Married in Hong Kong

[jstar]

If you have to change religion to Islam to get married these days (after getting married abroad), once you have completed the registration process and the marriage is registered, can you then change back to your actual religion again, and have your KTP changed back? I mean, it is not illegal to change religion or to leave islam as far as I know?
And it isn't actually illegal to already be married to someone of a different religion (even if it is no longer possible to register it).

Sure. See Richard Lee, the skin care guy, for instance. His wife changed from Buddhism to Catholicism to get married to him. And now many years later he converts to Islam while she won’t.

Kisah dr Richard Lee dan Istri Pindah Agama ke Keyakinan yang Berbeda

Perjalanan Spiritual dr. Richard Lee: Menjadi Mualaf, Sementara Istrinya Kembali ke Agama Buddha

www.insertlive.com

 

[jstar]

There is however, a very controversial case about two sinetron (soap) actors that happened over a decade ago.

Asmirandah fell in love with Jonas Rivanno, who was her co-star in the soap opera Kemilau Cinta Kamila. She was Muslim and he was Christian. He changed his religion to get married. But also changed it back very soon after the wedding. When people found out, it triggered a public outrage.

The FPI filed a complaint and reported blasphemy, the religious court canceled the marriage and poor Jonas was arrested. To ‘fix’ things Asmirandah then later converted to Christianity. What a …. eh soap.

 

[marcus]

What happens if you try to register within 30 days but they refuse to register it? Are you still considered to have broken the regulation, or is it just the attempt to register it that is important?

I could check it only until Law no.24 Year 2013 , which didn't change what was in Law no.23 Year 2006 , Article 90 :
(2) The administrative fine (for late reporting marriage , birth , death , ..) must not be more than IDR 1 million .

Each city defines the value . Specifically in my city , it was Rp200k from 2012 until 2015 , in 2015 the fine was cancelled . Nowadays I don't know .

Anyway , in more than 25 years living in Indonesia , I never heard of anybody who had to pay fine from Kantor Catatan Sipil .

 

[Helpful Herbert]

I could check it only until Law no.24 Year 2013 , which didn't change what was in Law no.23 Year 2006 , Article 90 :
(2) The administrative fine (for late reporting marriage , birth , death , ..) must not be more than IDR 1 million .

Each city defines the value . Specifically in my city , it was Rp200k from 2012 until 2015 , in 2015 the fine was cancelled . Nowadays I don't know .

Anyway , in more than 25 years living in Indonesia , I never heard of anybody who had to pay fine from Kantor Catatan Sipil .

So as long as they report it within 30 days they do not have to pay a fine (whether or not the catatan sipil processes it or not)

 

[Helpful Herbert]

There is however, a very controversial case about two sinetron (soap) actors that happened over a decade ago.

Asmirandah fell in love with Jonas Rivanno, who was her co-star in the soap opera Kemilau Cinta Kamila. She was Muslim and he was Christian. He changed his religion to get married. But also changed it back very soon after the wedding. When people found out, it triggered a public outrage.

The FPI filed a complaint and reported blasphemy, the religious court canceled the marriage and poor Jonas was arrested. To ‘fix’ things Asmirandah then later converted to Christianity. What a …. eh soap.

What a strange country this is

I wonder how many people in the church I go to actually have Islam on their ktp - I'm sure there are some.
Anyway, luckily God does not carry out a KTP check when someone dies, I don't believe the KTP system is valid at the pearly gates. So if it makes those guys feel better to have forced someone to have a different religion on their legal documents than the religion that they actually are, then good for them.

 

[marcus]

So as long as they report it within 30 days they do not have to pay a fine (whether or not the catatan sipil processes it or not)

In my view , a "Report" means only a successful process .

 

[harryopal1]

I wouldn't expect a conversion to a less intolerant view of mixed religions any time soon. The minders of religion take their job very seriously. Let us not forget that various Catholic inquisitions lasted for hundreds of years. To help people see the error of their ways a great variety of torture methods were used with stretching on the rack being particularly efficacious. And if you didn't conform there was also burning at the stake.

 

[marcus]

I wouldn't expect a conversion to a less intolerant view of mixed religions any time soon ...

I don't know if true or how common it is , but my Indonesian ex-girlfriend told me that almost all in her family did cut relation with her after she converted from Muslim to Christian , including her mother who was (at that time) living in a house bought buy her deceased Christian son-in-law .

My ex-wife also told me that her Indonesian female friend had the same experience when she converted from Muslim to Christian .

 

[harryopal1]

In Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeri, Somalia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen converting from Isam to another religion can be punished with death.

 

[jstar]

Since those are all Sharìa law based countries of course. In Malaysia that’s not completely the case but if a Muslim wants to convert they still have to go via a Sharia court to get approval. Well, good luck.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

In my view , a "Report" means only a successful process .

Well if the Catatan Sipil refuses to accept your report, I would say they are the ones that have not fulfilled the requirements of the reporting process.

 

[Helpful Herbert]

I don't know if true or how common it is , but my Indonesian ex-girlfriend told me that almost all in her family did cut relation with her after she converted from Muslim to Christian , including her mother who was (at that time) living in a house bought buy her deceased Christian son-in-law .

My ex-wife also told me that her Indonesian female friend had the same experience when she converted from Muslim to Christian .

It depends on the family. I have also heard of cases where people have done it without any drama. But some families have troublemakers within their ranks, and some are just weird as a whole.
Look at Prabowo, of the four siblings two are Islam and two are Christian. He has said in the past that he enjoys celebrating Christmas with his family, which I'm sure would get him the death penalty in some countries.

 

[indofilo]

Hey there, thanks for sharing your experience — sounds like you’ve got most of the tricky parts done already! I’m actually in a somewhat similar situation and have been digging into this too. From what I’ve gathered, after getting your marriage registered at the KJRI in HK (which you’ve already done), the next step would be for your wife to take that confirmation document and get your marriage registered in Indonesia at the local Dinas Kependudukan dan Pencatatan Sipil (Dukcapil) in the city where she’s registered or has her KTP.


She’ll prob need to bring the original marriage cert, the KJRI confirmation, plus translations (if the marriage cert isn’t in Indonesian), and copies of both your passports and her KTP. Some offices are stricter than others, so it might help to call ahead or have a local family member ask what exactly they need to avoid multiple trips.


It’s kinda frustrating how vague the consulate responses can be sometimes, but hope this helps at least point you in the right direction!


Good luck!