KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has issued a decision of 17,452 citizenship applications as of Oct 1, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the number exceeded the 17,000 target for 2024.
He, however, did not specify on the decisions made on the applications.
"The ministry remains committed to ensuring that every citizenship application is processed transparently, fairly and in line with legal provisions," he said in a written reply.
"Each citizenship application requires careful consideration based on the legal framework and the ministry strives to reduce the waiting time for those who have submitted the complete documents."
Saifuddin was responding to Datuk Shahelmey Yahya (BN-Putatan) who asked about the steps taken by the ministry to ensure citizenship applicants do not wait a long time for their applications to be processed.
Saifuddin also said all applications are evaluated carefully regardless of an applicant's race or religion.
He added that consideration is based on the conditions stipulated in Part III of the Federal Constitution, the Citizenship Rules, and related legislation, including marriage registration, adoption, child legitimisation, and immigration rules.
"The assessment of each application also depends on the supporting documents and the facts of the case.
"Although this process takes time, the ministry is working to expedite response time."
Saifuddin said the ministry's new standard operating procedure for handling citizenship applications through naturalisation under Article 19(1) of the Federal Constitution will come into effect in January.
"Through this new SOP, the application process and processing time will be set at one year."
Previously, Saifuddin pledged to resolve all pending citizenship applications by Oct 17 next year.