I check here at Embassy that 199 children are listed as having double citizenship. When they are 21 years of age, they have to choose one only.
Beijing (ANTARA) - The Embassy of Indonesia in Beijing, China, has recorded 199 children born in intermarriages between Indonesians and Chinese possessed dual citizenship.

"I check here at the Embassy that 199 children are listed as having dual citizenship. When they turn 21 years of age, they have to choose only one," Director of Commerce of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Kartiko Nurintias stated in Beijing on Sunday evening, December 15, 2019.

Indonesia and China abide by the law of single nationality. Hence, to this end, the children born of intermarriages between people from the two nations should take on citizenship of either the mother or father.

"Since we have an application named SAKE (Electronic Administration System of Nationality) in place, the requirements are now easy to apply. Submit some necessary documents and pay for the tax within the system, so the application will be directly processed," Nurintias remarked.

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Nurintias, present at an event to disseminate information on the Nationality Regulation for Indonesia Citizens Abroad, drew focus on the topic of dual-citizenship children in Taiwan.

"In Taiwan, 52 children of intermarriages are accommodated by a local government-owned foundation since they were victims of broken families," he remarked.

A similar trend was observed in Singapore where a group of children born from intermarriages opted for Indonesian citizenship since the country applied a conscription policy on its citizens aged 21, Nurintas stated.

Furthermore, he noted, the process of changing citizenship for Indonesians is also quite uncomplicated since if the requirements are met, the destination country is ready to receive the new member.

"In a case in Taiwan, for instance, President Joko Widodo had been issued the decision letter to revoke citizenship, but the local government denied the application," Nurintas added.

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Translator: M. Irfan Ilmie, Suwanti
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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