KUALA LUMPUR: Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has announced that all Malaysian citizenship applications will be reviewed and resolved within one year.
In a social media post, he said that the ministry had reviewed a total of 32,408 citizenship applications over the past two years, many of which had been pending for over five years.
To expedite the resolution of citizenship issues, the ministry has introduced a faster processing framework, in line with the government's commitment to safeguarding and upholding the rights of the people.
In October, Saifuddin had pledged to resolve all pending citizenship applications by Oct 17, 2025.
He assured that the approval process would be conducted without compromising legal considerations, stressing that the government's focus was on protecting individual and humanitarian rights.
The citizenship application process in Malaysia has faced several challenges, including cases involving individuals present in the country since 1957 who adopted children but never applied for citizenship, and those born in Malaysia who still hold foreign citizenship.
Recently, issues have also emerged regarding the citizenship of overseas-born children of Malaysian parents. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/10/1127093/decision-overseas-bor...
Family Frontiers, an NGO advocating for citizenship rights, previously commended the ministry's commitment to resolving applications within a year.
The organisation said that this move would not only address statelessness but also simplify the bureaucratic process for applicants.