ER
THE TREND or phenomenon of Indonesian citizens (WNI) changing citizenship has become popular for some time now. It is estimated that as many as 1,000 Indonesian students switch Singapore citizenship every year, according to Immigration.
Based on data quoted from the Batam immigration website, between 2019-2022, there were 3,912 Indonesian citizens who changed citizenship to become Singaporean citizens, or around 1,000 people per year. So, is it that easy to give up or change citizenship? What are the terms and process?
The issue of Indonesian Citizenship is regulated in Law number 12 of 2006 and Government Regulation (PP) number 2 of 2007. According to the Law, there are 13 groups of Indonesian Citizens (WNI) in terms of how to obtain them.
Every resident of a country who is a descendant of parents from that country must receive citizenship status in that region. If the person has descendants from parents who come from abroad, dual citizenship status is held until the person can choose citizenship for themselves.
People who want to give up their status must also go through officials and the Minister of Law and Human Rights before it is decided by the president.
Factors that make Indonesian citizens automatically lose their citizenship status:
(1). Acquiring another citizenship of his own accord; (2). Not refusing or not giving up another citizenship, while the person concerned has the opportunity to do so; (3). Entering foreign military service without prior permission from the President.
(4). Voluntarily entering the service of a foreign country, positions in such service in Indonesia in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations can only be held by Indonesian citizens; (5). Voluntarily take an oath or declare a pledge of allegiance to a foreign country or part of a foreign country; not required but to participate in the election of something of a constitutional nature for a foreign country. (6). Have a passport or a letter that is a passport from a foreign country or a letter that can be interpreted as proof of valid citizenship from another country in his name; or
(7). Residing outside the territory of the Republic of Indonesia for 5 (five) years continuously not in the context of state service, without valid reasons and deliberately not expressing his desire to remain an Indonesian citizen before the 5 (five) year period ends, and every S (five) years later the person concerned did not submit a statement of wish to remain an Indonesian citizen to the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia whose work area includes the residence of the person concerned even though the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia had notified the person concerned in writing, as long as the person concerned did not become stateless.
To give up Indonesian citizen status, the applicant must have another citizenship first before processing the application for losing Indonesian citizenship. The application for losing Indonesian citizenship is submitted in writing by the person concerned to the President through the Minister.
The application is made in Indonesian on sufficiently stamped paper and contains at least: full name, place and date of birth, residential address, occupation, gender, marital status of the applicant, and reasons for the application.
The application requirements must be accompanied by:
(1). Photocopy of the birth certificate or letter proving the applicant’s birth, authenticated by the Head of Representative of the Republic of Indonesia; (2). Photocopy of marriage certificate/marriage book, extract of divorce certificate/divorce letter/divorce, or extract of death certificate of the applicant’s wife/husband for those who are not yet 18 (eighteen) years of age and already married, which is ratified by the Head of Representative of the Republic of Indonesia;
(3). Photocopy of Republic of Indonesia Travel Document or Resident Identification Card authorized by the Head of Representative of the Republic of Indonesia; (4). A statement from a representative of a foreign country that by losing the Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia the applicant will become a foreign citizen; and (5). Applicant’s latest color photographs measuring 4X6 (four by six) centimeters totaling 6 (six) pieces.
The following are the procedures for giving up Indonesian citizenship:
The application as intended in paragraph (2) along with the attachments is submitted to the representative of the Republic of Indonesia whose work area includes the applicant’s residence. Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia check the completeness of the application requirements within a maximum period of 14 (fourteen) days from the date of receipt of the application.
If the application documents are complete, the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia submits the application to the Minister no later than 2 (two) months from the date the application is received in full. After receiving an application from the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia, the Minister shall examine the application within a maximum period of 14 (fourteen) days.
If the documents are complete, the Minister will forward the application to the President within a maximum of 14 days from the date the application is received. The President determines the decision regarding the names of people who have lost their Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia and forwards it to the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia
The Representative of the Republic of Indonesia shall convey the Presidential Decree to the applicant no later than 7 (seven) days from the date the Presidential Decree is received. The Minister announces the names of people who have lost their Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia. [sources/photo special]
