How to Renounce Indonesian Citizenship (in Singapore)

This article was originally written in early 2021 to document the steps I took to renounce Indonesian citizenship. However, in April 2022 AHU made a major revision to their requirements, so this article is updated to reflect the latest requirements as of April 2022.

In case you’re currently banging your head on the wall, I just want to tell you that you’re not alone, and you’ll get through this.

This post is solely focused on renouncing Indonesian Citizen and becoming a Singapore Citizen. Because that’s what I did. If you’re living in other countries, I’m sorry I don’t know whether the procedure is similar or not, because I heard that KBRI in other countries may/may not provide the same service as KBRI in Singapore.

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Introduction

I still vividly remember how frantic I was when I got the Approval-in-Principle from ICA in February 2020. I literally knew no one in my social circle that has completed the renunciation through the new SAKE system.

Long story short, after calling and asking so many people and visiting so many different institutions, I finally found someone who taught me how to renounce Indonesian citizenship. To pay it forward, I decided to write this post, to help Indonesian who are converting to Singaporean, who are not familiar with Bahasa Indonesia.

Fast forward to 2022, AHU changed their requirement. They no longer accepted legalization by public notary in Indonesia. Instead, they now require legalization by Indonesia’s representatives (KBRI) or the issuing institution.

In this post, I’ll do my best to walk you through the renunciation process from the day you get your AIP, until you take the oath at ICA.

TABLE OF CONTENT
A. What to do when you get AIP
i) Complete Singapore Citizenship Journey
ii) Prepare documents
iii) Look for sworn translators
iv) Understand legalization requirement (New)
v) Legalize documents at dukcapil (New)
vi) Look for materai

B. What to do when you get the final approval letter from ICA
1. Translate the documents from English to Bahasa Indonesia
2. Legalize documents at KBRI (New)
3. Scan these documents in JPG/JPEG/PNG format in color
4. Register SAKE account
5. Choose the correct option
6. Fill up the form
7. Download Surat Permohonan
8. Upload the documents
9. Choose Payment Method
10. Make Payment
11. Send the hardcopy documents to AHU Office in Jakarta
12. Keep praying and checking the SAKE system
13. If there is error in your application
14. If you get all green, congratulations!
15. Download the approval document and translate it
16. Make appointment with KBRI to surrender your Indonesian passport
17. Make appointment with KBRI Consular to legalize the approved AHU Letter
18. Surrender your Indonesian passport
19. Legalize your AHU approval letter
20. Go to ICA for Oath taking and submission of necessary documents

FAQ
Please Note

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A. What to do when you get AIP

If you’re reading this article, I’m 99% sure that you are either waiting for your Approval-in-Principle from ICA, or you’ve already received the AIP.

When you receive the AIP, you CAN’T renounce your citizenship YET. You’re supposed to complete the citizenship journey first, then ICA will send you a final approval letter, then you’ll be able to renounce your citizenship.

Here are the things you need to do when you got AIP.

i) Complete Singapore Citizenship Journey

I received my AIP hardcopy letter in February 2020 before the world came to a standstill.

I immediately logged in to SC Journey website to start my journey. I was that eager!

The first thing I did was to complete the e-journey. Basically there were several videos that you have to watch and questions you must answer. It took me less than half a day to complete.

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The second thing we have to complete in SC Journey is attending a Singapore Experiential Tour. During my time, the tour was a physical tour held in various museum and historical landmarks. But I heard that they changed the tour to be a virtual tour after ‘rona turned the world upside down.

Lastly, we have to attend a Community Sharing Session. There were only one session a month so I was quite lucky to get a slot for the next month in March 2020.

The deadline to complete all 3 activities in the SC Journey is 2 months from the issue date of AIP. If you’re having difficulties to meet the deadline, you may contact SC Journey team for assistance.

ii) Prepare documents

While waiting for the tour or sharing session, you can try to prepare some documents so that when you receive the final approval letter, you’re ready to get into action.

Here are the documents that you need to prepare in this stage:

  • Original Passport
  • Original Birth Certificate
  • Original KK (Kartu Keluarga) – optional, if you don’t have KTP
  • Original KTP (Kartu Tanda Penduduk)
  • Original ROM Certificate, if any
  • Original Indonesian Marriage Certificate, if any
  • 6pcs of Photo (size 4×6) with red background

Reader’s feedback:

  • AHU accepts expired KTP and Passport. (This is not an advice, just a feedback. AHU may change their rules anytime. Proceed with own risk)
  • If you don’t have KTP, but you have KK, it’s not a problem because AHU just need your NIK number actually. So, just write a statement that you don’t have a KTP, paste a materai and sign on it.
  • If you only have a photo with white background, you can use Photoshop to change the background color to red.
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iii) Look for sworn translators

At this stage, you don’t need to translate documents yet. You’ll need to translate certain documents later in this journey, so it’s better to start looking for a sworn translator that you are comfortable with.

For me, I use Anwar from Tan, Lee & Choo. He can be contacted through Whatsapp (+65 9650 5794) and email (of********@ya***.sg). He charged me SGD 30 per document. He is really fast, he could get it done in the same day (mainly because he has already setup a template that he can reuse), but could make mistakes sometimes, so you need to ask him to send you the draft before you proceed to collect the document from him.

A reader (Evelyn) used Pak Daniel Budiyono (+62 812-9983-125). He is able to provide softcopy of the translated documents. His fees are around IDR 125k per page (processing time 4 days) or IDR 200k per page (faster processing time, 1 day).

Anyway, you can use ANY sworn translators. But other translators may need more time because they may not be familiar with the content of the documents to be translated.

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iv) Understand legalization requirement

SAKE team only accepts documents that are legalized by Indonesia’s representatives (KBRI) or the issuing institutions.

