Ministry of Law and Human Rights Reminds Deadline for Indonesian Citizenship Application

MANGUPURA, NusaBali.com - The Ministry of Law and Human Rights has issued a reminder regarding the deadline for applications to become Indonesian citizens for children born from marriages between Indonesian citizens (WNI) and foreigners, which will end in May 2024.

"Currently, many children are unregistered and have either delayed or not made a choice regarding their citizenship status," said Cahyo R. Muzhar, Director General of Legal Administration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, during a citizenship status socialization event in Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali, on Monday.

He did not specify the exact number of mixed-race children resulting from marriages between Indonesian citizens and foreigners who have not yet registered or chosen their citizenship status.

The government has facilitated the rights to citizenship status through Government Regulation No. 21 of 2022 as a regulation aimed at providing solutions to citizenship issues.

"This regulation is drafted to provide protection and legal certainty for Indonesian citizens and serves as an entry point for all Indonesian citizens to contribute to the development," he said.

Through this socialization effort, Cahyo hopes that relevant agencies can expand information dissemination to the public regarding the application for Indonesian citizenship for children from mixed marriages, which is nearing its deadline.

The socialization event was attended by representatives from the Population and Civil Registration Office of the Bali Province, the Immigration Technical Implementation Unit, Bali Regional Police, as well as representatives of sub-district and village heads in Denpasar and Gianyar Regencies.

Meanwhile, Article 3A of Government Regulation No. 21 of 2022 states that for children, as referred to in Article 41 of Law No. 12 of 2006 concerning Indonesian Citizenship, who have not yet registered or have registered but not chosen citizenship, may apply for citizenship to the president through the minister.

Article 3A also outlines the detailed requirements for applying for citizenship. Additionally, Article 67A of the regulation stipulates that such applications must be submitted no later than two years after the regulation was enacted on May 31, 2022.

Having citizenship status can provide legal certainty.