An Indonesian interpreter is most often needed when a paper issued in Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali or another region of Indonesia has to be accepted by a Georgian authority, bank, university or notary. Such a document brings together administrative abbreviations, a sixteen-digit identification number, the seal of a regional authority and often a single-word personal name as well. Our task is to make sure the Georgian text keeps every legally significant detail of the original.
We work in both directions: from Indonesian into Georgian and from Georgian into Indonesian. You can place an order at the office in Tbilisi, at 118 Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, or remotely - a clear scan of every page is enough. Oral interpreting at a meeting, a negotiation or at the notary is arranged by prior agreement.
Before you send the file: tell us to which authority you will submit the translation and whether it needs notarization. These two answers determine the format of the translation, the signing procedure and whether you will need an Indonesian apostille.
Indonesian translation services at TARGMANEBI
Work on an Indonesian text starts with identifying the type of document. A civil registry record, a court decision, a medical discharge summary and the charter of a joint-stock company each have different terminology and a different reader. That is why we first look at the file, clarify the purpose and only then agree on the scope of the work and the turnaround time.
Written translation
Personal, educational, legal, corporate, medical and banking documents from Bahasa Indonesia into Georgian and from Georgian into Indonesian.
Notarial form
A translation that the translator signs in front of a notary. We plan the visit and tell you in advance what you need to bring.
Oral interpreting
A business meeting, a contract discussion, a medical consultation or an official procedure in Tbilisi, by arrangement.
Typical reasons for contacting us are preparing an Indonesian spouse's documents in Georgia for marriage or residence, enrolling an Indonesian student at a Georgian university, a Georgian company's cooperation with an Indonesian supplier, and formalities that arise during a tourist or medical visit. In each case the recipient is different and, accordingly, so is the final form of the translation.
Bahasa Indonesia - a state language in the Latin alphabet
Under Article 36 of the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia, the state language is Bahasa Indonesia. It developed on a Malay basis, and today every official form, notarial deed, court decision and educational certificate in the country is issued in this language. The country has hundreds of regional languages - Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese and others - but the main text of a state document is, as a rule, in Indonesian.
Indonesian is written in the Latin alphabet, so at first sight the document seems "simple" to a Georgian reader. In reality the difficulty lies elsewhere: in the large number of abbreviations (Dukcapil, KUA, NIK, NPWP, SKCK), in the names of the administrative-territorial units (provinsi, kabupaten, kota, kecamatan, kelurahan, desa) and in the fact that one Georgian word may cover several Indonesian terms. The address field, for example, sometimes also contains RT/RW numbers, which denote local neighbourhood units and have to be carried over with the same accuracy.
Indonesian and Malay: a similarity that causes mistakes
Indonesian and the Malay used in Malaysia are closely related standard languages, and their speakers largely understand each other. In an official document, however, this similarity becomes a trap. In Indonesian "Monday" is Senin, in Malaysian - Isnin; August is Agustus in Indonesian and Ogos in Malaysian. In Malaysia kerajaan often means the government, while in Indonesia pemerintah is used for the government. The word percuma means "free of charge" in Malaysian, but "in vain" in Indonesian.
The difference is even greater at the level of authorities and legal concepts. Indonesian marriage, inheritance and company law rest on their own system, so a translation prepared with Malaysian terminology may be grammatically understandable but legally inaccurate. When we receive a file, we always establish which body of which country issued the document. If your document is from Malaysia or Brunei, see the Malay interpreter page.
Old spelling and personal names: Soekarno or Sukarno?
Indonesian spelling changed several times in the 20th century: the old oe, dj and tj are written in modern texts with the letters u, j and c. The current rules are set by the language development agency, Badan Bahasa; the latest edition, EYD Edisi V, was published in August 2022. For a general text this is only a matter of style, but for personal names and surnames it is not.
Many families have kept the old spelling: one person's passport may read Soetomo or Djojo, while the new form already appears in their child's document. The translator does not "correct" such a name. We carry over the Latin form exactly as it is in the official document, and the Georgian transcription, once agreed, is repeated on every page and in every related document.
Which Indonesian documents do we translate?
