Registering a birth and acknowledging parentage of a child in Indonesia
If your child is born in Indonesia, you must register the birth in Indonesia. If you live in the Netherlands, you must also register the birth in the Netherlands. You cannot acknowledge parentage of a child in Indonesia, but you can in the Netherlands.
Registering a birth
You must always register the birth of your child in the country where they were born. How you register a birth varies by country. If you live in the Netherlands and your child was born abroad, you must also register the birth in the Netherlands.
If your child is born in Indonesia, you must register the birth with the local authorities within 30 days. This may be with the local register of births, deaths, and marriages (Catatan Sipil), or the municipality (Balai kota). When you register the birth, a birth certificate will be drawn up. If you wait more than 30 days to register the birth, you must go through the district court (Pengadilan Negeri). It is not possible to register the birth of your child at the Dutch embassy.
If you live outside the Netherlands, you can have the Indonesian birth certificate converted into a Dutch birth certificate at the municipality of The Hague’s Foreign Documents Department. This is not mandatory, but it can be useful if you ever need an extract from the birth certificate in the future. Having the document converted does not take care of your child’s registration in the Non residents Records Database (RNI).
If you live in the Netherlands, you must also register the birth with the municipality where you live, using the foreign birth certificate. Do this as soon as possible once you return to the Netherlands. The municipality will then process your and your child’s details in the Personal Records Database (BRP).
Other important information
In Indonesia, no distinction is made between a person’s given name and surname. Instead, a chain of names is used. Dutch law distinguishes between a person’s given names and surname. If a chain of names is listed on a Dutch national’s Indonesian birth certificate, the whole chain will be listed in the surname field of the person’s Dutch passport. Three lines (---) will appear in the field for given names.
To have your given names and surname registered as such, you must submit a name registration request with the Integrity and Screening Agency (Dienst Justis), which is part of the Ministry of Justice and Security. You can do this free of charge.
Are the given names and surname not listed separately on the birth certificate? And do you want your child’s surname and given names stated separately on their travel document? Then you must first have their surname registered with Justis. There is no cost for this.
What you need when applying to have a name registered
- A completed application form for changing/registering a surname. Under ‘type of request’ (type verzoek) at the top of the page tick the box for NV (naamsvaststelling).
- An original, certified official copy of the long-form foreign birth certificate.
- A statement of agreement from the parent whose surname the child will take.
- A copy of both parents’ passports.
- A copy of the child’s passport or identity document.
If the birth certificate is not in Dutch, English, French or German, you must have it translated and legalised.
Acknowledging parentage of a child
You cannot acknowledge parentage of a child in Indonesia.
You can acknowledge parentage of your child if you are not automatically the legal parent. By doing so you declare that you are the child’s parent.
If you live in the Netherlands or if you are Dutch and live abroad, you can always acknowledge parentage in the Netherlands of your child born in Indonesia. You can do this at the municipality or a notary. You can also authorise someone to do this in the Netherlands on your behalf. To do this, you must get a notary to draw up a power of attorney. You cannot acknowledge parentage of your child at a Dutch embassy or consulate-general.
Acknowledging parentage does not automatically grant you parental responsibility for your child. Find out more about acknowledging parentage in the Netherlands on Government.nl.
More information
Find out more about becoming a parent outside the Netherlands
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