All persons born in Malaysia between 31 August 1957 and 1 October 1962 automatically received citizenship by birth regardless of the nationalities of their parents.

Individuals born in the country since that date receive Malaysian citizenship at birth if at least one of their parents is a citizen.

[3] Although Britain had jurisdiction in all three types of holdings, domestic law treated the Malay states as foreign territory.

[7] After separation from India, the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements passed the Naturalization Act, 1867 that contained virtually the same naturalisation requirements.

[8] Any person born in the Straits Settlements, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else within Crown dominions was a natural-born British subject.

[9] Following the Second World War, colonial authorities merged the Malay states with Penang and Malacca to form the Malayan Union in 1946.

Malayan citizenship existed simultaneously with the subject statuses of the individual Malay states and British nationality in the Straits Settlements.

Federal, state, and British regulations for obtaining these statuses differed and this multilayered approach to citizenship continued until Malayan independence in 1957.

However, as a result of representations made by the Straits Chinese, known as the "Queen's Chinese", it was agreed by the Governments of the United Kingdom and Malaya that no provision should be made for the withdrawal of Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) status from the inhabitants of Penang and Malacca, who would consequently be allowed to remain CUKCs as well as citizens of Malaya.

All persons born in Malaysia between 31 August 1957 and 30 September 1962 automatically received citizenship by birth regardless of the nationalities of their parents.

[13] Foreign women who marry Malaysian men may also register as citizens after living in the country for at least two years with the intention of permanently settling in Malaysia.

Naturalised citizens may also be stripped of citizenship for: committing an act of disloyalty against the state, aiding an enemy nation with which Malaysia is at war, being sentenced to incarceration for longer than 12 months in any jurisdiction, serving in any capacity for a foreign government, or being fined RM5,000 for any offence within five years of acquiring citizenship.

[15] However, under Article 23(2), citizens are not allowed to renounce their citizenship during times of war, unless they acquire the approval of the Federal Government of Malaysia.

[16] Children born outside Malaysia to a Malaysian mother and a foreign national father are not entitled to automatic citizenship as citizen by operation of law under Article 14 and Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, while children born overseas to a Malaysian father enjoy automatic citizenship under the same aforesaid provisions.

[21][22][23] However, it was not until one year later on 25 March 2024, that the constitutional amendment was finally tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat by the Minister of Home Affairs, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

The Federal Court has initially fixed 25 June 2024 as the date of hearing of the appeal,[26] but the hearing was then deferred to 5 September 2024[27][28] on the grounds of allowing the government to have time to complete the constitutional amendment process on the citizenship in the Parliament, as the potential amendments will have impact on the ongoing appeals once passed.

The permanent residency status of a person is indicated by a letter on their MyKad below the photo, with H for Sabahans, K for Sarawakians, and none for Peninsular Malaysians.