KBRI in Singapore can only legalize documents that they issued, eg: passports issued by KBRI

For documents issued by other institutions in Singapore (such as ICA letter and ROM Certificate), KRBI used to be able to legalize but they announce they stop legalizing these documents from July 2022 onwards. According to members in Telegram group, some members decided not to legalize these 2 documents and managed to pass SAKE successfully.

For other documents (like birth cert, KTP, KK, surat nikah, etc), you need to legalize them at dukcapil of the city that the documents are issued. If all of your documents are issued in one city, then you can just go to the dukcapil in that city. Otherwise, if your docs are issued in different cities, you need to make multiple trips to each dukcapil.

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v) Legalize documents at dukcapil

At this stage, you can start legalization at dukcapil if you already have all the required documents as follow:

  • Birth cert
  • Passport (if issued in Indonesia, you need to legalize it in Indo; for passport issued in KBRI Singapore, you can choose either to legalize at KBRI SG or in Indo)
  • KTP
  • KK (optional, only required if you don’t have KTP)
  • Marriage certificate issued in Indonesia (you can also legalize akta nikah at KUA)

Each dukcapil has different regulations, there’s no one size fits all. Some dukcapil requires in-person submission, others strictly allows online submission. Some dukcapil requires original documents, others accept photocopy. Most dukcapil provide legalization service free of charge.

Some dukcapil doesn’t want to legalize KTP and asks you to legalize at kelurahan. Some dukcapil can legalize e-ktp, others don’t want to because the current law states that e-ktp no longer requires legalization.

To look for information/contact of your local dukcapil, simple google dukcapil <your city>. Some dukcapil can also be contacted via whatsapp.

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vi) Look for materai

You’ll need 1 materai to be used on the application form. But I suggest you prepare 2, just in case your application gets rejected and you need to resubmit.

Do note that from 2022 onwards, it’s compulsory to use the new materai that costs IDR 10,000.

For me, I asked my family to buy it in Indonesia and send it to me.

If you are in Singapore and you are wondering if you can buy materai in Singapore, the good news is you can buy it online from here or here.

B. What to do when you get the final approval letter from ICA

Within 1 or 2 weeks upon the completion of SC Journey, you can expect the final approval letter from ICA. Once you receive this golden letter, it’s time to go into full action.

ICA’s letter will state the date you’re supposed to report at ICA Citizenship Unit for oath taking. And, there’s 99% probability that you can’t meet the date set by ICA. So, you need to reschedule your oath taking appointment.

You can just email ICA to explain about your situation and ask for extension. Most of the time, they’re quite understanding and will extend your deadline for you. Don’t inform them too late! Otherwise you’ll be counted as having missed your appointment once.

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1. Translate the documents from English to Bahasa Indonesia

Here are the documents that you need to translate from English to Bahasa Indonesia:

  • ICA’s final approval letter. Not the Approval-in-Principle letter, but the final one that you receive after you complete SC Journey.
  • ROM Certificate, if any. If you’re married in Singapore and you only have a ROM Cert, then just translate the ROM Cert. However, if you got married in Indonesia, you don’t need to translate your Indonesian Marriage Cert because it’s already in Indonesian language.

If you’re wondering how to get your documents translated to Bahasa, scroll to the top and read the section about “Look for sworn translators.”

2. Legalize documents at KBRI

Next, you need to legalize the following documents at KBRI:

  • Passport (if issued in KBRI)
  • ICA final approval letter which is translated to Indonesia
  • ROM Certificate which is translated to Indonesia

Reader’s feedback: KBRI SG can legalize passport issued by other countries’ KBRI as well.

For reference, here are the details about legalization service at KBRI: https://kemlu.go.id/singapore/en/pages/legalisasi_dokumen/670/about-service

To legalize documents at KBRI, here are the steps:

  1. Make appointment online at https://services.indonesianembassy.sg/. Click “Lihat Persyaratan” button, download formulir lembar bantuan Konsuler (in pdf). Fill it up and save in your computer in pdf/jpg/png format.
  2. Choose Date.
  3. Type your name, email and phone number.
  4. – For naskah asli, upload your passport.
    – For formulir, upload the formulir you’ve filled up in the above step.
    – State the number of documents you want to legalize
    – Upload ALL the documents you want to legalize (including the passport you’ve already uploaded in naskah asli).
  5. Wait for KBRI to reply you in email and confirm for your date of choosing
  6. On the day of your appointment, bring all the documents that you want to legalise and the formulir lembar bantuan konsuler. Go to Level 2 to submit your documents. After submission, you will be given QR codes to make payment via paynow. If you submitted 3 documents, you will have 3 QR codes. Now, make payment of S$35 to EACH of the QR code. Don’t pay everything using 1 code.
  7. Come back the next day to collect according to the time stated in the collection slip. KBRI will give you around 3-4 copies for each document. Only one of the copies has the real KBRI sticker, the others are just photocopies.

Submission is usually done in the morning, and collection is done in the afternoon the next day. So, be prepared to apply for half-day leave 2 times, once to submit, once to collect.

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3. Scan these documents in JPG/JPEG/PNG format in color

After you get your legalized documents from KBRI and dukcapil, it’s time to get them scanned into JPG/JPEG/PNG format. The maximum size per file is 500kb. Here are the documents to be scanned in color (not black and white),:

  • Original Passport & the legalized copy
  • Original Birth Certificate & the legalized copy
  • Original ROM Certificate, if any (both in English and Indonesian) & the legalized translated ROM cert (in Indonesian) – If you are not married, prepare a page that says not married, then scan it
  • Original Indonesian Marriage Certificate, if any & the legalized copy
  • ICA’s final approval letter (both in English and Indonesian) & the legalized translated ICA letter (in Indonesian)
  • Photo of 4×6. Do crop the photo into the correct size (4cm by 6cm).

