Effective Date for Citizenship Amendments for Overseas-Born Children to Be Announced Soon, Says Saifuddin

KULIM, Sept 12 – The Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) will officially announce the implementation date of constitutional amendments regarding citizenship provisions for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers once all administrative preparations are fully finalized. Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that the effective date has been determined by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, with KDN set to declare the formal rollout as soon as final operational measures are complete.

Speaking at a meet-and-greet event at his service centre in Kulim on Saturday, Saifuddin highlighted that the remaining steps involve setting up an online application portal that will operate across Malaysian diplomatic missions globally. “At the ministry level (KDN), all preparations have been completed, including the relevant documents and citizenship regulations. We have also obtained confirmation from the Attorney General’s Chambers,” he stated. He noted that “the preparations also involve setting up the online application system as its implementation will involve Malaysian representative offices around the world,”.

The upcoming enforcement of the amendments is expected to bring significant relief to affected Malaysian women who have faced long waiting times to secure citizenship for their children born abroad. Out of an initial backlog of approximately 50,000 citizenship applications, around 7,000 cases fell under the category of children born overseas to Malaysian mothers. Saifuddin revealed that out of those 7,000 cases, only a few hundred remain pending decision as authorities continue processing remaining legacy applications ahead of the new framework coming into force.

In parallel, KDN is continuing its broader effort to resolve the remaining 4,121 pending citizenship applications from the original 50,000 backlog, with the ministry targeting full clearance of these legacy files within this year. Saifuddin noted that the highest volume of remaining applications falls under four main constitutional categories: Article 15A, Article 15(2), Article 19(1), and Article 30(1) of the Federal Constitution.

–NMT