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 if 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.

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.