4. Register SAKE account

Now, go to AHU SAKE website and register for a new account. After you register, you have to wait for a while (like 10 to 30 mins) for the confirmation email from AHU.

When you receive the AHU confirmation email, click “Aktivasi Akun Anda” in the email. Only after doing that, you’ll be able to log in to SAKE system.

confirmation email from sake
This is the confirmation email from SAKE. Remember to click the button to activate your account.
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5. Choose the correct option

Once you log in, you’ll be able to enter the homepage (aka beranda), where you’ll see 8 options. Choose: PERMOHONAN SURAT KETERANGAN KEHILANGAN KEWARGANEGARAAN RI ATAS KEMAUAN SENDIRI BAGI ORANG YANG BELUM MEMPEROLEH KEWARGANEGARAAN ASING.

Do not choose the option that says “kepada Presiden” because this option will take you a longer time to complete.

If you’re applying for kids under 18 years old, choose the one that says PERMOHONAN SURAT KETERANGAN KEHILANGAN KEWARGANEGARAAN RI ATAS KEMAUAN SENDIRI BAGI ORANG YANG TELAH MEMPEROLEH KEWARGANEGARAAN ASING.

choose the correct option in sake
This is the option I chose (click to enlarge)
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6. Fill up the form

Next, it’s time to fill up the form! Do note that you need to fill up the form in 1 day. It’s not possible to save it and continue later.

The first form that you need to fill is about yourself.

fill up sake form (1)
First form is about your self (1/2)
fill up sake form (2)
First form is about your self (2/2)
  • Nama: Your full name
  • NIK: Your NIK number which can be found in your KK or KTP
  • Jenis Kelamin: Your gender
  • Status Perkawinan: Your marital status
  • Tempat Lahir: Your birthplace
  • Tanggal Lahir: Your birthday
  • Alamat Email: Your email
  • No Handphone: Your handphone number without country code
  • No Telp: Your house phone number, if any
  • Pekerjaan: Your occupation
  • Surat Keterangan Naturalisasi: Your application number that can be found in ICA’s approval letter
  • Alamat Indonesia: Your address in Indonesia
  • Alamat Luar Negeri: Your overseas address
  • Negara: Your country of residence
  • Akta Lahir Nomor: Your birth cert reference number
  • Akta Lahir Tanggal: Your birth cert date of issue (not your birthday)
  • Akta Perkawinan Nomor: Your marriage cert reference number
  • Akta Perkawinan Tanggal: Your marriage cert date of issue
  • Nomor Passpor Republik Indonesia: Your Indonesian Passport’s number
  • Wilayah Terbit Passpor Republik Indonesia: Your Indonesian Passport’s place of issue
  • Tanggal Habis Berlaku Passpor Republik Indonesia: Your Indonesian Passport’s expiry date

Then, click “Selanjutnya.” You’ll be asked to confirm that you’ve filled up the correct information. Click “OK”

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The second form that you need to fill up is about your parent or your guardian.

fill up sake form (3)
Second form is about your parent/guardian
  • Nama: Your parent/guardian’s name
  • Tempat Lahir: Your parent/guardian’s birthplace
  • Tanggal Lahir: Your parent/guardian’s birthday
  • Status Perkawinan: Your parent/guardian’s marital status
  • Kewarganegaraan: Your parent/guardian’s nationality
  • Alamat Email: Your parent/guardian’s email
  • No Hp: Your parent/guardian’s phone number
  • Alamat Tinggal: Your parent/guardian’s address

Then, click “Selanjutnya.” You’ll be asked to confirm that you’ve filled up the correct information. Click “OK”

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7. Download Surat Permohonan

Then, the Surat Permohonan will be generated for you. Click “Download” to save the file in your computer. This is a very important document.

Then, tick the box below the Download button, and click “Selanjutnya.”

ownload surat permohonan
Download surat permohonan
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8. Upload the documents

Next, you need to upload the documents that you have scanned previously in Step No 3 above. Remember, these documents must be in JPG, JPEG or PNG. Do not submit PDF documents.

upload docs to sake
Upload your documents to SAKE
  1. Fotokopi kutipan akta lahir / bukti kelahiran dari orang yang mengajukan permohonan: upload the color scanned copy of your original birth cert and legalized copy
  2. Fotokopi kutipan akta perkawinan/buku nikah/laporan perkawinan/ surat keterangan perkawinan dari orang yang mengajukan permohonan: upload the color scanned copy of your original ROM Cert (both English & Indonesian), and the legalized translated ROM. If you’re not married, just upload a blank document.
  3. Fotokopi paspor Republik Indonesia, surat yang bersifat paspor, atau surat lain yang dapat membuktikan bahwa orang yang mengajukan permohonan adalah warga negara Indonesia: upload the color scanned copy of your original passport & KTP and the legalized copies.
  4. Nomor Paspor Asing/Sertifikat Warga Negara Asing: upload the color scanned copy of your original ICA’s final approval letter (in English and Indonesian), and the legalized translated ICA’s final approval letter (in Indonesian).
  5. Pasfoto berwarna terbaru dari orang yang mengajukan pernyataan dengan ukuran 4×6 cm (empat kali enam sentimeter) sebanyak 2 (dua) lembar: upload your photo of 4×6 with red background. Do crop the photo into the correct size (4cm by 6cm).

Then, click “Selanjutnya.”

