JAKARTA - Indonesia’s much-touted Global Citizenship scheme (GCI) has drawn a tepid response, with just 11 applications from a diaspora estimated at 6-9 million people worldwide.

Is Edy Eko, Director of Residence Permits at the Immigration Directorate, disclosed the figure on February 11 in Kendal, Central Java. He didn't deny the numbers were low, saying the program launched just months ago. 

“This is proof that Immigration is here to provide solutions for the Indonesian diaspora,” Eko said, adding it's become the ministry's homework to push more publicity. “It's only been a few months. This is our big homework so later we can realize what the diaspora demands.”

Launched last year on November 19 as an alternative to dual citizenship, GCI grants unlimited residency permits without restoring Indonesian nationality for former Indonesians. 

In a January 29 interview with RRI, Indonesia’s state-owned radio, Sopantini Heyward of IDN Global called the program “a positive step toward inclusion, but still leaves a number of fundamental problems, especially regarding information transparency and public participation.”

Media reports quote advocacy groups are also saying that GCI fails to address dual citizenship demands since it offers only immigration convenience without political rights.

The base government fee runs 34.8 million rupiah (about $2,200), and certain categories require property purchases starting at $100,000. For diaspora members who can get full citizenship elsewhere, the trade-off means that easier travel to Indonesia but no voting rights, limited property ownership, and continued status as foreigners.

For comparison, India’s Overseas Citizenship program has signed up over 4 million people from a diaspora of 35.4 million with a success rate roughly 300 times higher than Indonesia’s GCI so far.