Getting Married in Indonesia

Moslem Marriage/Wedding Ceremony

General Requirements
To be legally married in Indonesia requires a religious ceremony. According to
Indonesian law, both parties must be on the same religion. Each religion has different
requirements, so the Indonesian fiance needs to keep in contact with their religious body to
find out what those requirements are. A few that we know:

 If your fiance(e) is Moslem, the ceremony should be held at the Kantor Urusan
Agama (KUA) or the Office of Religious Affairs.
 These offices will issue a Marriage Book (Buku Nikah), which is proof that you are
legally married.
 Persons married through a Muslim ceremony are issued a Marriage Book and
therefore do not need to record their marriage with the Civil Registry, for
Indonesian government purposes.

Documents
The following are marital requirement documents for a Muslim Ceremony:

1. Copy of passport
2. Copy of Birth Certificate
3. Indonesian authorities require that all non-Indonesian citizens obtain a Certificate of No
Impediment to Marriage from their embassy prior to conducting the marriage ceremony
in Indonesia. This certificate serves as a sworn affidavit witnessed by a Consular Officer
at the Embassy or Consular office stating that the foreign bride/groom is legally free to
marry. The embassy may have a particular form that you must complete, just contact the
consular office and ask what the procedure is. The Indonesian fiance(e) must obtain a
similar document from the government district office, or Kelurahan. Be advised that these
No Impediment documents are only valid for 4 months.
4. Copy of Divorce Decree, if applicable
5. Passport sized pictures of you and your fiance with red or blue background
6. Tax receipt or proof of tax settled (for foreigner who works in Indonesia)
7. Copy of ITAS (Temporary Residence Permit Card) or your visa, if applicable
8. Citizenship letter and Endorsement Letter by Police (for those who live and reside in
Indonesia).
All foreign language documents have to be translated into Indonesian by an authorized
translator.

Note: The Muslim traditional marriage Nikah Siri is not accepted as a legal marriage by
foreign governments. There are numerous disadvantages due to this lack of legal status.
Non-Moslem Marriage/Wedding Ceremony
An expatriate/Indonesian couple will experience two type of ceremonies. The
religious ceremony will be performed first, followed by a civil ceremony. The religious
ceremony will be conducted by a representative of the couple’s own religious belief (i.e., a
Priest for Catholics, a Minister for Protestants, or a Celebrant for Hindu and Buddhist
followers).

There will be two certificates presented at the end of ceremony, one from the
church/temple/other, and the other which you will present to the Civil Registry Office

General Requirements

 After
you hold the religious ceremony, then you MUST record the marriage with the Civil
Registry. Failure to do this will cause paperwork headaches later.
 The Civil Registry will then issue a Marriage Certificate which is evidence that you are
legally married. A non-Moslem wedding which is not recorded by the Civil Registry is
not considered legal.
 Thereis normally a ten-day waiting period in order to register your marriage with the Civil
Registry after you have submitted all the required documents. Recording by Civil
Registry officials can sometimes be arranged directly at the religious ceremony for an
additional fee.

Documents
The following documents must be completed:

1. Copy of passport (both partners)

2. Copy of birth certificate (both partners)
3. Copy of proof of legal termination of any and all previous marriage, i.e., Absolute
Divorce Decree (If applicable) or Death Certificate;
4. Copy of passports of two witnesses;
5. Six identical 4x6 cm photographs of you together with your spouse (with the groom on
the right side);
6. Letter of No Impediment stating that you are legally free to marry from the foreign
fiance's Embassy in Jakarta;
7. Indonesian Police Certificate stating that you intend to get married in Indonesia and have
not committed any crimes
Note: Countries outside Indonesia generally don't recognize the church issued marriage
certificate as legal. It's fine inside Indonesia, but if you're planning on getting residency (or
even a tourist visa) for your wife in the expat's home country, you'll need the Catatan Sipil
issued marriage certificate. As it's 80% in English, you shouldn't need to have much
translated on it for future use.
Additional details
In accordance with Law No. 1 of 1974 concerning marriages in Indonesia Article 2 (1):

“a marriage is legitimate if it has been performed according to the laws of the

respective religious beliefs of the parties concerned. All couples who marry in Indonesia must
declare a religion. Agnosticism and Atheism are not recognized. The Civil Registry Office
(Kantor Catatan Sipil) can record marriages of persons of Hindu, Buddhist, Christian-
Protestant and Christian-Catholic faiths. Marriage partners must have the same religion,
otherwise one partner must make a written declaration of change of religion/conversion.”