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9. Choose Payment Method

Now, you’ve arrived at a page called “Pembayaran PNBP.” You need to choose whether you want to pay in Indonesia or Overseas.

 choose payment method
Choose payment method
  • Lokasi Pembayaran: Choose Dalam Negeri if you intend to pay in Indonesia, otherwise choose Luar Negeri.
  • Wilayah/Negara: If you chose Dalam Negeri in the previous option, now you need to choose the province from where you’ll make payment. If you chose Luar Negeri in the previous option, now you need to choose the country from where you’ll make payment.

For me, in 2020, I chose Luar Negeri (Singapura). However, in 2023, I DO NOT recommend Luar Negeri anymore because there are some issues with their Luar Negeri payment system and your application will disappear if you pay with BNI Singapore or DBS Remit.

The recommended payment method as of 2023 is BNI Dalam Negeri. Other alternatives are other banks that offer “Penerimaan Negara” services, such as BCA, Mandiri.

To make payment in Indonesia, you need to ask your family member or friend to go to the bank to make the payment at the counter, or do it via online banking.

To make payment in Singapore, there are 2 ways: through BNI at Cecil Street, or through DBS Remit. For me, I chose BNI at Cecil Street. My next step will be based on payment via BNI SG, which is not recommended anymore, so you can skip to Step 11.

Then, click “Simpan”

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10. Make Payment

I do not recommend Luar Negeri method in 2023. This section is based on Luar Negeri, I keep it here for illustration purpose.

You’ll now see the page titled “SURAT PERINTAH BAYAR (PERMOHONAN DI LUAR NEGERI)”

make payment to sake
This part is just the instruction and T&Cs to make payment
make payment to sake
This is Surat Perintah Bayar, which you have to download and bring to the bank in order to make payment
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Here are the steps to make payment at BNI Cecil Street:

  • Click the blue button to download Surat Perintah Bayar
  • Print out Surat Perintah Bayar and bring it to BNI at Cecil Street
  • Make payment at the counter. SAKE application costs IDR 500,000. They accept SGD and they’ll convert to Rupiah.
  • Go back to BNI the next day to collect the payment receipt
  • Scan the payment receipt in color JPG/JPEG/PNG format and upload to SAKE system. The link to upload can be seen on beranda. After your upload, the link will disappear.
make payment to sake
Upload your payment receipt here

The following is how to make payment with DBS Remit, as shared by reader (Evelyn). BUT, I DON’T RECOMMEND paying with DBS Remit because many people have experienced their SAKE application missing from the system because they used DBS Remit. If you still want to use DBS Remit, proceed with your own risk.

  • Login to your DBS online digibank
  • Go to Transfer > DBS Remit and Overseas Transfer
  • Key in the amount and click “Start New Transfer”
  • In the recipient details:
    • Recipient’s Full Name: Applicant Name (which is the ‘beneficiary account name’ in Surat Perintah Bayar)
    • Recipient’s Address: put “-“
    • Recipient Bank: follow Surat Perintah Bayar
    • Account Number: follow Surat Perintah Bayar
    • Purpose of Remittance: up to you
    • Resident’s Account Type: non-resident
  • After making the payment, take a screenshot of the confirmation page and upload it to SAKE. The link to upload can be seen on beranda. See photo above. After your upload, the link will disappear.
  • Print the screenshot of DBS Remit confirmation page, you need it for Step 11 below.
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Why does my application disappear? Several people have reported that their application disappeared. What you need to do is to email AHU and explain your situation and attach you payment receipt in the email. AHU will verify your payment and your application will be shown again.

11. Send the hardcopy documents to AHU Office in Jakarta

You’re almost there! Now, compile all of the documents listed below, put in an envelope (but don’t seal it yet because the courier will need to see the content of your envelope) and arrange for delivery with DHL/Fedex.

  • Color Photocopy of your birth certificate & the legalized copy
  • Color Photocopy of your passport & the legalized copy
  • Color Photocopy of your ROM (English & Indonesian) & the legalized copy of the translated ROM, if any. Or photocopy of your Indonesian marriage cert & the legalized copy.
  • Photocopy of ICA’s final approval letter, the translated copy & the legalized copy of the translated letter.
  • 6pcs photo of size 4×6 with red background
  • Color Photocopy of your KTP & the legalized copy
  • Surat permohonan (which you have downloaded in Step 7). You need to paste a materai at the signature field, and sign half on the materai and half on the paper. If unsure, google “tanda tangan materai” to see some samples.
  • Payment receipt from BNI or DBS Remit (which you received in Step 10)

PS: Some people may be confused whether to send the original legalized copy or the copy of the legalized copy. The answer is: you should send the original legalized copy. Here’s the logic: You own your original documents, so you can’t send your original documents to SAKE, but you need to prove to SAKE that you own the original document. To prove your ownership, you’re required to legalized the photocopy of your original document. So, the legalized document is the legal proof of your original documents. That’s why you need to send the original legalized copy.

PPS: Even though SAKE website requested the documents in F4-sized concorde paper or folio, I used A4 paper and there was no problem.

The address where you should send the document to is listed in your SAKE mailbox. The below image is what I can see in my mailbox.

Address of AHU in Jakarta
Address of AHU in Jakarta, this page can be found in your mailbox in SAKE portal

By the way, I DO NOT recommend sending your document via Singpost because it takes too long to arrive at AHU. I’d rather pay more but have a peace of mind.

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12. Keep praying and checking the SAKE system

It’ll take about 3-5 days for your document to arrive at AHU, you can track its journey through your courier’s website.

After the document arrives at AHU, it’ll take another 3-10 days for AHU to start processing your application. During this time, you can login to SAKE everyday (remember to clear your cache!) and check if any of the status turns green. Don’t get discourage if you don’t see any green status in the first 10 days, this thing takes time.

When you see the first green color in the status, it usually means that AHU has started to process your application. The most important status is the second status.

Between each status, there might be a gap of several days. During this stage, you must practice patience.

