Pinoy Mixed Marriage: Requirements and Legal Procedures of Marrying an Indonesian Citizen (WNI)

Tying the knot between two persons of different nationalities, governed by 2 varying legal codes, is a tedious process. As soon as I made up my mind that I will settle here in Indonesia permanently (with my Indonesian groom) I decided to set my wedding here and follow their laws to make my marriage valid.

Basically, the law requires (for a non- Muslim marriage like mine) that: 

First: my marriage has to be solemnised in a church,

Second: it must be affirmed and registred in the Civil Registry within 60 days after the church wedding.

Totally opposite of what I will go through had I rather set my marriage in the Philippines😇

Below details the preparations that I did in order that my mixed marriage is legal and binding here.

A. Church Requirements 

My groom and I went to his church asking for the requirements to have a wedding ceremony. These are what they gave me to be accomplished. 

a. Birth Certificate, Baptismal Certificate, Valid Passport Copy, Copy of Entry Visa to Indonesia ( which in my case is my work permit) , and other identification papers.

b. Letter of No Impediment to Marry from the Philippine Consulate or Embassy

c. Photo with the bride and groom side by side

Letter of No Impediment

a. I called the Philippine embassy in Jakarta asking about the 'Letter of No Impediment.' They told me that they  will issue an LCCM (Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage).

i. However, the LCCM can only be issued if I have to submit an authenticated Birth Certificate and Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR).This means that I have to take my Birth Certificate and CENOMAR from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) then, bring it to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for authentication. 

ii. As soon as the red ribboned documents arrived from the Philippines, I applied for the LCCM . I thought I just have to hand- in the requirements. Unfortunately, it does not work like that. I have to pay the corresponding fee and fill up the application and affidavit forms.

iii.  At last, I got the LCCM! But alas, it did not end here. The Civil Registry wanted the LCCM and my Birth Certificate with Indonesian translation.  They referred me to a valid, and sworn translator. Luckily, there is a language centre here at Surabaya that offers this service.

iv. Finally, my documents and other legal papers were all approved. I was able to march down the aisle on my wedding date. Requirement number 1 was accomplished, so on to requirement number 2.

B. Civil Registry
For my groom who is an Indonesian, he has to submit N1,N2,N3 and N4 forms. Luckily, I do not need to hand- in these forms. Apparently, what the Civil Registry requires are:

a. Notice of Intention to Marry

- Birth Certificate( with Indonesian Translation), Valid Passport Copy or other Identification 

b. Letter of No Impediment to Marry (with Indonesian Translation)

c. Photo ( with the bride and groom side by side)

Since, the church already asked for these requirements in advance, marriage under the Civil Registry proceeded without all the fuss of bureaucracy.

@ the Kantor Catatan Sipil/ Civil Registry Office

After 2 weeks, Hurray! I got my legal marriage certificate under the Indonesian law. 

Add caption

Report of Marriage 

Unfortunately, it is not over yet after the marriage. I have to comply to Philippine laws,too. According to our Family Code, marriage contracted outside of the Philippines has to be reported to the Philippine Statistics Authority within 1 year of marriage. If not, I will be subjected to sanctions.  For this reason, 5 months after marriage when I got the chance,  I had to fill-up this form and submitted it to our embassy in Jakarta.

The report of marriage notifies the Philippine government that there was a change in my civil status, from 'Single', to already 'Married'. This report is forwarded to PSA and serves as my Marriage Certificate .Hence, when I was updating all my public records in the Philippines after one year of being married,I was able to do so because I have a marriage certificate issued by Philippines Statistics Authority.

Marriage cert issued by PSA

While a regular bride would be very busy preparing for her gown, reception and wedding day, I ,a bride from a mixed couple, was very busy preparing for my marriage,hoping that my mixed marriage will go smoothly in terms of its constitutionality. 

With this regards, my next post will be about the other very important paper that needed to be drafted and filed before entering into marriage, 'The Prenuptial Agreement'

Attaching below the DFA and PSA links for you to browse the requirements in processing your documents.

https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/Secure/PaymentInstructions.aspx

https://consular.dfa.gov.ph/

https://psa.gov.ph/