Unlike
other countries, Indonesian law has no provision for non-religious
civil marriages. The validity of marriage is governed by the Marriage
Law of 1974 which took affect in 2nd January 1974. The mixed-marriage
couple needs to pay attention to the legal issues surrounding their
union. If something unforeseen happens down the line, lack of legal
requirements in your marriage will put you into an unfavorable
condition. If the law doesn’t recognize your marriage, you are
considered to be not marriage at all. This lack of a legal status will
affect your divorce, division of marital properties, alimony, and child
custody.
Religious Marriages
Indonesia’s
1974 Marriage Law stipulates that marriage can be legally recognized if
it is performed according to the religion of the two parties. In
Indonesia religion is the main issue in marriage. Marriages between
different religions is not allowed in Indonesia. Both spouses must have
the same religion in order to get marry legally.
Once
you have made the decision to marry in Indonesia, you must choose the
type of religious ceremony that you intend to have. For Non-Moslems, you
must hold a church (or temple) ceremony first, and then record the
marriage with the Civil Registry Office. The couple will experience two
types of ceremonies. The religious ceremony will be performed first,
followed by a civil ceremony. The Civil Registry will in turn issue a
Marriage Certificate, which is evidence that you are legally married. A
Non-Moslem wedding which is not recorded with the Civil Registry is not
considered legal. There will be two certificates presented at the end of
ceremony, one from the church/temple, and one from the Civil Registry
Office.
If
you have decided the marry in a Moslem ceremony, you must register your
marriage at the local Office of Religious Affairs (Kantor Urusan
Agama/KUA). Persons wedded in a Moslem ceremony are issued a Marriage
Book and need not record their marriage with Civil Registry Office.
Civil Weddings
Considering
that Indonesian law has no provision for non-religious civil marriages,
the couple who wishes to perform a civil wedding should provide the
religious marriage certificate first (i.e. Certificate of Marriage
Solemnization), which means that they have completed the religious
marriage in their country. Some foreign tourists who get married while
on their vacation/honeymoon in Indonesia, choose this route.
International Recognition
Mixed-marriage
couples married in Indonesia should pay attention to this issue,
especially if they have married in Moslem ceremony. The Moslem Marriage
Book is NOT accepted in several countries - for example, Netherlands.
The immigration regulations in the Netherlands require a Certificate of
Attestation from the Indonesian Civil Registry Office. This is the
certificate that show that the marriage has been registered with the
Indonesian Civil Registry Office in order to register at the Civil
Registry Office in the Netherlands. You need to submit supporting
documents such as your passports, visa, marriage books, and photographs
(with groom on the right side).
Theoretically,
this is may sounds odd. The Office of Religious Affairs and the Civil
Registry Office are the Indonesian government institutions that have the
authority to record your marriage. But, in actual practice, you will
experience numerous legal difficulties iif you are not fully aware of
the legal consequences of your actions.
If
you go to the Surabaya Civil Registry Office, they will not issue a
Certificate of Attestation based on the Moslem Marriage Book. They don’t
even want to provide the letter of rejection either. They find Office
of Religious Affairs has the same position as them, believing that they
are not authorized to issue such certificate.
According
to the Regional Autonomy Law of 2004, the regulation for civil registry
and population services is the sole responsible of local municipal
offices. So, the Surabaya Municipal offices is fully within its
authority to consider that the Religious Affairs and Civil Registry take
the same legal position.
Another
matter that deserves attention is document legalization.
Immigration-related documents require certifications or legalizations or
authentications in order to be recognized internationally.
The
legalization rules are different for each country. Not all information
is provided clearly and regulations are not the same in every country.
This conflicting information is typical of government bureaucracy all
over the world. As we are aware, US rules specify that your
certificate(s) should be less than a year old. As for the Netherlands
regulations, the certificate(s) should be less than five years old. The
process is usually complicated and in many cases a lack of time or
expertise can cause delays and valuable time will be lost.
Indonesia is not a part of the Hague Convention, a group of nations joined to create a simplified method of legalizing documents for universal recognition. Therefore, you need an Embassy Legalization for your documents to be valid internationally.
As
a non-member of the Hague Convention, Indonesian documents must fulfill
certain requirements before the foreign embassy can legalize your
documents. Indonesian documents should first pass the procedures at the
related government institutions in Indonesia, such as Notary Public
certification, Civil Registry, Department of Justice, Department of
Foreign Affairs, and/or Department of Religion.
Marriage Legalization
The
mixed-couple who has decided to get marry abroad, will not be exempted
from the law. The 1974’s Marriage Law stipulates that within one year
after your return to Indonesia, you must report the marriage to the
Civil Registry Office. You will be presented a Surat Tanda Bukti Laporan
Perkawinan (STBLP). This certificate is very important and will make
your marriage recognized by Indonesian law. Even if you have decided not
to stay in Indonesia, this certificate is a must-have document. You
never know what will happened in the future and something may cause you
to move back to Indonesia. By then, complications will arise in your
case due to the long interval of time. You will need to get a court
decree in order for your marriage to be recorded at civil registry
office. It will ensure additional hassles if you choose to deliver a
baby in Indonesia in the future. You can not get the foreign birth
certificate for the baby if you do not possess a STBLP. In addition to
the STBLP, it is also a very important document if you would like to own
property in Indonesia. The Notary Public will require an Indonesian
marriage certificate, whether it’s a STBLP or a regular marriage
certificate. Your overseas marriage certificate will NOT be accepted
because your marriage is not recognized by Indonesian law.
Marriages Carried-Out Before 1974
Marriages
carried out before 1974 were governed by Indonesian Civil Code. The
code is based on Dutch colonial rules which divide people into classes,
i.e., European, Indonesian native (pribumi), Chinese, and Far-Eastern
(Arab and India).
This
law was meant to be very specific according to who you are and where
you come from. It did not treat people equally. The Code saw people
through race, customs, and classes. Unbelievably, many of these
marriages are still valid and have not been revoked yet.
Source:
www.expat.or.id