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13. If there is error in your application

If your second status is yellow, it probably means you lack some documents. What you need to do is to wait until the fifth status turns yellow, then click “View” and scroll down to see the comments.

yellow status in SAKE
Yellow status means lack of documents

Below is example of the comments given by AHU. Sometimes, AHU’s comments are hard to understand. In the below example, there were 2 comments, but the first comment has been complied with, so it can be ignored. The real comment is in No 4, it says that ICA’s English letter has to be legalized.

sample of AHU SAKE comment
sample of AHU’s comment in SAKE portal

If you don’t understand their comments, try to contact them through Whatsapp, call enter or email. Here’s AHU contact details.

After you figure out what’s missing here’s what you need to do:

  • Go ahead and prepare that missing document
  • Scan that missing document in JPG/JPEG/PNG
  • Go to SAKE system, click “Ubah” and upload that missing document (PS: the button “Ubah” will only come out when number 5 turns yellow, so don’t be panic if you can’t find it yet)
  • Send the hardcopy of that missing document to AHU office via DHL/Fedex
  • Wait patiently (repeat step 12)
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14. If you get all green, congratulations!

If the second status is green, usually it means your application is good. You’ll just have to wait until all status turn green in order to download the approval letter.

Again, practice patience because it’ll take weeks.

15. Download the approval document & translate it

Now that you have gotten 5 greens, download the approval document.

sake application approved
Sample of approved SAKE application. Click Unduh to download the approval letter.

Send the approval letter to your sworn translator and get it translated to English. Again, I get Anwar to translate for me. He gave me 2 copies of translation, 1 with photo and 1 without photo.

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16. Make appointment with KBRI to surrender your Indonesian passport

To make appointment with KBRI to surrender your Indonesian passport, you can email to im******@in***************.sg. Do attach the SAKE approval letter in the email.

In this step, you’re dealing with Immigration section which is located at Level 1 of KBRI building.

17. Make appointment with KBRI Consular to legalize the approved AHU Letter

At the same time as Step 16, make appointment with KBRI Consular to legalize AHU approval letter via https://services.indonesianembassy.sg/  and choose Kekonsuleran. I’m not able to advise you the detailed steps because I did not use this online appointment service. During my time, I made appointment via email.

In this step, you’re dealing with Consular section which is located at Level 2 of KBRI building.

Do note that you’re dealing with 2 different department of KBRI Step 16 and Step 17, so you can’t combine both of them in a single email or a single appointment.

Update June 2021: Some people reported that it’s no longer necessary to legalize the approved AHU Letter.

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18. Surrender your Indonesian passport

On your appointment date to surrender passport, make your way to KBRI early because there’ll always be queue at KBRI. Wear appropriately (covered shoes, formal wear, covered shoulder, etc).

Remember to bring the hardcopy of your appointment email from KBRI, your passport, and the print out of AHU approval letter.

During my time, no queue number was issued to me, so I had to approach counter 1 to explain about my situation. They then gave me a form to fill up. After that, they’ll ask you to come back the next day to collect the acknowledgment letter. You don’t need to translate this acknowledgment letter.

19. Legalize your AHU approval letter

On your appointment date to legalize AHU approval letter, make your way to KBRI early because there’ll always be queue at KBRI. Wear appropriately (covered shoes, formal wear, etc).

Remember to bring the hardcopy of your appointment email from KBRI, the color print-out of AHU approval letter, the translated version of AHU approval letter (KBRI will take the one without photo), exact amount of SGD 35 cash.

After you take the queue number from security, go up to Level 2 and wait for your name to be called. Submit your documents to Consular, then go down to Level 1 Cashier to make payment.

You’ll be given a date to come back to KBRI to collect the legalized letter.

Update June 2021: Some people reported that it’s no longer necessary to legalize the approved AHU Letter.

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20. Go to ICA for Oath taking and submission of necessary documents

When you requested for extension in the earlier steps, ICA would’ve given you revised appointment date. On your appointment date with ICA, wear appropriately and bring the following documents.

  • Original ICA’s final approval letter
  • Original color printout of SAKE approval letter in Bahasa Indonesia and English
  • Acknowledgment letter of your passport surrender from KBRI
  • Your blue IC
  • 3pcs passport-sized photographs taken not more than 3 months ago

When you arrive at ICA, go to Level 6 and scan your ICA’s final approval letter to get a queue number. When your number is called, submit the above documents and make the necessary payment. During my time, it was SGD 80.

After the completion of registration, wait again for your number to be called for Oath taking.

After the Oath taking, you can go back home and submit your passport application online.

Congratulations, you’re officially a citizen of Singapore! But your pink IC will only be given to you during Citizenship Ceremony a few weeks later, so you’ll still need to practice patience. By this time, I’m pretty sure your patience is perfectly honed and you can withstand any challenges in your life calmly. Again, congratulations!

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FAQ

What if I don’t have Indonesian passport? Sorry, I have no answer to this, I guess you need to make a new one. But that’s just my guess.

What if I don’t have KTP? Firstly, do you have KK? If yes, you can use KK to retrieve your NIK number, and then legalize the KK and submit together with other documents to AHU.

If you don’t have KK, sorry, I myself have no experience in this. However, I would highly suggest that you make a new KK or join the KK of your family/relatives in Indonesia, this will smoothen your renunciation journey a lot. Alternatively, I heard that you can consider applying for NIT as a temporary KTP, and use the NIT number to fill the form where it requested for NIK, but I’m not sure how long it takes and whether this could solve your problem.

What if my KTP is expired? Some people used their expired KTP and it was accepted by AHU.

Do the documents need to be legalized by MFA and SLA? Nope, AHU doesn’t require any legalisation from MFA or SLA, they just need legalisation from Indonesian representative and issuing institutions. Keep your money and don’t waste time making a trip to MFA/SLA like I did.

