10 Steps How to Get Married in Indonesia for Foreigners

For couples who will get married, various preparations related to the marriage will be very time-consuming them. There are many things that must be prepared from the beginning, including the fulfillment of various mandatory requirements for the marriage itself. Moreover, for special couple who has different citizenship. Here are some tips how to get married in Indonesia for foreigners.

1. Meet the requirement

The most important requirement is, for female, you have to be 16 years or older and for male,you have to be 19 years older. In UU Marital of Indonesia, it states that persons who engage in mixed marriages may obtain the citizenship of their spouses and may also lose their citizenship.

The foreign people who want to marry Indonesians must go through several stages of administration. He/she must have a photocopy of a passport, carry a marriage license / status from the country or country representative concerned and has been translated into Indonesian by an authorized translator, carrying 2×3 cm photographs, the certainty of the presence of a guardian for a female foreigner authorized by an authorized official, and paying a marriage registration fee for IDR 30,000.

Read also: Rules for Marriage in Indonesia

2. Prepare the documents needed

There are many documents that you need to prepare. The documents would be given to the KUA (if you are Islam) and Catatan Sipil (Civil Registry).

• Photocopy of Identity card (KTP / passport)
• Photocopy of Birth Certificate.
• Certificate that he is not in marriage status, or
• Certificate of divorce if already married; or
• The wife’s death certificate if his previous wife has died
• Certificate stating that it is permitted to marry Indonesian citizens. The certificate is issued by the competent authority in the country.
• The letters are then translated into Bahasa Indonesia by sworn translators and then must be legalized by the foreign national embassies in Indonesia.

Read also: Indonesian Marriage Traditions

3. Go to Embassy Office

In embassy the foreigner must submit the documents as follow:

• Recent birth certificate (original).
• Photocopy of identity card (KTP) from the country of origin.
• Photocopy of passport.
• Proof of residence / letter of domicile (may be a photocopy of the telephone / electricity bill.
• Marriage form from the embassy in question.

However, for Indonesians have to submit:

• Some photocopies and original of birth certificates
• Photocopy of ID card
• Photocopy of letter N1, N2 and N4 from Kelurahan
• Photocopy prenup (not mandatory)

Before submitting all these requirements documents to the embassy, it is a good idea to first photocopy them as hand data, as the embassy will not return the documents later. After all these requirements are met, the next process is to wait for news from the embassy. This process may take a long time, depending on the policy and performance of the embassy of the country concerned. Some embassies take about one to two months to process, or even longer.

Some embassy offices will also interview candidates to be married, but this is not always run by all embassies. After all the documents are processed, the embassy will contact and notify that the letters have been retrieved.

Read also: Marriage Culture in Indonesia

4. Both of you have to be in the same religion

Religion in Indonesia becomes the sensitive issue. That is why the marriage among different religion is prohibited. Make sure to discuss with your partner about the religion well. However, most of foreigner will choose to follow what Indonesians belief. It is done to avoid the difficulty while proposing the marriage administration.

Read also: Importance of Religion in Indonesia

5. Make the announcement

The next step is the announcement of the marriage. Well, the announcement will be displayed somewhere for other people to be readers. However, if your application is rejected and you don’t get any letter, then you can report to the court that the rejection is unwarranted.

After the tenth day since the announcement of marriage and so far there is no problem, then the marriage can only be implemented. Marriage must follow the ordinances set by religion, the beliefs of all parties, and take place in the presence of the marriage and two witnesses.

Read also: Rules for Getting Married in Bali

6. If you marry in Islamic way

If all requirements and documents required have been met, then the marriage can be held at KUA (Religious Affairs Office). For those who will be married at the KUA office, it will not be charged anything. This has been regulated in PP no. 48 of 2014 valid from 7 July 2014, stating that the cost of marriage in KUA is Rp0 (zero) / free. This applies to all marriages made during working hours within the KUA office.

However, if the marriage is done outside the KUA office or outside KUA working hours, then the fee charged is  IDR 600.000, – (six hundred thousand rupiah). This fee will be entered into the state coffers and in this case the KUA party shall not accept payment directly from the bride and groom.

Read also: Indonesian Wedding Culture

7. For those who marry in Christian way

Once you have married in religion, you must immediately report to the Civil Registry so that your marriage is also recognized by the state.

For Christian marriages, civil servant officers are generally present at the time of the blessing so that your marriage is directly recorded in the Civil Register. You should therefore also prepare the necessary documents for the Civil Registry, along with your wedding preparation at KUA or in the church. Here are the documents you need to prepare:

• Photocopy of passport whose sheet has been stamped, 2 sheets
• Birth Certificate, original and photocopy, 2 sheets
• Photocopy of Baptism Letter, 2 sheets
• License from Foreign Embassy / Consul / Representative of the Foreign Citizen in Jakarta
• Tax evident certificate (for those who work in Indonesia), 2 sheets
• Certificate of Immigration and Department of Labor (for those working in Indonesia), 2 sheets
• Letter of Self-Check (STMD) from the Police, 2 sheets

Read also: Sundanese Wedding Traditions

8. For those who marry Buddhist/Hindus

You will experience two kinds of ceremonies. The religious part will be done by a representative of your own religious beliefs (Religious Leaders for Hindus and Buddhists). There will be two certificates issued at the end of the ceremony, one from the church / temple / other, and one from the Civil Registry Office. Then you must appoint the temple/vihara to hold the first ceremony.

Then record the marriage at the Civil Registry Office. Civil Records will issue a Marriage Certificate which is proof that you are officially married. A non-Muslim marriage not recorded by the Civil Registry is not considered valid.

There will usually be a ten-day waiting period to register your marriage to the Civil Registry Office, leaving all supporting documents. Records of documents by Civil Registry officials can sometimes be arranged directly at religious ceremonies, of course at an additional cost (please contact the Civil Registry directly where you wish to marry).

Read also: Balinese Wedding Traditions

9. Follow the procedures

Taking care of various documents and also the requirements of marriage will certainly take quite a long time, especially if the marriage is done between couples WNI with foreigners. The embassy and also the partner’s home country may ask for a number of special requirements, so always prepare all the documents from the beginning.

If you don’t want to experience bad experience in the process of maintaining this document, it’s good to follow all the necessary procedures from the beginning, so document management can run smoothly. If the document can be well managed and smoothly, then the wedding can be held immediately.

Read also: Wedding Etiquette in Indonesia

10. Conduct the wedding ceremony

After you have been finished the administration well, both of you can conduct your wedding. Wedding ceremony is under the agreement from the both groom and bride. If your fiancée is Javanese, you would experience Javanese marriage. While you marry Balinese girl or man, you would experience Balinese wedding. You know that Indonesia is a multicultural country. That is why it has a various culture in conducting some events.

Read also: Javanese Wedding Culture

Those are how to get married in Indonesia for foreigners. Marriage between Indonesian and foreigners will require a number of processes that are quite long, because the arrangement of various marriage documents will be done in both countries concerned couples. Things like this certainly should be a special attention, before finally choosing the time and also various other preparations related to the marriage later.