By SCMP’s Asia desk

Copyright scmp

The most common pairing in mixed marriages in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta was between local women and American men in the past few years, according to data from the civil registry, reflecting growing acceptance among Indonesians to tie the knot with foreigners.
Among Indonesian men in the city, they preferred to be married to Asians, with Singaporean brides being the largest group.
From 2020 to August 2025, there were 158 marriages between US citizens and Indonesian women, Witri Yenny, the head of civil registration at the Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Office, said in an Antara news agency report on Tuesday.
The second most common pairing was between Singaporean men and Indonesian women – there were 132 such couples registered over the period – followed by grooms from Germany, China, Australia, Malaysia and South Korea.
“For Indonesian husbands and foreign wives, it’s different; Singaporeans are dominating,” Witri told Antara.
There were 58 transnational marriages involving Indonesian men over the period, with their brides also from China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines.
Overall, there were 1,952 marriages involving Indonesian men and women and their foreign spouses. “From 2020 until August 2025, there were around 250 to 300 couples per year,” Witri said.

The number has been rising steadily since 2020, when 252 mixed marriages were registered. In the first eight months of this year, 243 transnational couples have already said “I do”.
Under Indonesia’s Marriages Act, a marriage has to be conducted according to one of the country’s six official religions. Interfaith alliances are not recognised, but transnational couples usually get around this by having one partner convert to a religion or by marrying abroad and registering the marriage in Indonesia, according to business consultancy InCorp.
Witri reminded citizens marrying foreigners to register their marriages with her office so that the marriage would be officially recognised by the state.
“For civil registrations, do not just stop at a religious blessing; the marriage must be registered and officially recognised by the state. This will also provide certainty regarding the child’s status,” she said.
In Indonesia, children of mixed marriages are granted dual citizenship until they turn 18, when they have to pick a nationality. Last year, the government indicated it was considering allowing all Indonesians dual citizenship to deal with brain drain, but has yet to decide on the matter.