Can I go to KBRI without appointment? Nope, appointment is a must.

Do I HAVE TO follow your guide? Can I do it other way because of bla-bla-bla? You don’t have to. This is not the official guide, I am just sharing my own experience and reader’s experience. My experience is based on what my friend taught me to do. Sure, you can do it your way, but I can’t tell you whether your way is correct or not because I really don’t know; only official SAKE people have the answer and I’m not SAKE people.

Help! I can’t upload my docs, how? Or, my uploaded docs went missing, how? Or, I can’t log in, how? Based on my friends’ and my experience, SAKE website does have glitches from time to time, just be patient, give them time to sort their issues. Most of the time, things went back to normal after a few days.

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Please Note

This article is written based on my own experience and what I heard/read from other people. AHU and KBRI change system and procedures ALL. THE. TIME. So, it is possible that some part of my article is no longer valid. Please don’t take my advice as a professional advice. I’m just a blogger that you chance upon on the internet.

I’m not responsible for any changes in procedures and not responsible for any loss/damage you suffer in the course of your application.

I am not related to anyone in AHU, KBRI or ICA. I am not able to act on your behalf.

If you have recently completed the application and you notice some of the things in this article are no longer valid, feel free to let me know in the comment and I’ll do my best to include the new information.

If you have any question related to the procedure, you may ask me in the comment and I’ll do my best to answer if it’s not already stated in the article. I have a full-time job and this blog is just my hobby, so it may take days for me to respond to your comment. Hope for your understanding. And please don’t ask for my handphone number because I’m very shy 🙂

Good luck to your application!

FYI: There is a Google sheet contributed by members of the Telegram group who have successfully passed the renunciation procedure based on the latest changes in April 2022. You can view it here for your reference. Thanks a lot to David who created the group and the spreadsheet, as well as all the members who contributed their experience in the group and made this incredibly useful spreadsheet possible. If you want to have discussion with people who are going through the renunciation, you can join the telegram group.

If you find this post helpful, feel free to buy me a coffee :)

This Post Has 373 Comments

  1. Susan

    Hi there. I’m new. Just started the process and wondering where the telegram group link is. I cannot find it in the depth of all the comment section. Thanks a lot.

  2. Yus

    Hi, anyone who had just recently did a submission? I am so confused with all these. I don’t understand bahasa indo and so it’s difficult when i navigate the indo website. i have the following documents for my mum: Birth cert, KTP, passport, Marriage cert

    Need to clarify:
    1. Legalisation of documents must be done at the city/town where the documents were issued?
    2. Translation from english to indo only required for the ICA final approval letter?

    Please help…. 🙁 why do they make it so diffuclt for people to renounce their indo citizenship… when i did mine long ago, i just need to translate the letter and then submit my passport.

  3. Evi

    HI, I am in the process of this converting citizenship saga. So grateful for the step by step guide.
    My husband is malaysian, hence my daughter is holding malaysian passport. But I did apply for her Indonesian citizenship before, so she has the affidavit stated she is an Indonesian. So, she is currently holding dual citizenship (Msia & Indo) that she supposed to choose by age 18-21. She is 17 this year.
    My question is, does she need to renounce her Indonesian citizen like me? with all the long process.
    Thank you

  4. me

    Amazing site. Thank you very much!

    1. Another source we can refer to about ” how to renounce Indonesia citizenship”

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ao4EfeBeK4Ij5htr3GXXjRruYIVotTy15ovRaVyKwKw/edit?fbclid=IwAR3AuqqIVMHz1L2PpBhKGCE43P-3Lj7CwIhssTAcu16qRHCAEoXEYTVUVnw#gid=1400991882

    2. Application will disappear from AHU website if you made payment from overseas bank i.e. DBS as AHU needs to do manual verification (part of AHU process). So, just call AHU( I called via skype). AHU agent will ask the following for verification. When AHU agent can verify everything appropriately, agent will escalate the case to another dept (i cannot remember what the agent said). It takes about 3-5 days for the application to reappear in the web.
    (a) nomor permohonan
    (b) nomor voucher
    (c) nama pemohon
    (d) DHL tracking no (if you have sent the original documents)

    all the best! I am still waiting for AHU approval too~

    1. wildwolf

      hi me, thanks for sharing. can you share how you call AHU via skype?

  5. Cindy

    Thank you so much for this guide! It has been very helpful!

  6. hendra

    hi
    can anybody help that the KBRI cannot issue NIT required from AHU SAKE since JULY 1 (according t o the website)
    and I do not hv KTP OR KK do I HV to apply KTP in JKT

    ths
    hendra

    1. Erly

      Hi Hendra, do you have any reply on this issues with no KTP and KK? I have the same issue as you and unable to fill in sake AHU registration as my KTP is already long expired and the old number is not appeared in their database. Can anyone help please?

      Thank you.
      Erly

      1. Lena

        Hi Erly, my Name is Lena.. My issues also same with you,
        Just recevied my second letter to renounce my citizenship. May i know what should i do for my ktp and kk expiry long time ago 😯

  7. Angela

    Anyone can help? my daughter was born in Spore and has no KPI or KK number. She has surrendered her passport to Indonesian Embassy. But when she tried to surrender her citizenship in Sake Ahu, it prompted must key in KPI no. How shall we proceed for that?

  8. Al

    Hi, anyone had problems with your application on SAKE disappearing? I made payment and couriered the documents via DHL. Application disappeared one week after. Tried emailing but no satisfactory response. They didn’t pick up my calls either… It’s been more than 2 weeks since I submitted the application and it’s not back up yet.

