Acquisition of Indonesian citizenship / naturalization

7 min readSep 7, 2022

Please also see this article for Indonesian nationality law in general.

The SKIM (declaration of immigration status)

Holding a SKIM (surat keterangan keimigrasian) is a prerequisite to becoming an Indonesian citizen. This can take several months and costs three million rupiah, and it concerns the requirement to have been a legal resident of Indonesia for at least the last five consecutive years, or at least ten years all together, as an essential prerequisite to becoming an Indonesian citizen.

It is governed by Peraturan Menteri Hukum dan HAM Nomor 10 Tahun 2023.

The rules for the SKIM are spelled out in the regulation, and are very clear:

Five consecutive years is the length of time a foreigner has been resident in Indonesia calculated from the date of obtaining a KITAS or KITAP, during which period they have never left Indonesia not to return. OR, if you do not meet that, then:
Ten non-consecutive years is the length of time a foreigner has been resident in Indonesia calculated from the date of obtaining a KITAS or KITAP, during which period they have left Indonesia not to return, repeatedly until the total duration reaches 10 years.

Therefore you do NOT need to have been physically present in Indonesia for more than a few days in the time, the only issue is whether your KITAS/KITAP (residence permit) was active.

In theory the SKIM can be applied for online via the website however it is likely better to go to your local immigration office in person to start the process.

According to the rules you must supply:

application form completed by the sponsor/responsible person
passport with at least 2 years’ validity
ITAP valid for at least 1 year, or ITAS valid for at least 9 months (ITAS only allowed for those married to Indonesians — others must have ITAP)
3 million rupiah fee
1 colour photo with white background

Plus, for those married to Indonesians:

original marriage certificate/book or report or overseas wedding, that shows you have been married at least 2 years
statement that you are still married, from the relevant agency (lurah/kades)- only for those married to Indonesians
signed unconditional statement of responsibility by spouse, applicant, and 2 witnesses

For those NOT married to Indonesians:

NPWP
recommendation from relevant agency for foreign workers, investor or clergy OR
statement of permanent income or work from the kecamatan of the applicant for those who are not foreign workers, investor or clergy

Naturalization other than spouses of Indonesian citizens

If you are not a spouse of an Indonesian citizen, then you must submit an application for naturalization.

There are three levels of regulation for naturalization via other means, being, the nationality law, the Government Regulation on Acquisition, Loss, Reacquisition of Citizenship 2/2007, and the Ministerial Regulation on Procedures for Applying for Citizenship and Swearing Allegiance 21/2020.

Besides meeting the administrative requirements, the applicant must meet the substantive requirements or be rejected, which will be tested in a formal interview process:

reason for wanting to naturalize
previous compliance with population administration (having a foreigner KTP)
accuracy of address, length of stay in Indonesia
employment and income
(lack of!) criminal history
fulfilment of duties as a taxpayer, including proof of tax returns & NPWP
details about spouse, if applicable
explain about process by which Indonesia became independent
explain about national emblem, flag, capital city, date of independence, all past Presidents and vice Presidents with dates, names of at least 5 national heroes, the five sila of pancasila,
writing in Indonesian
explain the general geography of Indonesia, can name several provinces, at least five ethnic groups in Indonesia
discuss an interesting tradition or adat ritual in Indonesian and explain why you find it interesting
discuss your social connections in the place where you live
discuss what contribution you will make to the Indonesian nation in your area after becoming a citizen
can sing Indonesia Raya, knows governor and deputy governor of province of residence

For those who will be given citizenship for serving the state, or reasons of national importance, the substantive requirements are fulfilled by a letter of recommendation, which thereby fulfils the substantive requirement without the foreigner having to speak Indonesian, etc.

After successfully meeting administrative and substantive requirements, and being approved for citizenship, the applicant must make a sworn oath of allegiance in person within 3 months.

Naturalization of spouses of Indonesian citizens

The naturalization of foreign spouses is referred to as a statement of declaration of citizenship (pernyataan menjadi warga negara Indonesia), distinct from, and easier than, normal naturalization. This is covered by article 19 of the Nationality Act, and the specific requirements are laid out in Minister of Law & Human Rights Regulation 36/2016 on procedure for declaring to become an Indonesian citizen, and are NOT subject to the procedures of regulation 2 of 2007, as linked in the previous section.

