KUALA LUMPUR (June 12): The government is in the midst of finalising a constitutional amendment to grant automatic citizenship to children born overseas to Malaysian women with a foreign spouse.

“The Madani government is finalising a proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution as a whole that covers granting citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers who marry non-citizens,” Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said told the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (June 12).

“I would also like to express my gratitude to Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for expediting the process, so the issues related to the aspect of citizenship can be resolved holistically,” she added.

To recap, the Federal Constitution stipulates that automatic citizenship can only be granted to children born overseas with fathers who are Malaysian.

However, back in February, Malaysia took a step forward in enabling Malaysian mothers to enjoy equitable rights under the Federal Constitution after the Cabinet approved the draft bill to amend the Constitution.

"The proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution on this matter are to replace the words 'their father' in Part I and Part II of Schedule Two with the phrase 'at least one of the parents' to enable Malaysian mothers to enjoy equitable rights under the Federal Constitution,” Azalina and Saifuddin said in February.

"However, other amendments related to citizenship, especially Part III, will be studied in greater detail by a committee established under the Home Ministry, and will be tabled before the Cabinet after these proposed amendments have been finalised, taking into consideration feedback from engagements with all interested parties," they added.

With the Federal Constitution’s current state, children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and non-Malaysian fathers can become Malaysian citizens via an application, but not automatically like those born to Malaysian fathers with a foreign spouse.

This long-standing issue was brought to the court by Malaysian mothers whose children are born overseas and not able to get citizenship in Malaysia.

In September 2021, the High Court ruled in the Malaysian mothers’ favour, pointing to Article 8(2) on equality that prohibits discrimination based on gender, which mean that the word "father" in the Federal Constitution under the Second Schedule, Part II, Section 1(b) should also include mothers, and that their children are entitled to citizenship by operation of the law.

However, later in August 2022, The Court of Appeal reversed the High Court’s decision in a split decision, with the majority of the bench saying the word “father” in the Federal Constitution under the Second Schedule, Part II, Section 1(b) cannot be extended to “mothers”.

Subsequently, the Federal Court in December last year allowed an appeal by the Malaysian mothers to be heard on its full merits.

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