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Registering the Birth of a Child in Indonesia

For foreigners who give birth in Indonesia, it will be necessary to get a local birth certificate before a foreign passport can be issued for your baby. Then, you will need to apply for a limited stay permit (ITAS visa) for your baby, which will follow the visa of the working spouse.

Note: If the child is born to a mixed couple - one Indonesian spouse and one foreign spouse, many of these requirements /procedures differ because you have the option of that child being an Indonesian citizen. See Pendaftaran Anak Berkewarganegaaraan Ganda dan Fasilitast Imigrasi - Menteri Hukum dan Ham No 22, Tahun 2012. For more info see Mixed Marriages

Our thanks to visitors to the Expat Forum for their advice on how to register the birth of a foreign child (foreign national with foreign passport) in Indonesia. Which documents are actually required may differ depending on the catatan sipil office; the minimum will be:

  • Birth certificate
  • foreign parents passports
  • KTP, E-KITAP, E-Itas or Visit Stay permit
  • Relevant forms

 

  • In the past, other foreign nationals have reported need these documents at various steps in the process:
    • Surat Keterangan Lahir for the child - issued by the delivering hospital/physician/midwife
    • Passports of both parents
    • Birth certificates for both parents
    • Parent's marriage certificate (with translation into Indonesian, if needed)
    • Parents' ITAS (for foreigners) / KTP (for Indonesian spouse)
    • Letter from Sponsor (best if from place of employment)
    • Kartu keluarga (for those with an Indonesian spouse)
    • When you have all these documents, be sure to take ALL the originals and AT LEAST 2 photocopies of each one with you.
    • Prepare six 2x3 cm photos (kitas) and six 3x4 cm photos (kitas)and two 4x5 cm (passport). remember that all photos in Indonesia must have a red background.
  • Ask the hospital where the baby was born to provide you with a Surat Keterangan Kelahiran. Once you have this in hand, you can use this to obtain an official Birth Certificate (Akte Lahir). Take the Surat Keterangan Lahir, plus copy of foreigner parents passports, to the Catatan Sipil office in the city/area where the child was born. The Capatan Sipil office will issue the Akte Lahir.
  • Take the Akte Lahir (and the documents listed above) to register your foreign national baby at the local immigration office. You have 14 days after the baby's birth to register the birth, but often it can take longer than that to get the official birth certificate if you don't jump right on it after the baby's birth. The 14 days includes: the day the child was born, weekends, and public holidays "Tanggal Merah"... even if the immigration offices are not open. Apply for a Birth of Foreigner (Kelahiran Orang Asing) document from the immigration office. NOTE: UU Nomor 24 Tahun 2013 states that the registration period is now 60 days. Check with your formalities agent to be sure you don't register late.
  • If any documents are missing or not complete, the immigaton office will consider the application as a non-registration and the baby is classed as "overstay", which is a fine of $25 US for every day after the inital 14 days (still including weekends and public holidays).
  • Don't let the officials tell you that you can't have a middle or family name for your baby. You may have to fight (their customary practices) to get a birth certificate with three names.
  • According to Indonesian government regulations, you then have 60 days to obtain a passport for your newborn from your foreign embassy and take it back to immigration to get his/her ITAS and other necessary documents.
  • Alternately to the above, the hospital's records department may be able to handle a lot of the documentation hassles for you, including the registration with immigration and a certified translation of the birth certificate for the foreign passport application. By using their services you can avoid the government corruption hassles (by paying the hospital department to handle it). It is not cheap but the price is posted and the service as efficient as it gets. A smile and a few words of Indonesian will help move things along!
  • Go to your embassy to organise the registration of your baby's birth in your home country, using the local birth certificate and other documents as per your country's regulations.
  • At the same time you will need to apply for a passport for your newborn, which will require several pieces of documentation. Depending on the embassy and your country's requirments, these could include:
    • proof of citizenship - i.e., by naturalisation, birth or otherwise, requiring ORIGINAL birth certificates of foreign father/parents, passport or other documents, and
    • original, or certified copy, of marriage documents.
  • Once you have the baby's passport in hand, then you need to return to the Indonesian immigration office to get the ITAS visa stamped in the baby's passport, get the ITAS card, etc. Needed to apply for the ITAS :
    • Surat Keterangan (work letter)
    • Passport of both parents and child
    • KTP or ITAS from mother
    • Kartu Keluarga ( if spouse is Indonesian)
    • Surat Lapor ( the Registration letter that you have to get within 14 days from the immigration office)
    • Birth certificates of child and both parents
    • Marriage certificate
    • Buku Mutasi (blue foreigner's book of father)
    • Surat Sponsor (sponsor's letter). If your wife is Indonesian then she can be the sponsor, if not you need a sponsorship letter from your employer. Best to take a sponsorship letter from your employer just in case.
    • Bring at least 2 photocopies of all documents, or make them at the photocopier just outside the office.
  • Once you've applied you can get the ITAS after approximately three days.
  • Remember that the newborn child will follow the expiration date of the father's ITAS . This is very important. No later than one month before the expiration date of the father's ITAS you need to report your child to the immigration department. There's a US$25 fine for not reporting.
  • Once you get the baby's passport and he/she is registered with immigration and has been issued an ITAS , don't forget to get an exit visa for the baby as well, just in case you need to take him/her out of Indonesia quickly.
Fees will vary depending on your "facilitator", the immigration office, and the embassy. The most expensive part of this process may be the registering of birth at the foreign embassy and issuing of the foreign passport.

First and foremost, don't forget to report to the Immigration office within 14 days of the birth. As soon as you have the original birth document from the hospital, bring it to the Immigration office. If you delay this notification, you will have to pay penalty fees of US$25/day.

Relevant Regulation about reporting changes in your family to immigration - UU No. 6 year 2011

Article 71

Each Foreigner residing in the Territory of Indonesia shall:

a. provide all necessary information regarding the identity and / or their families, and report any changes in civil status, nationality, occupation, sponsor, or a change of address to the local Immigration Office; or
b...

Article 116

Each Foreigner who do not perform his/her obligations as stipulated in Article 71 shall be punished with a maximum confinement of 3 (three) months or a fine of up to 25,000,000 (twenty five million rupiah).

NOTE: UU Nomor 24 Tahun 2013 states that you need to report in 60 days (not three months).

When a foreign spouse marries an Indonesian, according to Indonesian law, the children have the option to be Indonesian citizens or foreign citizens. For more information see Mixed Marriages: Indonesian and Expatriate.

 

Last updated October 19, 2023