As a foreign spouse you receive the following dispensations:

exemption from the substantive requirements process (i.e. being tested formally on your Indonesian-ness)
exemption from the sworn oath
application process is online/easier
cheaper price (15 million vs 50 million)

Administrative requirements for applying for naturalization

For either route, the administrative requirements are:

signed application form with materai
a hand-written letter giving your full name as to be used on the declaration of citizenship, with materai
a hand-written letter of being able to speak Indonesian, with materai
a hand-written letter giving your reason for becoming an Indonesian citizen, with materai
a hand-written letter that you will be loyal to the Indonesian state, etc., with materai
a sworn Indonesian translation of the applicant’s birth certificate, which is then legalized by the embassy in question
KITAP, or for spouse route only, KITAS — note that the KITAP requirement prevents most foreign workers (i.e. those with work KITAS) from naturalizing — to get a worker KITAP you must be in one of a few high-level jobs
the SKIM (see above) from the immigration office covering your registered address
SKCK (criminal record check) — obtained in person at Mabes Polri Jakarta. See https://skck.polri.go.id/
physical and mental health certificate from government hospital
a 4 x 6 cm red-background passport photo

For the spouse route these documents are also required:

a copy of the birth certificate of the Indonesian spouse, legalized at the civil registry office
applicant’s KTP or SKTT as applicable
a marriage certificate/book, legalized by the KUA (for Muslim marriages), Disdukcapil (for non-Muslim), or sworn translation into Indonesian and then via the embassy etc.
a document from your embassy that confirms you will lose your foreign citizenship on acquisition of Indonesian citizenship, translated by sworn translator into Indonesian
payment of 15 million rupiah via https://ahu.go.id/billing/voucher/tambah

Once all the documents are acquired they are uploaded online using the instructions at https://panduan.ahu.go.id/doku.php?id=pewarganegaraan_pasal_19 to the website http://pewarganegaraan.ahu.go.id/

For the non-spouse route:

A letter from the camat confirming address, income and employment
A hand-written letter confirming all the provided documents are true and valid, with materai
A hand-written letter confirming you will not have dual nationality after acquiring Indonesian citizenship, with materai
A total of 6 4x6cm photographs
An original file and 2 complete copies
payment of 50million rupiah via https://ahu.go.id/billing/voucher/tambah

The application is made in writing to the Minister, who must forward it to the President within 3 months.

Children

Children of parents aged under 18 will also acquire Indonesian citizenship when their parents do. Foreign children aged under 5 years old adopted by an Indonesian citizen also acquire Indonesian citizenship through the courts. These children cannot have dual nationality but must relinquish foreign nationality to become Indonesian.

Administrative concessions for naturalization of the children of Indonesian/mixed citizens born before the Nationality Act of 2006

Prior to the Nationality Act of 2006, it was not possible for Indonesians to hold dual nationality. Since 2006, it has been possible until the day before reaching age 21.

For those born before 1 August 2006:

from a mixed Indonesian and foreign marriage
to an unmarried foreign mother and Indonesian father, whether the father acknowledges the parentage formally prior to the child turning 18
in a foreign country to two Indonesian parents where they acquire citizenship for reason of birth in that country

then in these two cases:

they applied to become limited dual nationals prior to 1 August 2010 and obtained formal paperwork to that effect from Indonesian embassy/consulate/immigration, but they have since reached the age of 21, and did not declare their intent to remain as Indonesian citizens, OR
they never applied to become limited dual nationals prior to 1 August 2010

then, assuming that the child has ever held a foreign passport (either in addition to, or instead of, an Indonesian passport), then they are not currently Indonesian citizens, and are subject to deportation if they do not have a valid foreign passport and stay permit.

The following concessions are offered to help these people, who often do not realize that they are illegal, to regularize their nationality:

the naturalization fee is reduced to 5 million rupiah (see https://ahu.go.id/billing/voucher/tambah and choose pewarganegeraan/permohonan / lus soli (for those born to two Indonesians) or ganda (to mixed couples))
if they were born in Indonesia, then they can substitute the SKIM with data from the Capil showing that they lived in Indonesia. They also do not require a KITAP
for those who were born overseas it appears they still need a SKIM, so in some cases there could still be difficulties, however in practice this procedure is intended to regularize the status of children (now adults) who are living in Indonesia as if they were Indonesian citizens while, in law, being foreigners and subject to deportation….

This results in full Indonesian nationality and loss of the foreign nationality, and this route is scheduled to close permanently as of 31 May 2024. They must still fulfil the substantive requirements, above.

This procedure was opened on 31 May 2022 by the passage of Government Regulation 21 of 2022.