Legalising old Indonesian birth document - any advice needed

edpat

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Hi, I am new on this forum, and I hope I can get some good advice on experience of legalising documents in Indonesia.

I was born 58 years ago in Indonesia, but have lived most of my life in the Netherlands.

My problem is that my Indonesian birth document - Surat Ketarangan Kelahiran - has not been properly legalised in the Netherlands, so I cannot get a birth certificate from the Netherlands civil registry right now to enable things like marriage etc.
I have the original copy of this Indonesian birth document, however all of the people mentioned in this document do not live anymore.

I read on the embassy websites the procedure to legalise an Indonesian document like:

"Documents and Letter issued by an Indonesia institution can be enforced in the Netherlands, provided the documents have been legalized by:

However, I also read on the website of the Danish embassy some caveats like: "please refer to the institution who issues that document before going to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (for instance, birth and marriage certificate is issued by Civil Registry Office/Catatan Sipil, therefore, the applicant must consult first with Civil registry Office before having the document in question legalized by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights."

My original Indonesian birth document has been issued in Pekanbaru by the "Kepalah Dahrah Tingkat II" of Pekanbaru.

Any advice how to move forward from here, so I can prepare myself properly. Do you think I should start first in Pekanbaru to get the document cleared first, before going to the Ministry of Justice?
 
Have you contacted anyone at the closest Indonesia embassy to see if they can assist?
 
So you have the hospital birth certificate (Surat Ketarangan Kelahiran ) but not the civil registry birth certificate (akte lahir) . Are you looking for the civil registry birth certificate?

First check with the catatan sipil in Pekanbaru. If you are very lucky, they may have it.

Are your parents Dutch or Indonesian?

If your parents were Dutch citizens, it is not surprising if you don't have an akte lahir. In the past many civil registries did not register foreigners, as it was pointless because they were not Indonesian citizens. The parents were to take the Surat Ketarangan Kelahiran and register it with their government at the time. The civil registries used to be assholes that excluded anyone they didn't want to be Indonesian, including multi-generational Chinese Indonesians. They would also frequently extort bribes from a very poor population. This is why it is considered a crisis today because Indonesia is trying to join the modern world, but it still has a large older population of unregistered citizens birth.

This leads to the second problem. If the catatan sipil does not have the birth registered, to have a civil registry birth certificate issued more than 60 days after birth, it must be issued by order of a civil court. I have known a few people that had to go through this to get a birth certificate so their child could get a visa to another country. It takes up to a year to even get the case heard, and there was a "fee" for the judge to even get it on the docket and get a favorable ruling. I don't even know how the law would apply for you because you are not an Indonesian citizen. It will require consultation from an Indonesian lawyer.
 
... legalised in the Netherlands... the Danish embassy ...

Would both nations have the same requirements? EU policy perhaps? :unsure:

I'm not an expert by any means, but my wife had to go to the local office in the village of her birth to get notarized documents. A small 'donation' was made, and beautiful official documents on official letterhead were produced. We could not go to regional or national admin. offices; only village office.

Pekanbaru is a larger administrative centre, yes? Perhaps you'll have an easier time than we did getting notarized birth documents.

Good luck!
 
Since the OP had the "Kepalah Dahrah Tingkat II" of Pekanbaru, which is more or less on a Regency level, I think it's not really an issue but more a misunderstanding.

@jukung11 is correct of course if (s)he has a statement from the hospital only. But even then, the Dutch government is very well aware of the rather chaotic situation right after independence of their former colonies (they even have special regulations for Indonesia, Papua NG, etc. before certain dates) and they're not so difficult in assimilating the birth certificates into the Dutch system. That has to be done in The Hague (akte laten bijschrijven in het register van de Burgerlijke Stand). All assuming this person has the Dutch citizenship of course.

So I would not pursue getting more documentation but have this translated and legalized first, then move it into the Dutch civil registration system, hopefully without hiccups, then use their current statements as any other.
 
Hi, I am new on this forum, and I hope I can get some good advice on experience of legalising documents in Indonesia.

I was born 58 years ago in Indonesia, but have lived most of my life in the Netherlands.

My problem is that my Indonesian birth document - Surat Ketarangan Kelahiran - has not been properly legalised in the Netherlands, so I cannot get a birth certificate from the Netherlands civil registry right now to enable things like marriage etc.
I have the original copy of this Indonesian birth document, however all of the people mentioned in this document do not live anymore.

I read on the embassy websites the procedure to legalise an Indonesian document like:

"Documents and Letter issued by an Indonesia institution can be enforced in the Netherlands, provided the documents have been legalized by:
However, I also read on the website of the Danish embassy some caveats like: "please refer to the institution who issues that document before going to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (for instance, birth and marriage certificate is issued by Civil Registry Office/Catatan Sipil, therefore, the applicant must consult first with Civil registry Office before having the document in question legalized by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights."

My original Indonesian birth document has been issued in Pekanbaru by the "Kepalah Dahrah Tingkat II" of Pekanbaru.

Any advice how to move forward from here, so I can prepare myself properly. Do you think I should start first in Pekanbaru to get the document cleared first, before going to the Ministry of Justice?
Hi,
Another few insights :
There was no catatan sipil in Pekanbaru 58 years ago, so the existing office will not help you the slightest. As much as the Tingkat II is a layer of Indonesian administration that does not exist anymore. By the experience I get from local villagers who have been confronted to similar issues, your original keterangan Kelahiran is the best official document you can have, and I would doubt it needs any further legalisation, The dutch embassy in Jakarta should be able to use this document as is to enforce it in the Netherlands. Before attempting so however, I would strongly recommend you seek advice from the Indonesian Embassy in the Netherlands, or from any Indonesian instance in your country specialising in this kind of adminstrative problem. There is no doubt that you are not the only one in such situation !
 
^ From Indonesia (Nederlands Indië), only original civil status records which are created before December 27, 1949 are exempt from legalization. This is decided by the Dutch government, to clarify which can be used there. So for those people -as the OP- born after that date, a legalization is always necessary to have their foreign birth certificate incorporated in the civil registry in The Hague (The Netherlands).

NB: The KBRI in The Netherlands does not (have to) play any role in all of this.
 
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