Below are the main groups that people arriving from Indonesia or travelling to Indonesia come across most often. The list is not complete: if you cannot find your document here, send it to us and we will confirm who will work on it.
| Group | Indonesian name | What we pay attention to |
|---|---|---|
| Civil registry records | akta kelahiran, akta kematian, akta perkawinan, akta perceraian | Registration number, the issuing Dukcapil region, the parents' field, notes |
| Identity and family | KTP-el, Kartu Keluarga, paspor | NIK, the exact Latin form of the name, the status of the family members |
| Religious marriage | buku nikah, kutipan akta nikah (KUA) | Place of marriage, witnesses, registration data |
| Education | ijazah, transkrip nilai, SKPI | Name of the degree, IPK, credits (SKS), accreditation entry |
| Business | akta pendirian, SK pengesahan, NIB | Company form, directors, commissioners, registration numbers |
| Legal and property | surat kuasa, putusan pengadilan, sertipikat tanah | Parties, powers, the details of the notary or PPAT |
| Other | SKCK, surat keterangan dokter, rekening koran | Validity period, diagnosis, account turnover, seals |
Dukcapil and civil status records
In Indonesia, population records and civil registration are kept by the civil registry operating within the system of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dukcapil for short (Dinas Kependudukan dan Pencatatan Sipil). It is its regional offices that issue the akta kelahiran (birth record), the akta kematian (death record) and the records of marriage and divorce of non-Muslims.
When translating such a record we pay attention to the full name of the issuing office, which often also contains the name of the kabupaten or kota, to the format of the record number and to notes about late registration or corrections. Newer forms often carry a QR code and a reference to an electronic signature. We describe their presence in the translation, but the QR code itself does not replace confirmation of the document's authenticity - that is decided by the receiving authority.
NIK, e-KTP and Kartu Keluarga
The NIK (Nomor Induk Kependudukan) is a sixteen-digit resident identification number that a person keeps for their whole life. It appears on the electronic identity card (KTP-el, in everyday use e-KTP), on the family card and on other documents. The first digits of the number contain the region code, and the next part is linked to the date of birth. In the translation the NIK is carried over digit by digit, unchanged.
The Kartu Keluarga (KK) is the family card, on which the members of a family registered at one address are listed in a table: for each of them the NIK, place and date of birth, religion, education, occupation, marital status and relationship to the head of the family. It is one of the Indonesian documents translated most often, because it is frequently requested to confirm a family relationship. The wide table stays a table in the Georgian translation too, so that the columns do not get mixed up when it is read.
- Full comparison of the 16-digit NIK with the original
- Keeping every KK column in table form
- The correct Georgian equivalent of status hubungan
- Carrying over RT/RW and the kelurahan in the address
- Checking the date of issue and renewal of the card
- Writing one name the same way in all documents
Single-word names and the "surname" field
Many people in Indonesia have no inherited surname. A single-word name is common - well-known examples are the country's first presidents - or several personal names, none of which is a family surname. At the same time, some ethnic groups, for example the Batak, have an inherited clan name (marga), and some names of Arabic origin contain bin or binti.
Georgian forms, applications and registers often ask separately for a "first name" and a "surname". In such a case the translator does not invent a surname and does not split the name arbitrarily. The names of Indonesians of Chinese origin may contain both an Indonesian name and an old Chinese name, so only what is in the state document is treated as the official form. We rely on the machine-readable zone and the fields of the passport, and if the original has one name, the translation reflects exactly that. When one person's name is written differently in different documents, we tell you about the discrepancy before the order, so that you can agree the form of writing with the receiving authority in advance.
Marriage: the KUA buku nikah and the Dukcapil akta perkawinan
In Indonesia, the registration of a marriage depends on religion. The marriage of a Muslim couple is registered by the local office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the KUA (Kantor Urusan Agama), which gives the spouses a marriage booklet - the buku nikah - which is officially an extract from the marriage record. Couples of other religions first go through a religious ceremony, and then Dukcapil records the marriage and issues an akta perkawinan.
That is why an "Indonesian marriage certificate" may be two documents of different forms, from different authorities and with different fields. A buku nikah is usually a booklet of several pages containing the data of both spouses and sometimes of the guardian (wali) and the witnesses; when translating it, we translate every completed page, seal and signature place. For the recognition of a marriage or a change of name in Georgia, check the requirements in advance with the relevant authority.
Divorce and court decisions
In Indonesia, divorce cases of Muslims are heard by the religious court, the Pengadilan Agama, and the cases of other couples by the general court, the Pengadilan Negeri, after which the divorce is registered with Dukcapil. Accordingly, the document may be a court decision (putusan), a divorce record (akta cerai or akta perceraian), or both together.
An Indonesian court text is marked by long sentences, legal formulas of Latin and Arabic origin and many references to articles. We translate such a decision in full, including the operative part, the note of entry into force and the signatures. The parts on child custody, maintenance and the division of property are checked with particular care.
