No more automatic citizenship for children of PRs & other constitutional amendments to Malaysia’s citizenship laws
The tabling of Budget 2025 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Dewan Rakyat on 18 October somewhat overshadowed a historic constitutional amendment which drastically changed Malaysia’s citizenship laws just a day prior.
As with any other amendments to the Federal Constitution, The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 required the support of at least two-thirds of Members of Parliament (MP) in the Dewan Rakyat, or 148 out of 222 MPs.
Well, it did just that and more, as a total of 206 MPs voted in favour of the BIll during a bloc vote during its second and third readings.
So, what does the Bill entail, and how will it change our country’s citizenship laws? Well, join us as we break it down below.
Children born abroad to a Malaysian mother and a foreign spouse will be entitled to automatic citizenship
According to the Bill, a total of eight Articles in the Federal Constitution were amended, as well as two Schedules, to incorporate the changes to Malaysia’s citizenship laws. These include Articles 15, 15A, 16A, 18, 19, 23, 26, 26A, the First Schedule and the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
One of the most notable changes the Bill incorporated was on gender equality as following the amendment, children born abroad to a Malaysian mother and a foreign spouse will be entitled to automatic citizenship by operation of law. For context, previously, only children born abroad to Malaysian men with foreign spouses were granted automatic citizenship.
This change was brought forth by amending Section 1(b) and Section 1(c) of Part II in the Constitution’s Second Schedule by replacing “whose father” with “of whose parents one at least”.
However, there is a new caveat for all foreign-born children, as there is now a new time limit of one year for them to be registered as Malaysian citizens, which was not present previously.
No more automatic citizenship for children of Malaysian Permanent Residents (PRs)
Another notable change is the removal of automatic citizenship for children of PR. Instead, these children will inherit the nationality of their parents and will have to apply for Malaysian citizenship.
This is enforced through the deletion of “permanently resident” from Section 1(a) of Part II in the Constitution’s Section Schedule.
Foreign spouses will have their citizenship revoked if the marriage ends within two years of them becoming Malaysian
The amendments also affect foreign spouses who secured Malaysian citizenship through marriage, whereby they will now have their citizenship revoked if the marriage ends within two years of them becoming Malaysian.
Previously, their citizenship would only be revoked if the marriage ended within two years of them marrying. Hence, they’re now more at risk of having their citizenships revoked.
This is done by amending Article 26(2) of the Constitution to replace “date of marriage” with “date of the acquisition of citizenship by registration”
Foreign wives of Malaysian men must now show proficiency in Bahasa Melayu
Another change affecting foreign wives of Malaysian men in securing citizenship is the requirement for them to show proficiency in Bahasa Melayu.
This is made by amending Article 15 of the Federal Constitution to add the paragraph, “(c) that she has an adequate knowledge of the Malay language.”.
Stateless children’s age limit to apply for Malaysian citizenship is reduced to 18 years old
Besides that, the amendments affect stateless children too, as the age limit for them to apply for citizenship is reduced from 21 years to 18 years.
This is done through amendments to Articles 15(2) and 15A of the Federal Constitution.
Furthermore, an amendment to Section 19b of Part III of the Second Schedule now presumes that a newborn child found abandoned in any place will be presumed, until proven otherwise, to have been born in that location and that the mother is a citizen.
Miscellaneous changes to the citizenship laws
Besides that, the amendments also now require an oath of allegiance to be taken for children born abroad.
These include two separate oaths of allegiance, one for them to receive their automatic citizenship and the other to register their citizenship.
Moving forward, now that The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 was unanimously passed by the Dewan Rakyat, it will now go through to the Dewan Negara for debate. Once it is passed there, it will then receive the Royal Assent and be Gazetted to take legal effect.
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