How to get Indonesia citizenship as an investor: residence first, naturalisation after 5 years

No. Indonesian law recognises citizenship by birth, by registration or choice for certain children, and by naturalisation (pewarganegaraan) granted by the President on the recommendation of the Minister of Law^[1]. None of these has an investment criterion. There is no donation fund, no real-estate threshold and no fast track for capital. The one exception is honorary or special-merit naturalisation, which the law reserves for people who have rendered extraordinary service to the state and which needs the House of Representatives' consideration^[1]. An investor cannot apply for it.

Agents who advertise "Indonesia citizenship by investment" are selling the residence programme introduced in 2023, usually called the golden visa, or a long-stay permit. Those permits give a lawful right to live in Indonesia for five or ten years. They do not count as citizenship and they do not carry an Indonesian passport^[7][10]. The programme's own fine print is explicit that it is a stay permit, and the immigration service's February 2026 explainer separates it clearly from the new "Global Citizen of Indonesia" permit, which also is not citizenship^[12].

What investment does give you is a legitimate base. Naturalisation requires years of lawful residence in Indonesia, and a funded investor permit is the most predictable way to hold that status without a local employer or sponsor. If you are weighing passport-led programmes elsewhere, our comparison of citizenship by investment and residence by investment and the overview of citizenship routes by country show what is actually for sale.

The practical starting point for a capital holder is the capital-market investor permit (E28C), the cheapest of the tiered investor permits. The immigration portal page did not load for me, so the US$350,000 threshold rests on a law-firm summary^[22]. It requires US$350,000 placed in Indonesian government bonds, listed shares or mutual funds and kept there for the life of the permit. Processing is reported as five working days after payment of the government fees, but I could not retrieve the portal page to confirm it and some agents quote months end to end^[7]. Spouses, children under 18 and parents can be added through family permits^[11]. Our complete guide to the Indonesian investor residence programme covers all tiers, fees, the application steps and the 2026 changes. This page deals only with what happens after the permit is issued.

Two features matter for a citizenship plan. First, the permit has no minimum stay. That is good for flexibility, but a naturalisation application is judged on where you have actually lived, so a permit holder who spends most of the year abroad will not build a usable residence record. Second, the permit can be converted to a permanent stay permit (ITAP). The Indonesian embassy in The Hague states that this is possible after three years of living in Indonesia, while the immigration conversion page lists the documents without restating a minimum period^[8][10]. Confirm your own date before you plan around it.

Lower-cost entry exists. The standard investor KITAS (E28A), the work KITAS and the family KITAS for spouses of Indonesian citizens all count as lawful residence. They are more administrative, but they cost far less than US$350,000. For people who simply want to live in Indonesia for ten years, a company-sponsored KITAS or the second-home permit may be a better fit. Neighbouring programmes are worth comparing: Malaysia's long-stay residence programme, Thailand's long-term residence options and Singapore's investor and founder routes have their own, different, paths to citizenship.

Article 9 of Law 12 of 2006 sets the conditions for a foreigner to apply for naturalisation. As summarised in the official text and in 2026 coverage of the new fee rules^[1][4]:

• Age: at least 18 years old, or married.
• Residence: living in Indonesian territory for at least five consecutive years, or at least ten years in total if the stay is not continuous, at the time of applying.
• Health: sound in body and mind.
• Language and values: able to speak Bahasa Indonesia and to recognise Pancasila (the state ideology) and the 1945 Constitution.
• Criminal record: never convicted of an offence that carries a prison penalty of one year or more.
• Single nationality: if naturalised, the applicant must not hold dual citizenship, so the previous nationality has to be given up.
• Livelihood: a job or a steady income.
• Fee: pay the naturalisation money into the state treasury.

The law does not define "steady income" with a figure, and it does not say whether years on an investor permit or an ITAP both count. In practice, lawful residence on a KITAS or KITAP is what applicants document, but I could not find an official statement on how the Ministry counts years of low physical presence. Treat that as an open point and ask the Ministry's regional office before you rely on a start date.

