submit the application in person or via post. Perhaps via the post is an option where you are too.

That is very good to know, thank you. We live in a regional area, so we'd need to fly to the city and wait for however long it takes to process. If we could just do it for the collection, that would make a huge difference!

Thank you for your insights, they're very much appreciated :)
 
I cant really answer your questions but I can share my recent experience. My infant is a dual national (Australian/Indonesian). Both his Australian and Indonesian passports and his affidavit were issued in Australia quiet recently (November 2018). His affidavit is a laminated piece of paper (not a card) and it has an expiry date which aligns with the expiry of his Australian passport (so five year validity). He travelled to Indonesia on his Indonesian passport and the immigration officer also asked to see his affidavit.
Thanks for sharing. I was thinking there’s no need to show affidavit when we are using Indonesian passport, hmm very interesting now immigration officer demands both.
 
My son and wife just flew into Jakarta a few days ago. My son has the half page type affidavit printed on heavy card stock, I think they only used it for about one year around 2009/2010. It has a photo from when he was one month old. No issues going in but we will see when they leave next month if they question it. Have used it with no problems once or twice a year for the past 9 years.


I hope everything goes well and please update after you son and wife safely return back from Jakarta. Thank you for your help!
 
I hope everything goes well and please update after you son and wife safely return back from Jakarta. Thank you for your help!

We just flew back to the US from Jakarta yesterday. My son used his US Passport and his Indonesian affidavit with no issues or questions, they just handed us back both and let us proceed.
 
We just flew back to the US from Jakarta yesterday. My son used his US Passport and his Indonesian affidavit with no issues or questions, they just handed us back both and let us proceed.
Thanks a lot for updating. So should be no problem using old-type affidavit issued by Embassy/Consulate abroad. I hope my kids' next trip to Jakarta will be fine too. :):)
 
Thanks for sharing. I was thinking there’s no need to show affidavit when we are using Indonesian passport, hmm very interesting now immigration officer demands both.
There is indeed NO need to show an affidavit when travelling with an Indonesian passport. However, Imigrasi intensifies its verification that all dual citizen kids documents are in order. My two youngest have flown to Europe a couple of weeks ago. Since they were flying as Unaccompanied Minors I stayed for a while in the airport "just in case". It didn't take long for me to have a phone call from Imigrasi using my daughter's phone to ask me if my kids have an affidavit. I confirmed it and told them that all registration and documents have been done years ago in KanIm Manado. I told them that the affidavit were in my car and that I could show them if they would request it. They declined needing to see them. They were satisfied by it and the conversation stopped there.
 

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