Divorce in Indonesia for International marriages
A divorce can took place in Indonesia regardless where the parties perform their marriage before, for as long as the supporting documentation is sufficient enough, which means that the marriage should be acknowledged or recognized by the Indonesian law.
The recognition by The Indonesian law would means that the marriage does not violates the common legal term for such marriage, furthermore there are some steps that needs to be conducted in Indonesia before the divorce can took place.
In terms of legal International marriages, it is to be classified within the civil law and that the Indonesian-International civil law known to adopt the principle of “lex loci celebrationist” which means that the governing law towards a legal marriage is the local laws of where the marriage took place, mirroring to these term, article 56 of The 1974 Indonesian marriage law stipulates that all marriages performed abroad is considered as legal, as long as it is conducted in accordance with the law and regulations in effect in the country where the marriage took place.
Based on the above legal terms, the International marriage can be dissolved in Indonesia, however the civil and population law governs that in order to provide recent development and current status of the Indonesian party, it is required for the said party to re-register the international marriage with the nearest Indonesian representatives located at the place where the marriage took place, further the same registration needs to be re-conducted with the local civil and population registry office, in return the office will provide a certification letter which consist of the details regarding the marriage.
To summarize, the complete stage would be:
- Perform the marriage in accordance with the local law;
- Report the marriage with the nearest Indonesian representatives; and get the certificate
- Conduct the sworn and authorized translation; (since the documents are mostly in foreign language)
- Report the marriage with the local civil and registry office; and get the certificate.
The divorce petition will be produced and based on the above support documentations.
