Legal help for foreigners in Indonesia.

Indonesia is a civil law jurisdiction, but it is not a single layer of law. Alongside the national civil code, adat (customary) law and religious law still govern parts of daily life for many Indonesians — most visibly in marriage, family and inheritance matters — and a foreigner marrying into or living within an Indonesian family can find themselves inside that layered system without realising it. Indonesia did join the Hague Apostille Convention, in 2022, so document legalisation here is more straightforward than in some neighbouring countries — the gap that catches people out is not the paperwork process itself, but assuming Indonesian law works the same way their home country's does once the document is accepted. Two other things run through every situation below. Your stay permit is tied to a sponsor, not just a visa stamp. Most foreigners live in Indonesia on a KITAS sponsored by an employer, a spouse, or an investment — and that sponsorship link means a business dispute, a divorce, or a job loss can unravel your legal right to stay even when the original problem had nothing to do with immigration. Property and business ownership have real structural limits. Foreigners cannot hold freehold land, and many business sectors restrict foreign ownership — which is exactly why nominee arrangements exist, and exactly where they go wrong when the nominee's interests stop aligning with yours. If you need help now, these are the situations where hours matter — giving a police statement, criminal charges and bail, recovering money after a scam, and a visa overstay you have just discovered. These reward preparation over speed — buying property and the due diligence that protects it, forming a company and the nominee arrangements that quietly undermine one, and divorce as a foreign national. Each situation below is written for foreigners, checked against official Indonesian sources, and handled by qualified specialists who practise in this jurisdiction.