Govt to Allow Dual Citizenship: Indonesia

Dual citizenship in Indonesia has always been a controversial matter but it seems that all of this is soon to be resolved with a provision in the citizenship bill allowing for dual citizenship of their offspring until the latter reaches adulthood.

According to the Jakarta Post the bill is expected to be passed soon and would do away with differentiation between indigenous and non-indigenous” Indonesians long cited as discriminatory by Chinese-Indonesians.

The stipulation is that dual citizenship is allowed for children of transnational marriages as well as for children of Indonesian couples born in countries that apply the principle of ius soli (right of soil). Countries with ius soli principles such as the United States automatically give citizenship to anyone born in the country. Indonesia currently uses the ius sanguinis (right of the blood) principle which means that children born here receive the citizenship of their father.

Indonesian women married to foreign nationals are barred from passing their citizenship to their children which leads to considerable costs entailed in immigration processing and also schooling in international schools required by their foreign status. The children will be required to choose their citizenship at the age of 18. Although there had been calls for an age requirement of 23, members of the House formulating team said the former figure was in accordance with the definition of minors under the Child Protection Law.

Although one article still uses the term indigenous and people from different nationalities, lawmakers and the government have agreed on a provision defining an Indonesian citizen as one who never purposely assumes foreign citizenship.

The bill also orders the passing of a transitional regulation that will enable non-indigenous people to apply for Indonesian citizenship. The transitional period lasts three years from the time the law takes effect. There also will be severe punishment and heavy fines for state officials who hamper the citizenship process for foreigners.