The Religious Marriage under Islam is performed by the Office of Religious Affairs
(Kantor Urusan Agama), in a ceremony at a mosque, in a home, a restaurant, or any other
place chosen by the couple. A Christian, Hindu or Buddhist marriage is usually performed in
a church or temple.

Persons of non-Islamic faith are required to file with the Civil Registry Office in the
Regency where they are staying first a Notice of Intention to Marry as well as a Letter of “No
Impediment to Marriage” (Surat Keterangan tentang tidak adanya halangan terhadap
perkawinan) obtained from their consular representatives.

Different countries may have different requirements, so contact the Consular

Representative of your country in their Jakarta Embassy for details well before the intended
date of marriage.

For the Notice of Intention to Marry you have to submit some or all of the following
documents for both partners to the Civil Registry Office. (Show the original and give them a
photocopy - all documents should not be older than three months prior to the wedding):

 Certificate of the religious marriage,

 Passport for foreign citizens,
 Surat Tanda Melapor Diri (STMD) from the Police for the foreign spouse,
 Photocopy of KK/KTP which has been legalized by the Lurah for Indonesian citizens,
 Certified birth certificate, legalized and translated into Bahasa Indonesia,
 Certified divorce decree (absolute) or death certificates regarding the termination of
all previous marriages,
 SKK from Immigration for the foreign spouse,
 Proof that all taxes for the foreigner were paid,
 Certificate of the structure of your family
 Certificate of birth for all your legal children
 Certificate of religion
  Certificate of your marital status
 Five 4 x 6 cm photos, both partners side by side, with a red background,
 Foreign citizens: 'Letter of No Impediment to Marriage*' issued by your Consular
Representative,
 For Indonesian citizens: never married: a Surat Keterangan Belum Kawin from RT,
Kepala Desa or Lurah (district chief)
 Men aged 18-21 and women aged 16-21 require a parental letter of consent, signed
across the Rp 10,000 meterai/tax stamp.
2 witnesses, over the age of 21
Before the marriage, you and your fiance(e) would be strongly advised wish to file
with the Civil Registry a prenuptial Property Agreement (Surat Pernyataan Harta) which must
be signed before a local Notary Public. This contract is necessary if the Indonesian spouse
wishes to hold property separately during the marriage. In the absence of such a document,
Indonesian 1974 Marriage Law assumes joint ownership of property. Two witnesses over the
age of 18 are required. They must show the originals and present photocopies of their
passports if they are foreign citizens or KTP (identity cards) if they are Indonesian citizens.
Civil Registry employees can act as witnesses.

The Civil Registry office has a Mandatory Waiting Period of 10 working days from
the date of filing. This waiting period may be waived for tourists presenting a guest
registration form (Form A). Islamic Marriage Certificates (Buku Nikah) issued by the Office
of Religious Affairs (Kantor Urusan Agama) are legally valid in Indonesia and do not require
registration with any other agency if you are going to live in Indonesia.

However, if you might move somewhere else in the future, get a marriage certificate
issued by the Civil Registry and an officially certified translation right away (see below). All
other Marriage Certificates will be issued by the Civil Registry usually on the same or next
day. A sworn English translation of the marriage certificate should be obtained for use
abroad. It may be necessary for the marriage certificate or translation to be registered by your
Consular Agency. Or you may choose to have the sworn translation of the marriage
certificate verified or a special translation made by the Consular Agency of your home
country or the Consular Agency of your country of residence might prove useful.

*Letter of No Impediment to Marriage :

 Bring the original of the following documents for both yourself and your
fiance(e) to the Consular Agency. A certified document bears an original
raised press seal or ink stamp from the official custodian of the original
document, such as the state Department of Health Services or Family
Court, not a notary public seal. A photocopy of a certification seal is not
acceptable, although the document may be a photocopy, it must bear an
actual raised seal or ink stamp.
  Passport for foreign citizen and the KTP (ID card) for Indonesian citizen.
 Certifieddivorce decrees (absolute/final) or death certificates regarding
termination of all previous marriages.
Based upon these documents and an affidavit prepared by the applicant, the
Consular Agency will issue a Letter of No Impediment, usually within a few
minutes.

Basically the letter needs to say something like:

We have reviewed the legal documents and status of _______ and can find
no legal reason that would prevent his/her from marrying again. She/He is legally
single and has never married (or) is legally divorced (whichever is appropriate).