Application is made to the President through the Minister of Law^[1]. Since a 2024 change, you file with an official at the Ministry's regional office covering your residence, where a Citizenship Application Examination and Research Team checks the documents and interviews you before the file goes up to the Minister^[6]. The government has also said it intends to tighten the rules in a new citizenship bill^[4][5]. That is only a plan so far, with no text enacted.

The Rp75 million naturalisation fee is the headline figure, but it is a small part of the budget. The investment itself is by far the largest item. It is not a cost in the sense of money lost, but you carry its market risk for five years. The lawful stay also has running costs: renewals, an exit-and-re-entry permit if you travel, and local taxes if you become resident for tax purposes^[20]. Add translation and legalisation of documents, which are usually needed in Indonesian, and any fee your home country charges to release you from its nationality.

The fee rose by half on 1 August 2026 and the marriage-based fee rose from Rp15 million to Rp25 million^[3][21]. Paying the fee does not buy approval: the Ministry has said the process of acquiring or giving up citizenship is neither automatic nor easy^[5].

Naturalisation is an individual decision, but Law 12 of 2006 also has rules on the children of naturalised parents and on children of mixed-nationality marriages, who may hold two nationalities until adulthood and then must choose^[1]. I did not verify the exact article and age limits for children of a newly naturalised parent, so have a lawyer confirm them for each child before filing.

Before naturalisation, family members can live on family permits linked to the investor's permit: a spouse, unmarried children under 18 and parents of the investor^[11]. A foreign spouse of an Indonesian citizen has a separate, shorter route to permanent stay and can apply for naturalisation on the marriage basis at the lower Rp25 million fee^[3]. Official dependant fees under the investor permit are not clearly published; agents quote roughly US$800-1,500 per person, which I could not confirm.

Spouses who do not wish to renounce their own nationality are not forced to apply. Each adult decides for themselves, and there is no way to hold two nationalities as an adult. That is the single biggest family trade-off in this route.

The order below reflects the law and Ministry procedure; no official end-to-end checklist was available online, so confirm document lists with the regional office.

The statute gives two clocks: five consecutive years of residence, or ten years in total if there are gaps^[1]. An investor who moves in the month the permit is issued therefore becomes eligible to file after about five years. The ten-year rule is the safety net for people who leave and return, such as expatriate workers.

The decision then takes time of its own, and the Ministry has not published a standard processing period that I could verify. The numbers suggest that waiting is the real risk. Ministry figures from February 2026 show 29 of 37 applications approved in 2020, 61 of 63 in 2021, all 63 in 2022 and 66 of 69 in 2023. In 2024, only 20 of 165 were approved, and for 2025 only two of 147 had been fully processed and approved at the time of the briefing^[5]. Another source gives 265 applications for 2024, and the discrepancy has not been resolved.

So a realistic plan is five years of residence, plus a year or more of processing, with a real chance of delay or refusal while the Ministry tightens policy. That is roughly six to eight years from the first permit, and could be longer.

Citizenship does not change how Indonesia taxes you; tax residence does. An individual is an Indonesian tax resident if present in Indonesia for more than 183 days in any 12-month period, or if they intend to reside there, and residents are taxed on worldwide income^[20]. A permit holder who lives in Indonesia for the five years needed for naturalisation will therefore normally be a tax resident throughout, regardless of the permit type. Returns from the US$350,000 investment, such as bond interest and dividends, are part of that income and subject to local rules.

Citizenship changes other things. Indonesian citizens can hold freehold land title, which foreigners cannot, and citizens living abroad are taxed as non-residents once they leave. Giving up your original nationality can also have tax consequences at home, including exit-tax regimes in some countries, so take advice in the country you are leaving. See our investor residence guide for permit-specific tax details.

