Source:
Sarawak State Government.
See also here for what a Sarawak Identity Card looks like.
Being a Sarawakian, we are a tad little different from the rest of Malaysia, in that immigration and entry into Sarawak is controlled by the state. It is a constant
source of angst by West Malaysians who didn't pay attention in history class. (My comment to "Long Suffering Patriot": No, 1Malaysia contradicts the Sarawak Immigration policy. Get your facts right)
I have articulated
Malaysian nationality law in a nutshell in a earlier post. Malaysian nationality, and being a resident of Sarawak, are 2 separate but inter-related things.
However, in this age of mobility (and looking at extended members of my family), where economic realities force many Sarawakian's to set up life outside the borders of Sarawak, both inside and outside of Malaysia, and have kids outside of Sarawak to spouses who are not Sarawakian, I've always wondered what comes of their kids. Will they be considered Sarawakian residents? If not, how does it work if they relocate to Sarawak, where the parent(s) has right of abode in Sarawak but the child may only be allowed to stay in Sarawak at 3 months at a time.
Like many things about Malaysia, this is poorly documented and understood. No one seems to know what the rules and regulations are. This is before we get into the elastic interpretation that get's applied by the Little Napoleons on the ground.
So I did what most people in the civilised world do: ask the people who should know everything about it, the
National Registration Department.
My original letter to them (translated):
I have a query regarding the status of Sarawakians born outside the state of Sarawak. According to my understanding, Sarawak immigration laws only allow Sarawakian Residents (ie. those who have the letter "K" in their Identification Cards) to enter and reside in Sarawak without any restrictions. Non-Sarawakian's are limited to 3 month entry into Sarawak.
My questions are as follows:
1) If both parents are Sarawakians (ie having the letter "K" in their Malaysian Identity Card) who have their child within the borders of Malaysia but outside of the state of Sarawak (ie. Penang), will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
2) If the father of the child is a Sarawakian and the mother of the child of from another state of Malaysia (eg. the mother is from Perak), who have their child within the borders of Malaysia but outside of the state of Sarawak (ie. Penang), will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
3) If the mother of the child is a Sarawakian and the father of the child of from another state of Malaysia (eg. the father is from Perak), who have their child within the borders of Malaysia but outside of the state of Sarawak (ie. Penang), will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
4) If both parents are Sarawakians (ie having the letter "K" in their Malaysian Identity Card) who have their child outside the borders of Malaysia (ie. Australia), and the birth of the child is registered with the Malaysian High Commission within 42 days of the birth, will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
5) If the father of the child is a Sarawakian and the mother of the child of from another state of Malaysia (eg. the mother is from Perak), who have their child outside the borders of Malaysia (eg. Australia) and the birth of the child is registered with the Malaysian High Commission within 42 days of the birth, will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
6) If the mother of the child is a Sarawakian and the father of the child of from another state of Malaysia (eg. the father is from Perak), who have their child outside the borders of Malaysia (eg. Australia) and the birth of the child is registered with the Malaysian High Commission within 42 days of the birth, will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
7) If the father of the child is a Sarawakian and the mother of the child is not a Malaysian national (but their marriage is registered with NRD), who have their child inside the borders of Malaysia (eg. Penang) but outside the state of Sarawak, will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
8) If the father of the child is a Sarawakian and the mother of the child is not a Malaysian national (but their marriage is registered with NRD and the Australian Registrar of Marriages), who have their child outside the borders of Malaysia (eg. Australia) and the birth of the child is registered with the Malaysian High Commission within 42 days of the birth, will the child be considered as a Sarawakian by the National Registration Department (NRD) and is able to have the letter "K" on their Malaysian Identity Card?
I hope the NRD can provide clarification on this matter.
The reason for the verbosity of my query was to cover as many bases required. As highlighted in my articulation of
Malaysian nationality law, the law is NOT consistent between males and females, with regards to the determination of Malaysian citizenship, due to the gender specific nature of the Malaysian Constitution. Not to mention it was drafted in a time where international marriages were a rarity, and thus is woefully inadequate when dealing with foreign spouses.
(Singapore has the same problem in their nationality law. See the
Wikipedia article which explains why. I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising, considering the amount of commonality between Malaysian and Singaporean law)
I know that M'sians do not have a favourable impression of the civil service, and having had to deal with governments from 3 countries and 6 levels (state, federal and local governments across the 3 countries), I can tell you they are all the same all around the world.
So it was a pleasant surprise when I received a responce from NRD. On the same day:
Sir,
I refer to the matter raised [in your previous letter].
2. For your information, the "K" indicator is determined during the application for a [Malaysian] Identity Card when the child is at the age of 12 in this department. The application [for the "K" indicator] can be made by selecting "Sarawak" in Section B, Part 7 of form JPN, KP01, based on if either the father or mother of the child is of "Sarawak Residence" [ie. is domiciled in Sarawak and is a Sarawak resident], regardless of where the child was born, thus the child will be eligible to be given the "K" indicator for their Identity Card, at the same time indicating the [residency] status [of the child] for immigration purposes.
[Emphasis in original correspondence]
3. Any further queries can be raised by attending any NRD branch which is closest to you or by contacting the Identification Card Section of the Sarawak National Identification Department at 082-242221 / 23784
So there you have it. As long as one parent is a Sarawakian resident, the child will be considered a Sarawakian resident, regardless of where the child was born, and will be eligible for a Sarawak Immigration issued Malaysian passport.
Caveat: the usual rules apply, in that all births need to be reported to NRD within 42 days, both parents need to be legally married (ie. have a piece of paper from NRD), and if you are a Malaysian woman who married a foreign spouse the NRD policy is to tell you to bugger off.
(No prizes for guessing why
MCA's Michael "chauvinistic" Chong can get away with saying "
Don’t take a foreign wife. There are many pretty, talented and intelligent Malaysian women to choose from", and
Rais "xenophobic" Yatim shares his knowledge of "It is, perhaps, better for those involved in mixed marriages not to have children [because] the [foreign spouse] is likely to 'snatch away' the kids")
(Also, I love it how he can "
advise local men to find love nearer to home to avoid such headaches". While I acknowledge that he does a lot of good for society, I have to wonder if he has actually spent some time in the divorce courts. Do you know how hard it is finding people in Malaysia, especially when they are your estranged (ex-)spouse?)
Appendix:
My original email to them
The reply. Note the time and datestamp of reply
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