Company documents: AHU, OSS and NIB
An Indonesian limited liability company (Perseroan Terbatas, PT) is created by a deed of establishment (akta pendirian) drawn up by a notary, after which its status as a legal entity is approved in the electronic system of the Ministry of Law, AHU Online. Business activity is registered through the unified electronic system, OSS, where the company receives an NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha) - the business identification number.
When translating a corporate document, the correct naming of the bodies is important: Direksi (board of directors), Dewan Komisaris (supervisory board) and RUPS (general meeting of shareholders) have to be rendered in Georgian with different concepts. The company's registered name, the deed number, the identity of the notary and the details of the ministry's decision also stay unchanged. An extract of a Georgian company for an Indonesian partner is prepared in the opposite direction with the same accuracy.
Notaris, PPAT and real estate documents
In Indonesia, a notary (notaris) draws up authentic deeds - powers of attorney, contracts, company documents. Land and real estate transactions, however, are formalized by a separate official, the PPAT (Pejabat Pembuat Akta Tanah), and the certificate of ownership is issued by the system of the National Land Agency (BPN). One and the same person may hold both functions, but the type of deed is different.
Property documents often contain the type of right (for example, hak milik or hak guna bangunan), the area of the plot, cadastral data and restrictions. These concepts do not always have an exact equivalent in Georgian law, so where needed we leave the original term in brackets. This way the reader sees that the matter concerns a specific institution of Indonesian law.
ijazah, transkrip and educational documents
An Indonesian diploma, the ijazah, is usually accompanied by a transcript of grades (transkrip nilai) and sometimes also by a diploma supplement (SKPI). Academic results are expressed by the IPK, i.e. the cumulative grade point average, and the workload in SKS credits. The text to be translated often contains short degree designations such as S.Kom., S.H. or M.M., which are written after the name.
We do not translate such a designation with an arbitrary equivalent of a Georgian degree. We keep the original abbreviation and add a descriptive translation, so that the authority itself can decide the question of recognition. School certificates, student certificates and descriptions of study programmes are also translated, including the names of subjects, the hours and the notes on the grading system.
Medical, banking and employment documents
A discharge summary, a laboratory result or a doctor's certificate (surat keterangan dokter) received from an Indonesian clinic often mixes in Latin and English terms. We keep the diagnosis, the name of the medicine, the dose and the units of measurement exactly as they are in the original, and we do not fill in by guesswork a handwritten entry that is objectively illegible.
A bank statement (rekening koran), an income certificate, an employment contract and an employer's letter are often needed for a visa, for residence or to open an account. In Indonesian rupiah amounts a dot is used as the thousands separator, so we check the number format separately, so that a Georgian reader does not read the amount wrongly. The certificate of no criminal record, the SKCK, is issued by the Indonesian National Police, and its translation is prepared by the same rules.
The Indonesian apostille: in force since 4 June 2022
According to the official status table of the Hague Conference, Indonesia deposited its instrument of accession to the Apostille Convention on 5 October 2021, and the Convention entered into force for it on 4 June 2022. Georgia has been a party to the Convention since 14 May 2007. This means that a public document issued in Indonesia is, as a rule, confirmed with an apostille for submission in Georgia and no longer needs consular legalization.
In Indonesia the competent authority for the apostille is the Ministry of Law (Kementerian Hukum), acting through the Directorate General of General Legal Administration, Ditjen AHU; at the time of accession this function was performed by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The application is filed electronically, and an issued apostille can be verified in an online register. According to the HCCH, certificates issued from 13 April 2026 are verified at a new address, and earlier ones in the old register.
Practical sequence: first the apostille in Indonesia, then the translation in Georgia. We also translate the apostille certificate, because it is an integral part of the document. Some authorities set an additional requirement, so check the list in advance. For details, see the apostille page.
Notarized translation in Georgia
Most Georgian authorities require the translation of a foreign document in notarized form. In this case the notary verifies the authenticity of the translator's signature - the notary does not confirm the content or the authenticity of the Indonesian document. The authenticity of the original is confirmed by the apostille, and the translator is responsible for the accuracy of the translation.
We prepare the translation, arrange the visit to the notary and tell you whether the original or a certified copy is needed. The rules are described in detail on the pages notarized translation and notarization.