    1. YN

      do you email to **@ah*.id? it may take a few days for their reply. If there is no response, you can craft another new email. My experience is
      1. First email — asked for application number – after 2 emails, no more response.
      2. Created second email with application number and proof of payment directly in the email — replied and application restored within 2 working days

    2. zen

      In my case, it reappeared after about 10 days.

    3. Rina

      Hi, I also have the same issue. Last Saturday I checked my application still there, just now I checked it’s disappeared 🙁
      Just email them, hope they can response fast.

      -Rina-

      1. Rina

        Just want to give an update and info that might useful if your application in SAKE disappeared.
        Send WhatsApp to this number +62811234657. Explain your issue and provide the application number.
        So far they do not reply the WhatsApp but my application appear again after 1 day and now they are in progress reviewing my application. Not too bad, in two days they completed 4 verification steps, now at final step to verify by the director.

        Hope this helps!

        -Rina-

        1. Yanny

          Hi Rina
          May I know that you whatsap them with Bahasa Indonesia? I face the same situation.
          My application dissappear after 7 days submission

    4. Yanny

      Hi, me too. My application disappeared too after a week. May I know the AHU CONTACT EMAIL OR CONTACT NUMBER ?
      Thank you so much if anyone can help.

  9. Tata Goeyardi

    Hi there thank you for this, super helpful. My daughter is 8mo old and she is attached to my application, does she also need to go to KBRI for the appointment, etc or I can do it on her behalf?

    1. oky

      you mean you are going to renounce your daughter’s indonesian citizen as well ? i don’t think you can do that coz will need to wait her reach 18 years old only can renounce indonesia citizen.

  10. Suzanna

    Hi,
    Can I just check is it correct the page for upload docs doesn’t require to upload passport now?
    Mine only have birth cert, marriage certificate, KTP, ICA letter and photo *6 pieces.

  11. oky

    hi, would like to ask if anybody have slight difference of name in Passport with other documents such as Birth cert, KTP, etc.
    i got this problem and it request “surat pernyataan nama yang akan digunakan karena nama pada aplikasi berbeda dengan akte lahir, akta perkawinan dan KTP”.
    on my application i used my passport name, hope if anybody can help me here

    1. Rina

      Thanks for giving a very detail step by step…. It is very helpful.
      Currently myself and both my kids are waiting for the final approval letter from ICA and preparing the documents needed .
      I have few questions:
      1. My son (20 years old) doesn’t have KTP but registered in KK. I know we can use KK, but will it be an issue later because only myself and both of my kids converting the citizenship, not including my husband who is under the same KK? Will the AHU request my husband to make a new KK?
      2. My youngest son (11 years) not included in the KK (he was born here and not yet including him in our KK). Does his name need to be in the KK? If not, what should I do?
      3. From the ICA letter it says : applicant who are below 21 years old do not need to renounce their current citizenship. Does it means for my youngest son no need to surrender the Indonesian citizenship and no need to submit all those documents?
      4. Can you confirm that eKTP no need to legalize?
      Thanks!

      1. Cen Lim

        Hi Rina,

        For your question number 3, you no need to submit documents to AHU. My baby was 15 months at the time. You only need to bring Indonesia passport and all the documents that are required by ICA to ICA. The officer will ask you to choose whether your child will be using Indonesia passport or Singapore passport.

        1. Rina

          Thanks Cen Lim.
          So it means I do not need to surrender his passport to the Indonesian embassy?
          Can the child hold both citizenship until he is 21 years old?

          1. Cen Lim

            Hi Rina,

            Yes no need to surrender his passport as he is still minor. So he will have dual citizenship until he is 21 years old. Just remember to bring his Indonesia passport to ICA and all the documents that are required by ICA. If I am not wrong, you can collect his Singapore Citizenship Certificate in a week.

  12. Riny Tjo

    Hi… your kind effort to provide this information is super helpful… I wouldnt know how to do this without this blog of yours. Really2 would like to thank you!! I just got my approval letter from AHU (Phewwwww) … I have one question that you might be able to help.. do you know how soon or how late I can surrender my passport after get the approval letter?

    Thanks again!

  13. Margaret

    Hi, i have a qn to ask: i tried to legalize my Akta kelahiran using dukcapil Jkarta website (Alpukat) but I cannot seem to find the appropriate service under the drop-down menu.. anyone can assist? And also, I’d like to thank the blogger for putting up all these info!

    1. Tessa

      Hi Margaret, same issue with me too. Do you have any update now ?

  14. Angela

    Hi guys, for those who experienced their application disappear. May I know how many days you have to wait to get yours reappeared? Please advice.

    I uploaded my BNI payment receipt on 26 July 2022; however, I still have a problem with my payment verification in the portal.

    Feeling frustrated when I checked the AHU portal this morning that the status changed to “Tidak ditemukan hasil”.

    I have followed up with **@ah*.id since last week and called +62211500105, but nobody answered. It seems like next week, I have to test my patience. Hahaha…

    I have sent my original documents to AHU, and the status was delivered as well.

    1. felicia

      Hi Angela, I’m facing the same issue. I emailed cs and they asked for nomor permohonan – but then i can’t find it in the surat permohonan, and the fact that my application disappeared, i’m not sure what’s the nomor permohonan…

      1. Angela

        Hi Felicia, oh no… maybe call AHU and explain your issue?

        So, to know your Nomor Permohonan, after completing your online application, under Beranda, there will be a table where you can see your Nomor Permohonan (third column) and other info. I did a screenshot of my table, so I know my Nomor Permohonan data. After 7 days, the system will automatically remove all your data.

        (Just sharing) Yesterday, I called AHU. FINALLY, the staff picked up (after 4 times of non-stop trying, and nobody picked up my call last Friday). He asked my Nomor Permohonan too. He said it would take around 3 working days for my data to reappear. If it still hasn’t appeared after 3 days, then I need to call them again =_=;.

