One year after the birth of my child, I married a French man. Under French law, since we officially reported to the embassy in Jakarta, our child became a dual citizen, Indonesian and French. However, under Indonesian law, since I was considered a single mother when I gave birth to my child, my child only holds Indonesian Citizenship. Is it possible for us to change his status under Indonesian law so that he can have dual nationality? If so, what is the process? Thank you.
DAFTAR ISI
INTISARI JAWABAN
You gave birth to a child before you were legally married to your husband, so your child is an out-of-wedlock child. Then, can an out-of-wedlock child have dual citizenship status?
Please read the review below for a further explanation.
This article is an update from the article with the same title, written by NAYARA Advocacy and was published on Thursday, 25 February 2016.
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In order to make it easier to understand, we summarize the information based on your question as follows:
Your child was one year old when you were legally married to a French Citizen.
Your child was born in Indonesia and since you mentioned being a single mother at the time of birth, we conclude that your child's birth certificate is under your, name only.
Your child's birth certificate has been reported to the French embassy in Indonesia, so under French law, your child is recognized as both a French Citizen and an Indonesian Citizen.
However, under Indonesian law, your child is only recognized as an Indonesian Citizen.
Based on the above facts, you want your child to be recognized as a dual citizen under Indonesian law.
Does Indonesia Recognize Dual Citizenship?
The regulation of the principle of citizenship is necessary to regulate a person's citizenship status. This is important so that a person can get legal protection from the state, and receive their rights and obligations. Provisions on citizenship status are important to be regulated in the laws and regulations of the state. The laws and regulations made will then be used to determine a person's citizenship status.[1]
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Referring to the General Elucidation of Law 12/2006, the principles of citizenship adopted are:
The ius sanguinis principle (law of the blood) is a principle that determines a person’s citizenship based on lineage rather than the country of birth;
The ius soli principle (law of the soil) in its limited application is a principle that determines a person’s citizenship based on the country of birth and is applied only to children according to provisions stipulated under Law 12/2006;
Singular citizenship is a principle that determines single citizenship for everyone;
The limited double citizenship (bipatride) is a principle to determine double citizenship for children according to provisions under Law 12/2006.
Furthermore, the question arises in what circumstances may a person hold dual nationality in Indonesia? Regarding this, we refer to the provisions of Article 4 letter c, letter d, letter h, and letter l Law 12/2006:
Citizen of the Republic of Indonesia is:
…
…
any person who based on laws and regulations and/or agreements between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and other countries before the enforcement of this Law has already become a Citizen of the Republic of Indonesia;
child who is born in lawful marriage from an Indonesian father and mother;
…
…
…
a child who is born out of lawful marriage from a mother who is a foreign national and who is acknowledged by the Indonesian father as his child and such claim is declared before the child reaches the age of 18 or before the child has married
…
…
…
a child who is born outside of the territory of the Republic of Indonesia from Indonesian father and mother, which due to prevailing law in the child’s birth country, provides citizenship to the relevant children;
…
As well as the provisions of Article 5 Law 12/2006 which reads as follows.
Children of Indonesian Citizens who are born out of lawful marriage under the age of 18 and are unmarried and who are acknowledged by their father, who is a foreign national shall remain to be acknowledged as Indonesian Citizens.
Children of Indonesian Citizens who are under the age of 5 and are legally adopted by foreign
citizens based on a court decision shall remain to be acknowledged as Indonesian Citizens.
Then referring to Article 6 section (1) Law 12/2006 regulates as follows:
In the event that the status of Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia of children as referred to in Article 4 letter c, letter d, letter h, letter I, and Article 5 results in double citizenship children, after the children have reached the age of 18 or have married, the children must choose one of their citizenships.
Citizenship Status of an Out-of-Wedlock Child of a Mixed Couple
Thus, in relation to your question where the child has been born in Indonesia outside of a legal marriage, then one year later you marry a man who is a French citizen, then your child can have dual citizenship in accordance to the basis of Article 6 section (1) jo. Article 5 section (1) Law 12/2006, provided that the French father legally recognizes the out-of-wedlock child.
Even though the child has dual citizenship, when the child turns 18 years old or is married, he/she must choose one of his/her citizenship, which is either Indonesia or France.
However, if the out-of-wedlock child is not the biological child of your French husband and there is no legal recognition, then the out-of-wedlock child does not have dual citizenship, but is an Indonesian Citizen.[2]
Because in fact, Indonesia does not recognize dual citizenship (bipartite) or statelessness (apatride) in absolute terms.[3] With the existence of dual citizenship status (bipartite), it brings uncertainty in a person's status, so that it can be detrimental to certain countries or to the person concerned himself. Meanwhile, in the case of adhering to the condition of apatride, it can bring consequences to those concerned who will not receive protection from any country.[4]
Thus, basically, the citizenship system adopted by Indonesia is a single citizenship system. Exceptions to it are given on a limited basis under certain conditions until the child turns 18 years old. After that, the child must choose and determine one of the citizenships.
These are the answers we can provide, we hope you will find them useful.