A Georgian document for Indonesia and the penerjemah tersumpah
When a Georgian document has to be submitted in Indonesia, the apostille must first be affixed in Georgia, and then the translation is done. Indonesia has the institution of the sworn translator, the penerjemah tersumpah: the Ministry of Law appoints such a translator after a qualification examination, and the translator takes an oath. This matter is governed by Order No. 29 of 2016 of the Minister of Law and Human Rights, with the 2019 amendments.
An Indonesian authority, university or bank may require the translation to be done by an Indonesian sworn translator, or it may accept a translation notarized in Georgia. This depends on the recipient, so clarify the requirement in advance, in writing. As regards contracts, it is worth noting that Law No. 24 of 2009 provides for the use of the Indonesian language in agreements concluded with the participation of an Indonesian party, so preparing a bilingual text is often sensible.
How do I order an Indonesian translation?
Sending the file
Send us every page, including the back side, the apostille certificate and the attachments.
Purpose
Tell us the authority where you will submit the translation and whether the notarial form is needed.
Agreeing the names
We confirm the Georgian spelling of first names and surnames, especially in the case of a single-word name.
Preparation and delivery
The translation goes through quality control and is handed over electronically or at the office; at the notary if needed.
A short, clearly legible document such as an akta kelahiran or a KTP-el is usually ready on the same or the next day. This is a typical turnaround, not a guarantee: a multi-page court decision, a company charter or a medical history takes more time, and the visit to the notary is planned separately. We will tell you the exact turnaround after seeing the file.
Quality control in Indonesian translation
After the translation is finished, we check the text with a second reading and separately compare every figure: the NIK, the record numbers, the dates, the amounts and the address codes. On Indonesian forms the date is sometimes also written out in words, so the numeric and the written form have to match. We check the text of the seal, handwritten corrections and empty fields.
Personal data, including the information on every member listed on the family card, is used only to complete the order. If you are translating several related documents at once, for example the KK, the birth record and the passport, we assign the whole package to one translator, so that names and terms are the same everywhere.
Do you have an Indonesian document that you need to submit in Georgia?
Call us or visit us: Tbilisi, 118 Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue. A clear scan is enough to plan the work.
Frequently asked questions about Indonesian translation
Are Indonesian and Malay the same language?
No, they are closely related but separate standard languages. The vocabulary, official terms and names of authorities differ, so an Indonesian document should be translated by a translator focused on Indonesian terminology.
What is the NIK and does it change in the translation?
The NIK is the 16-digit identification number of an Indonesian resident, which appears on the KTP-el, the Kartu Keluarga and other documents. In the translation it is carried over unchanged, digit by digit.
The passport has only one name. What is written in place of the surname?
The translator does not invent a surname. The translation reflects what is in the official document. If the surname field is mandatory on a Georgian form, the way of filling it in has to be agreed with the receiving authority.
Does an Indonesian document need an apostille in Georgia?
Both countries are parties to the Apostille Convention; for Indonesia the Convention has been in force since 4 June 2022. For official submission a public document usually needs an apostille from the Indonesian Ministry of Law, but the requirement has to be confirmed with the receiving authority.
Are the buku nikah and the akta perkawinan one and the same document?
No. The buku nikah is issued by the KUA when a Muslim couple marries, while the akta perkawinan is issued by Dukcapil when the marriage of a non-Muslim couple is registered. Both confirm the marriage, but the form and the fields are different.
Does the notary verify the authenticity of the Indonesian document?
No. In a notarized translation the Georgian notary verifies the translator's signature. The authenticity of the original is confirmed by the apostille, and the translator is responsible for the accuracy of the translation.
How long does an Indonesian translation take?
A short and clear document is usually ready on the same or the next day. For a large or complex text, the turnaround and the visit to the notary are agreed after we have seen the file.
Can I order without coming to the office?
Yes. A clear scan of every page is enough to plan the work. If the original or your presence is needed for notarization, we will let you know in advance.
Official sources
The factual information was verified as of 26 October 2026. Procedures may change, so before submission check the current requirement of the specific authority.
- HCCH - Apostille Convention status table: Indonesia's accession and the date of entry into force.
- HCCH - Indonesia, competent authority: the authority issuing the apostille and the online register.
- Ditjen AHU - apostille service: the launch of the apostille service in Indonesia.
- Dukcapil Kemendagri: population records and civil registration.
- OSS Indonesia: business registration and the NIB.
- Permenkumham 29/2016: the rules for appointing a sworn translator.
Related pages
For details on translation from other Southeast Asian languages and on the certification of documents, see the following pages.