Malaysian nationality law

Malaysian nationality law is the law of Malaysia that deals with citizenship and other forms of nationality. Nationality law is mentioned in the Constitution of Malaysia.

Citizenship law was first implemented in several Malaysian states before the country achieved independence and sovereignty. The Straits Settlements, consisting of Penang, Malacca, Singapore and later Labuan, was the first entity to introduce nationality laws in the region. The Naturalization Act of 1867 stated that:

any person, whilst actually residing in the Colony, may present a memorial to the Governor in Council, praying that the privileges of naturalisation may be conferred upon him.

It also provided that:

such memorial shall state to the best of the knowledge and belief of the memorialist, his age, place of birth, place of residence, profession, trade or occupation, the length of time during which he has resided within the Colony, that he is permanently settled in the Colony, or is residing within the same, with attempt to settle therein.

The criteria to be a Malaysian citizen are:

A person can become a citizen of Malaysia either by registration or naturalisation. In cases by registration, where a person is by operation of law is a citizen but have yet to be registered, such person is entitled to citizenship upon application and be registered as a citizen of Malaysia. For cases by naturalisation, this refers to the process of admitting a person not a citizen of Malaysia to citizenship. This is subjected to the requirements and conditions of the Federal Government. Any person holding Malaysian citizenship is also disallowed to hold any other country's citizenship. Malaysia does not allow dual citizenship.

Those applying for citizenship by registration must have "an elementary knowledge of the Malay language". Those applying to become naturalised citizens must have "an adequate knowledge of the Malay language" and have resided in the country for ten of the past twelve years, including the twelve months immediately preceding the application. These requirements are set out by Part III of the Constitution; however, as there is no objective definition of what constitutes elementary or adequate knowledge of Malay, in practice, the tests are often subjective, sometimes even varying in whether a written knowledge of Malay is required.

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