The process involves a notary, licensing authorities and a bank — and all three read documents in Indonesian. Every document originating from a foreign shareholder therefore has to pass through certification and translation before it can be used.
Stage one: shareholder documents
This is the longest stage because it involves parties abroad, and it almost always determines the overall schedule. The detail is in the guide to licensing documents for foreign investors.
- Constitutional documents and evidence of the foreign entity's existence
- Current list of directors and shareholders
- The corporate resolution approving the investment
- Power of attorney to the party acting in Indonesia
- Passport and proof of address for individual shareholders
Stage two: documents for the deed of establishment
The notary drafts the deed from the shareholders' details. Where those details come from foreign documents, the notary needs a sworn translation — not an ordinary one, because the deed being drafted records those details as official particulars.
Make sure entity and personal names in the translation match the source exactly, punctuation and legal form included. A discrepancy here causes prolonged trouble across every subsequent document.
Stage three: documents after the entity exists
Once the deed is approved, a need arises in the opposite direction — from Indonesian into the foreign shareholder's language, for internal reporting and consolidation:
| Document | Direction | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Deed of establishment and its approval | Indonesian into foreign | Sworn |
| Articles of association | Indonesian into foreign | Sworn |
| Business identification number and operating licences | Indonesian into foreign | Sworn |
| Tax documents | Indonesian into foreign | Sworn if for official use |
| Agreements with local partners | Both directions | Sworn for the official version |
| Internal policies and work guidelines | Foreign into Indonesian | Professional |
Saving time without skipping stages
- Start home-country certification before the transaction structure is final. Evidence of existence and the list of directors rarely change with structure.
- Translate the whole pack at once rather than piece by piece on request. The per-page cost is lower and name consistency is preserved.
- Prepare the foreign-language version of the deed from the outset, rather than waiting for the shareholder to ask — that request always comes.
- Agree the standard rendering of the entity name in both languages before the first document is worked on, then use it throughout.
One pack, one list of names
The most expensive error in entity establishment is a name written slightly differently on different documents. Building one authoritative name list at the outset — entity, directors, shareholders, address — and applying it across every translation prevents a problem that is hard to fix once the deed has issued.
Request a quote for the establishment pack