        As of now, my result is still the same: “Tidak ditemukan hasil”. I will call them again this Thu if there is no change on the payment verification status.

        For email follow-up, as of now, also still no reply from **@ah*.id. Perhaps it will take at least 2 working days for them to reply to the customer email.

        Hope you can solve your issue soon ya!

        1. Cellis

          Hi Angela, did you send all of your documents including the payment receipt via DHL or some other courier service?

          1. Angela

            Hi Cellis, Yes, I sent all the required documents, including the BNI Payment Receipt via DHL Express.

        2. felicia

          Oh no… Did you manage to see your data reappear?
          I waited 3 working days for them to reply my email and they haven’t reply me at all…

          1. Angela

            Not yet. T_T

            Even if they reply to your email, their responses will be too general. It seems like they just use templates and copas to customer emails. LOL Call them also the same… like basically wait for 3 working days; otherwise, call them again if the issue hasn’t been solved…

            Hope our issues are solved soon!

        3. YN

          Try to find nomor permohonan from the FILENAME of surat pernyataan that you downloaded upon submitting SAKE application. It is starting with 71227XXXXXXXXXXXX

          1. Yanny

            Hi YN,

            I faced the same situation.
            My application in Sake Dissapeared after 7 days.
            May I know nomor permohonan is kode transaksi with start with 71221xxxxxxxx

    2. Yanny

      Hi Angela,
      I just faced the same situation like you before.
      May I know have you solve your problem with AHU ?

  15. Jason

    Anyone has medan dukcapil’s whatsapp? Anyone can give a brief description on how to apply/do dukcapil?

    1. Steff

      Hi Jason. For Medan Dukcapil, you have to go down to the building at Jl. Iskandar Muda. There’s Legalisation booth just beside the Information Counter. If unsure, just ask the Info Counter and they will show you which booth. Please note the submission is in the morning from 8am – 12pm. During my visit, it’s very fast as you just have to queue to submit the documents that you want to legalise. Then the officer will give you a Collection Number and they will tell you when to collect. For my case, I can collect on the same day at 2pm. Hope this helps

      1. Jason

        Thanks Steff, do you know if I can have someone else like one of my family member to go to the building and do it on my behalf? I do not have to apply online for an appointment? Just go down and apply?

      2. Jason

        May I get your email so that I can contact you more easily? I have many questions. This is my email ja********@ho*****.com, If you do not feel comfortable sharing your email publicly. Or you may email me if you are okay to help. Thank you Steff.

  16. Angela

    Hi guys, I just submitted my SAKE Application, and now I have to make the payment (Surat Perintah Bayar) within 7 days. I just want to clarify again so if I choose to make a payment to BNI in Singapore (I don’t have a BNI account), when I reach there, I can tell the staff that I would like to make a remit payment to AHU, then on the next day, I have to go back again to collect the payment receipt. Are these correct? Anyone who had this experience before, please share. 🙂 Thank you.

  17. felicia

    Hi! Trying to upload document in the SAKE System but, there is a bug. It doesn’t have the option of “BELUM MEMPEROLEH KEWARGANEGARAAN ASING”, instead, both of the option in the system are “TELAH MEMPEROLEH KEWARGANEGARAAN ASING”. Anyone facing this issue too?

    1. Angela

      Yes me too. I saw this a few days ago… Today I finally uploaded my docs, even though one PDF that I have to sign with materai “Surat Permohonan” also still have wrong title, but the info details have indicated “…yang belum meperoleh…” =_=;.

      1. Irvan

        For “Surat Permohonan.pdf” one PDF that we need to sign.
        The title : “…YANG TELAH MEMPEROLEH..”
        Perihal : “…yang Belum Memperoleh..”
        Should we edit the title prior to the printing and signing?

        1. Angela

          I tried to edit, but it seems like not allowed. You can try the next day to download your Surat Permohonan again from Aksi column > Download Surat Permohonan. My PDF title was somehow fixed after downloading from there, but the day before, I emailed **@ah*.id to complain about the wrong title.

  18. Ze

    Hello. Has anyone tried using the Indonesian passport to travel back to Indonesia and to other countries after completing the SAKE process and, hence, BEFORE getting the Singapore citizenship? Could you please share your experience? Any issues at all? Many thanks in advance.

    1. H

      Did anyone tried?

    2. stephanie

      hi ze, did you ever get an answer to this question? could we still fly with Indonesian passport if the SAKE process is approved already?

  19. Ze

    Don’t panic when you see your SAKE application disappear from the system. Don’t create a new application. Just email **@ah*.id and they will reply in a few days (at least in my case).

    Mine reappeared after I emailed them.

    1. Angela

      Hi Ze, May I know how long they replied to you after you emailed them? Because honestly, I was pretty disappointed with how they responded and the number of days waiting for their reply.

      1. Angela

        Sorry, how many days did you have to wait to get yours reappeared?

        1. Dave

          Hi Angela, do you still need to submit the hardcopy documents to AHU after completing the online application in SAKE?

          1. Angela

            Yes, I have sent my original documents to AHU, and the status was delivered. However, I still have a problem with my payment verification in the portal. I checked this morning, stated that “Tidak ditemukan hasil”. I have followed up with **@ah*.id since last week, and I will chase them again tomorrow. I tried to call +62211500105 last week, but nobody answered. Frustated.

  20. Ling

    It’s crazy to see that the rules have changed again! All the best to everyone who is going through the process now.

    Just wondering if anyone has attended the citizenship ceremony recently? I took my oath in October last year, and until now, have not heard anything. Still don’t have the permanent IC

    1. Ze

      What rule change?

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