Today, it is not uncommon for individuals to get married to partners from different countries. However, attempts to organise marriage ceremonies can be frustrating due the to different bureaucratic requirements in different countries. In this short article, I will give some information regarding the requirements to get official marriage licence (Marriage Book/Buku Nikah) in Indonesia. This would be useful for those who plan to marry an Indonesian and plan to do the marriage in Indonesia, inshaallah.
Indonesia is famous for it’s long and painful bureaucracy, so planning is very important. In my own case, my husband and I prepared all of the documents needed for the marriage two weeks ahead of the time for the actual marriage (of course this timeline can vary depending on each person).
The first step is to ask your Indonesian partner to contact the local Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) and consult with them regarding your plan for marriage in other to discuss the peculiar situations that you may have with them. However, the general requirements for documents are common for everyone.
Here is the list of documents the foreigners need to prepare (based on my recent experience):
- Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) from embassy or consulate. Please check the embassy website for the requirements, every country has their own policy on how to get this document.
- A copy of your international passport
- Copy of other IDs (my husband used his temporary driving licence which shows his address)
- Passport photos with blue background size 2×3 and 4×6
- A copy of birth certificate (this is actually optional, they only need the name of the parents. My husband lost his birth certificate so the officer only asked us to write his parents’ names on a piece of paper)
- Medical check up in local health center (puskesmas). This check up includes STD tests (only for siphilis and HIV) and also tetanus shot for the bride.
- If the foreigner is a convert, prepare a copy of documents to support that also. (My husband, also a convert to Islam, but he does not keep his document that shows he is a convert. However, he already changed his name and completed his hajj, so the officer did not request this document)
- Proof of dissolution of previous marriage or death certificate of former partner (if applicable), translated to Bahasa Indonesia by a sworn translator.
- Optional: Copy of pre nuptial agreement
Fee:
The marriage will be conducted free-of-charge if the aqad (marriage contract) is done at the KUA premises in weekdays during the office hours. However, the fee is 600,000 rupiah for marriages outside the official opening time or in different venues.
Processing:
Once you submit all the documents, the office will need about 10 working days to process your requests. However, you can negotiate with the officer regarding this. For my case, I submitted the complete documents on Wednesday and we got married on Friday of the same week.
Extra Information: Although marriages can technically be done in such a short period, I would not recommend you follow my footsteps by preparing the documents in only two weeks. Spare at least between one month or up to 3 months for the document preparation.
I hope this will be useful for you. May Allah make easy for everyone to get married, aamiin.
About the Author: Sister H. Erni (Tabassum Estilla) is an entrepreneur living in Indonesia with her husband and 3 cats. Her hobbies include making Amigurumi, cooking and travelling. She has been a volunteer at Amirazz since 2018 where she helps with administrative tasks to help Muslims fulfill half of their Deen.