Loss of Citizenship According to Indonesian Law

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By:

Team of Hukumindo

Previously, the www.hukumindo.com platform has talk about "Knowing Special Naturalization According to Indonesian Law", "Does Indonesia Implementing Citizenship By Investment?", "Stages of Obtaining Indonesian Citizenship" you may read also "How to Obtain Indonesian Citizenship?" and on this occasion we will discuss about 'Loss of Citizenship According to Indonesian Law'.

Legal Term and Governing Law

According to one legal expert, a citizen is a person who is legally part of a member of a country.[1] According to Article 26 of the 1945 Constitution, Paragraph 1 also states the same thing, that: "Citizens are native Indonesians and people of other nations who are legalized by law as citizens".[2] Article 1 point 1 of Law Number: 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship stipulates that what is meant by a citizen is a citizen of a country determined based on statutory regulations.[3] 

As we read above, indirectly we can know that governing law concerning Citizenship of Republic of Indonesia is Law Number: 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship.

Reasons for Losing Indonesian Citizenship

Article 23 of Law Number: 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship regulates what causes a person to lose Indonesian citizenship, namely:[4]

1. Obtaining another citizenship by his own free will;
2. Not rejecting or not giving up another citizenship, while the person concerned has the opportunity to do so;
3. The President declares that he has lost his citizenship at his own request, the person concerned is 18 (eighteen) years old or married, resides abroad, and by being declared lost his citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia does not become stateless;
4. Entry into foreign military service without prior permission from the President;
5. Voluntary entry into the service of a foreign country, whose positions in such services in Indonesia in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations can only be held by Indonesian citizens;
6. Voluntarily take an oath or pledge allegiance to a foreign country or part of that foreign country;
7. Not required but participating in the election of something of a constitutional nature for a foreign country;
8. Have a passport or a letter that is a passport from a foreign country or a letter that can be interpreted as a valid citizenship sign from another country on his behalf; or
9. Domiciled outside the territory of the Republic of Indonesia for 5 (five) continuous years not in the context of state service, without valid reasons and intentionally not expressing his desire to remain an Indonesian citizen before the end of the 5 (five) year period, and every 5 (five) years the person concerned does not submit a statement that he wants to remain an Indonesian citizen to the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia whose working area includes the residence in question, even though the Representative of the Republic of Indonesia has notified the person concerned in writing, as long as the person concerned does not become without citizenship.

Consequences of Losing Citizenship

In general, the result of losing citizenship is not getting protection from the state. And they are not entitled to the facilities provided by the state, such as proper education. And if you have any legal issue with your Indonesian citizenship matter, contact us then, feel free in 24 hour, we will be glad to assist you. 

*) For further information please contact:

Mahmud Kusuma Advocate

Law Office

Jakarta - Indonesia.

E-mail: mahmudkusuma22@gmail.com

________________

References:

1. "Ketahui, 9 Penyebab Hilangnya Kewarganegaraan Indonesia", kumparan.com., Diakses pada tanggal 9 Juni 2022, https://kumparan.com/kabar-harian/ketahui-9-penyebab-hilangnya-kewarganegaraan-indonesia-1wk9V8vpWLz/full

2. 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia

3. Law Number: 12 of 2006 concerning Citizenship

4. Ibid.