Law Minister: Very Few Foreign National Naturalisation Requests Approved
Indonesia’s Minister of Law, Supratman Andi Agtas, has said that the government receives many naturalisation applications from foreign nationals, but very few are approved for Indonesian citizenship.
“Far more people want to become Indonesian citizens, but how many do we approve? In 2025, of those wishing to become citizens through pure naturalisation, if I’m not mistaken fewer than ten were approved. Not even ten,” said Supratman after the Pasti Ada Solusi (PAS) agenda at the Law Ministry’s Pengayoman Building in Jakarta on Friday (24/7).
“Of thousands of applications, five, if I’m not mistaken, were approved for citizenship. Is it really that easy to become a citizen?” he added.
Meanwhile, without giving exact figures, Supratman said the number of Indonesian citizens wishing to renounce their citizenship has not changed significantly before or after Government Regulation (PP) Number 30 of 2026 on Types and Tariffs of Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) applicable at the Ministry of Law came into force.
“The number has not changed much from before. Why is it now much harder? Because we have had cases where someone holds a passport, and then it turns out they have a criminal case in Indonesia,” Supratman said.
“Now we verify. If it is the child applying, perhaps the parent’s company has issues, or perhaps there are tax problems — we will confirm all of that. But if there are no problems, we approve the application straight away,” he said.
The government has just issued a regulation setting the fee for naturalisation of foreign nationals into Indonesian citizens at Rp75 million, up from the previous Rp50 million.
The rule is contained in PP Number 30 of 2026 on Types and Tariffs of Non-Tax State Revenue Applicable at the Ministry of Law.
The regulation was signed by President Prabowo Subianto on 2 July 2026 and promulgated on the same date, taking effect 30 days after promulgation.
According to the annex to the regulation, citizenship by application from a foreign national is set at Rp75 million per application. Under the previous rule, PP 45/2024, the fee for the same service was Rp50 million per application.
PP 30/2026 also sets the fee for citizenship through marriage at Rp25 million per application, up from the previous Rp15 million.
Citizenship for children of mixed marriages, or children born in jus soli countries who have not yet registered or chosen Indonesian citizenship, is set at Rp5 million per application.
Citizenship for children with dual nationality who do not declare a choice of Indonesian citizenship, or do not declare one of their nationalities, is also set at Rp5 million per application.
Meanwhile, Indonesian citizens wishing to renounce their citizenship are charged Rp5 million. The regulation takes effect on 1 August 2026.
“This is not a sudden decision. Once again, the Ministry of Law is building a system that is ultimately intended to serve the public. The state is certainly not seeking profit. That is not the aim at all,” Supratman explained.
“Nevertheless, we will conduct a review of the increases mentioned earlier. In the near future I will hold a meeting with the Director General of Legal Administration (AHU) and the Director General of Intellectual Property. It is the Directorate General of AHU that is currently in the spotlight, especially regarding citizenship,” he added.