Process of Legalization of Documents

Legalization of all documents is done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(Kementerian Luar Negeri), Directorate for Consular Affairs - Legalization Section, Jl.
Taman Pejambon 6, Jakarta Pusat. Then these documents have to be translated into Bahasa
Indonesia by a certified translator.

The translations have to be validated by the Ministry of Justice (Kementerian Hukum

dan HAM), Legalization Section, Jl. Rasuna Said 3, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan and also by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

When you finish all the paperwork detailed above, take it to your government's
embassy in Jakarta where they can validate any necessary documents. In your home country,
you can present these wide array of official documents to the local government to get a legal
wedding certificate in your home country. Foreign embassies cannot register marriages as
marriage is a local government responsibility. If you want to register your marriage in the
expat spouse's home country, contact the embassy to find out what that procedure would be.

Getting Married Abroad

A foreign marriage certificate will be recognized by the Indonesian government (for
the purposes of Indonesian paperwork) if you take your foreign marriage certificate to the
Indonesian consular office and have an Indonesian translation of the foreign marriage
certificate "consularized" by the Indonesian consular office for the area which you live. The
consularization process means that the verify the validity of the document and stamp the back
of the document and sign it and use an official stampl. The Consular office can usually help
you to translate your marriage certificate, for a fee. If you're not sure which consulate you
should do the paperwork through, contact the Consular office of the Indonesian Embassy in
your capital city, tell them which city/state/province you live in and they will tell you which
consular office to go to for your paperwork.
 In a few cases (usually due to differing religions) the foreign spouse may be asked
to convertor the couple must remarry, but in most cases a consularized translation of the
marriage certificate is adequate. Especially in cases where the couple already have children
and have been married for some time, there are fewer questions about the legality of their
marriage.

Indonesian government marriage law of 1974 stipulated that you must register your
marriage with the Civil Registry (Kantor Catatan Sipil) within one year after you return to
Indonesia (Marriage Law). However in December of 2006, a new bill passed called Undang
undang 23 tahun 2006 tentang Administrasi Kependudukan, in which new regulations are
now in affect. The prevailing law is now the Law of Administration of the Population (2006)
and not the Marriage law (1974):

Indonesian citizens who have married abroad (outside Indonesia) are obligated to
register with an appropriate Indonesian government consular office (consulate or embassy) in
the country where the marriage took place, in order to report this marriage officially to the
Indonesian government.

A report must also be made to the appropriate government authority in your

hometown in Indonesia in order to assure that your marriage is legal under Indonesian law. If
you are Muslim, you report your overseas marriage to the Kantor Urusan Agama (KUA) in
Indonesia, if you are from another religion, you report to the Catatan Sipil in the hometown
of the Indonesian spouse. Without reporting in this way, you are not considered married by
the Indonesian government! This should be done, at the latest, 30 days after the Indonesian
citizen returns to Indonesia. The fine for a late registration is of a maximum of IDR
1.000.000 and is further regulated by regional regulations.

The civil registry officer will check the date of your marriage and the date of your
arrival to Indonesia after you have performed the marriage abroad. If the day you arrive to
record your marriage exceeds the limit, then the Civil Registry Office in Jakarta may also
require a court decree in order for the marriage to be recorded (Jakarta Municipal
Regulation). When you register you will obtain a Tanda Bukti Laporan Perkawinan, which
makes your marriage legal in Indonesia.

The Kantor Catatan Sipil may ask you for ... are you ready ... a letter from the foreign
spouse's parents saying they give permission for the marriage, even after the fact! Seems
strange ... but this request has come up repeatedly. So, if you want to avoid hassles, get a
letter from you folks or other senior family member before you start through the bureaucracy
at Kantor Catatan Sipil.

They may also ask for a certified letter from the foreign spouse's embassy verifying
that the marriage certificate is legal ... which shouldn't be any problem if it is notarized, and
especially if you have had the translation consularized by the Indonesian consular officials
abroad. If you have children, you can bring them with you to these meetings ... more proof
that you're married! Don't despair, often the officials are happy with just seeing a copy of
your foreign marriage certificate, consularized by the Indonesian consulate and that is
adequate to register you. But as with everything else - there is an exception to every rule!

It is customary in Indonesia to throw a big reception to which everyone one of the

Indonesian partner's family members, friends and acquaintances is invited. Some couples
who have married abroad may opt to have a reception in Indonesia which, in theory,
demonstrates the Indonesian spouse's family's support of the marriage. Or, another way to go
is to have a "tunangan" (engagement ceremony) in Indonesia in traditional fashion before the
wedding.