In 4 August 2005 correspondence to the Research Directorate, an official of the Consular Affairs section of the Embassy of Indonesia, in Ottawa, indicated that at the present time identity cards are issued to Indonesian citizens at the age of 17 years. These cards are called KTP, or residence cards, and are issued by the provincial government office (Indonesia 4 Aug. 2005). The official indicated that the residence card number contains 12 digits and that this number does not appear on any other identity document (ibid.). In fact, different identification documents (i.e., passports, residence cards, family registration cards, etc.) all have different numbers (ibid.).

The government, however, does not currently issue citizenship cards/documents to Indonesian citizens, unless they obtained citizenship via naturalization (ibid.).

In a 5 August 2005 telephone interview, the same official indicated that over the past ten years changes have been made to the numbers that appear on official identification documents, although he could not provide detailed information about those changes at this time (ibid. 5 Aug. 2005). He did, however, indicate that citizenship cards/documents have always been issued only to citizens who obtained citizenship via naturalization (Indonesia 5 Aug. 2005).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection.

Indonesia. 5 August 2005. Embassy of Indonesia, Ottawa. Telephone interview with an official of the Consular Affairs section.

_____. 4 August 2005. Embassy of Indonesia, Ottawa. Correspondence from an official of the Consular Affairs section.