Documents: apostille and translation

Apostille, certified translations, police certificate SKCK.

Apostille

Indonesia is party to the Hague Apostille Convention (in force since 4 June 2022). The German Embassy in Jakarta therefore no longer legalises Indonesian documents. You get the apostille from the Ministry of Law (Kementerian Hukum dan HAM, Directorate General AHU): apostille.ahu.go.id.

For a national visa under § 16d, Embassy Jakarta requires that Indonesian documents (birth certificate and degrees) already carry the apostille and are translated at the time of application (leaflet as of July 2026). Whether another German authority (for example a recognition body) requires an apostille is decided by that authority.

Translation

• Documents not in German or English need a recognised German translation for the visa. Documents issued in English need no translation for the visa.
• Recognition bodies can be stricter. Example: the Bavarian recognition office requires translations by publicly appointed translators in Germany/EU/EEA/Switzerland. Ask your recognition body before you pay for translations.

Police certificate (SKCK)

• The Embassy checklist for § 16d (July 2026) does not list a police certificate for the visa.
• In the recognition procedure a certificate from the country of origin may be required (Bavaria: not older than 3 months, submitted after the adaptation measure).
• SKCK: valid 6 months, fee Rp 30,000, issued via national police headquarters (Mabes Polri) for use abroad. Whether and how an SKCK can be apostilled is not confirmed from an official source.