Current law. Indonesia follows the principle of single citizenship for adults. Naturalisation requires that you not hold another nationality afterwards, and an Indonesian who voluntarily acquires a foreign citizenship loses Indonesian citizenship^[1]. The only legal exception is limited dual citizenship for certain children, such as those born to mixed-nationality parents, who must choose at adulthood^[1]. Government figures show 714 children from mixed marriages were still applying for recognition in early 2026^[5].

The 2026 proposal. On 14 August 2026, in his budget speech to the House, President Prabowo Subianto said the government would recommend allowing dual citizenship for Indonesians with special talents, including diaspora who gave up their citizenship, in fields such as scientists, doctors, engineers, AI specialists, entrepreneurs, artists and athletes^[14]. Reporting says candidates would be selected, vetted for integrity and nominated by a ministry or state agency, not admitted by open application^[15][16]. Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas had said on 23 July 2026 that the concept was being considered in the revision of the Citizenship Law^[15].

Real status. It is a proposal, not law. Law 12 of 2006 is unchanged. Accounts disagree on the stage: one opinion piece describes it as before the House, while the Minister's account was that it still awaited a presidential letter, and I found no published draft text or criteria^[15]. Nothing so far lets an investor keep a foreign passport, and the proposal as described is not aimed at investors^[16]. The Directorate General of AHU has also said a new citizenship bill would tighten, not loosen, ordinary naturalisation^[17][5].

Global Citizen of Indonesia (GCI). Launched on 26 January 2026, this permit is for former Indonesian citizens, their children and grandchildren and foreign spouses of Indonesians. It is not citizenship: holders keep their foreign passports and, not being citizens, gain no citizen rights such as voting^[12][13]. Published financial thresholds differ between sources, so check the immigration portal before relying on any figure. It does not help a foreign investor with no Indonesian family link. Outside Indonesia, our guide to holding more than two citizenships explains where multiple nationality is allowed.

Foreigners cannot buy or hold an Indonesian passport. Only an Indonesian citizen receives one, and only after naturalisation is complete and the oath taken. Until then you travel on your own passport and live on the investor permit.

The Indonesian passport is a middling document. The Henley Passport Index 2026 ranks it 68th, with access to 70 destinations when visa-on-arrival and electronic authorisations are counted^[19]. That is far below what Caribbean or EU passports offer, and lower than Malaysia, Japan or Singapore. Naturalisation is therefore a choice about living and belonging in Indonesia, not about travel freedom. If a stronger passport is the goal, compare the programmes in our ranking of the strongest passports available by investment.

A citizen can vote, hold freehold property, work in restricted professions and stay indefinitely. A citizen also gives up the previous nationality and any consular protection tied to it.

• 1 August 2026: Government Regulation 30 of 2026 raised the naturalisation fee from Rp50 million to Rp75 million and the marriage-route fee from Rp15 million to Rp25 million^[3][21].
• 23 July and 14 August 2026: the Minister of Law and the President floated limited dual citizenship for selected talents. Draft text and criteria have not been published^[14][15].
• 2026: the Ministry says a replacement for Law 12 of 2006 is being prepared, aimed at stricter conditions^[4][5].
• Next: watch for a presidential letter and a bill in the House, an official statement on how permit years count towards the residence test, and published processing times.

It suits people who truly want to make Indonesia their long-term home: retirees, founders of Indonesian businesses and spouses with Indonesian ties who accept a single nationality and a multi-year wait. The investor permit is also useful on its own, with no obligation to naturalise.

Look elsewhere if you want a second passport quickly, want to keep your current nationality, or want a strong travel document. Those needs are met by programmes that sell citizenship outright, as covered in our comparison of low-cost citizenship by investment programmes, or by golden visa routes that lead to the quickest citizenship.

For readers comparing Asian options, Japan's naturalisation path also bans dual nationality but takes about ten years. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore offer long-stay or investor residence, each with its own, stricter or slower path to citizenship. For a faster passport, the new citizenship by investment programmes may fit better, accepting that they cost more up front.