KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has assured that all citizenship applications received this year will be decided within one year.
“The Home Ministry would like to emphasise that all outstanding applications will be resolved in 2026, and that all applications submitted in the current year will receive a decision within one year from the date a complete application is received,” it said in a parliamentary written reply dated Jan 27.
Over 34,000 applications were approved by the ministry in the past three years.
It added that between 2022 and 2025, the ministry had assessed and decided on 52,444 applications, including backlogged cases.
“Of this total, 34,423 applications were approved, while 18,021 applications were rejected. These decisions encompass applications submitted under various provisions of Part III of the Federal Constitution, including Article 15A, Article 15(2), Article 19, and Article 30,” it said.
As at Dec 31 last year, there were 3,738 citizenship applications remaining for which a decision had yet to be made.
“This balance comprises applications that have been received by the Home Ministry but are still under consideration and have not yet received a decision from the Minister,” it said.
The ministry was responding to a question by Kamal Ashaari (PN-Kuala Krau), who asked for a breakdown of the 49,000 Malaysian citizenship applications that have been assessed, including the number by applicants’ original nationality, as well as the number approved and rejected to date.
The ministry clarified that the 49,000 figure referred to the backlog of applications at the time of the appointment of its minister, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
