Advice needed.. should baby go for malaysia citizenship or singapore citizenship?

Hi, this is my first baby so I am a bit confused what are our options.

I am a Singaporean and Husband Malaysian and SPR. My EDD is July but we have not decided what will be the nationality for our baby.

I will deliver in SG and are currently staying and working in SG. However, we intend to move to Malaysia when the baby is 1 year old for a period of 5 years for husband's work. Our final plan is to come back to SG for our baby's education.
If my baby were to be a singaporean at birth, how do I and my baby stay in Malaysia? What status will we be?
My husband prefers the baby to be Malaysian to solve all the paperworks as getting a PR in SG for the baby is much easier.. But I want the baby to be singaporean in case I cannot stay too long in Malaysia and baby will still be able to follow me back.

Anyone got similar experience as Singaporeans staying long term in Malaysia?
 


hi,
i was Malaysian, married to Singaporean hb, gave birth to a son n he is singaporean. 2years ago,i renounced my malaysian citizenship. Why i gave up malaysian citizenship? Malaysia gives priority malays. It is true.

Secondly, i dislike the feelings of quening at different customs counter when we travel.

My personal view is:if possible, let ur child be singapore PR, when he/she grows up,then let him/her decides which country to go. If u've a son,be prepared that he has to thru army.That's why now we're thinking to migrate to australia.
 
There r no dual citizenship for both malaysia n singapore.

the baby always follows the mother.Thus,if u r a singaporean,best is let ur child to be singaporean.

I was malaysian & i knew the prob of marrying a Malaysian hb. Thus, I chose a singaporean hb.
 
i will prefer baby to follow me.. but not sure how we going to stay in malaysia for the next few years.. status wise..
 
Mellechun

As far as I know, if your kids grow up and raise in singapore, he must serve the ns. Especially if he is enjoying social economic benefits like apply sg passport, pink ic, living in Singapore. Visit forum below for more information.

Unless, you intend to renounce his sg citizenship and take him out of Singapore before age 11 or 13. Then you can ask for deferment until 21.

Strongly advice all parents to have a good look at this forum if your child is holding dual citizenship and might move to oversea in the future. This forum provides a very good advices for ns deferment and sg citizenship renounciation
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic51684-0-asc-0.html
 
Reen Lin,

Option 1- deliver baby in Singapore,
your baby will automatically become Singaporean by birth. Baby can not be Malaysian or Singapore pr as by default one of the parent is Singaporean. You can apply long term visit pass at Malaysia ( formerly call spouse visa) to stay in Malaysia. Normally, only granted 6 months for 1st apply, then renew it to 1 years or longer. Check Malaysia immi website under the visa. Lots of thing need to filled up. You kid can apply status of confirmation ( borang E) in order to live in Malaysia. Visit www.jpn.gov.my under citizenship. This will not allowed your kid to hold dual citizenship as your kid bc will written she/ he is Singaporean, so Malaysia government will not issue you borang W.

Option 2- Deliver the baby in Malaysia,
You can choose either a Malaysia citizen or singapore citizen, but very obvious, you want the baby become Malaysian in this case. After the delivery you can then apply you kid as Singapore citizen at ica, read the above cases of how to apply sg citizen if you choose to deliver your baby at Malaysia. You baby can not apply spr as one of the parent is Singaporean. So now your baby is holding dual citizenship. She/ he can stay in both countries without any visa problem. For yourself, you still have to apply long term visit pass. You might want to private msg audreyaw as she is a Singaporean who is married to Malaysian and living in Malaysia. All of her kids are holding dual citizenship.

Two things, you might need to take into consideration, baby bonus and maternity leave,Baby bonus might be prorated... Better ring them and ask your employer about the maternity leave (2or 4 months) if you choose option 2
 
All the suggestion are from Internet,hearsay and from other forumers. Remember the final decision is still with ica, jpn,immiMalaysia. Contact those authorities, that is the best advice you will get.
happy.gif
 
Hi,
May I know if I can apply Singapore Citizenship Minor for my baby if both my husband and I are Malaysian/Singapore PR and our baby is now a Singapore PR as well? He was born in Singapore though. We didnt consider this until now as we hope to get subsidy for his childcare. He is currently 21mths and I know we wont be able to get baby bonus for him anymore. Thanks.
 
Irene, as far as I know, a minor cannot apply for Singapore citezenship on his own. He can only obtain Singapore citizenship if his either of his parents become a citizen of Singapore.
 
Ashley,

No yet,I am still suffering from pregancy. How was your baby's sg citizenship application going on??? managed to get both??How long does it take?? baby bonus?? maternity leave?? let share your experince with us, thanks
 
Hi J, the application was done online and the process is as per what you have described. After 3 months, received email from the ICA officer in charge of our case and went down to ICA and got the certificate of citizenship, got his malaysian passport stamped, did the application for baby bonus (for this, you must have the birth certificate, marriage certificate, bank account no, parents IC, not sure if i missed out any other documents) at the same time at ICA too. However, haven't received any $$ yet. Are you expecting boy or girl? Have you decided on the hospital yet? By the way, you do not accept private message.
 
Can any experienced parents tell me How your kids travel between SG and M'sia?

If my kid get his SG citizenship certification, while waiting for his SG passport (It will take 1 week+), how he can travel with his existing Malaysia passport? His PR status is cancelled on the day when he collects his SG citizenship.
 
mengyuan,
ur kid cannot travel with the existing Msia passport as he has renounced his PR.

u've to wait to get the SG citizenship,then apply for SG passport.
 
Hi, have anyone goes Malaysia for cny every year because husband is Malaysian?

I am Singaporean, my husband is Malaysian. Every year cny have to go Malaysia for cny. I don't really like it. I asked him why cannot alternate. He just keeps quiet. This year have to spend there for almost one week. Next year my son will be primary one. I told him cannot skip school for so long. I told him I will come back Singapore and if he wants stay longer, he can.

I have been suggesting to him last few years about alternate cny. One year stay in singapore, one year in malaysia. He seems don't agree. I am really upset.
 
Trina,

I have been going to my hubby's hometown every CNY ever since we are married. We only go back once a year so I am still fine with it and perhaps also because we leave on the 3rd day of CNY. Part of the reason is because we have schooling kids so the latest we can stay is 3rd day so the kids won't miss too many days in school. However we go back a day before CNY eve because we drive up and want to avoid the traffic jam right after KL. Yes, it's very tiring. Sit in the car for about 8hr each time.

But I don't mind it because I know hubby misses his family and his parents miss him and the kids too. I can't and won't suggest alternate to him , my hubby is the only child in the family. Unless the kids or us are very sick then we won't go back but so far it has never happen.
 
for me, my girl just turned one, so no problem about school yet.. but i also cannot stay too long cos i work in japanese company and i dun have so many leave.. but i agreed with audrey, its once a year issue, my husband will miss his family over there too.. so i don't mind staying there for a week or so.
 
Hi Wendy, Audrey,

My husband goes back kl once a month. Last time I always follow him but now my son studies in morning school so my husband will goes back himself.
Audrey, you mentioned go malaysia one day before eve and come back 3rd day. Does that mean miss school for 2 days if the days you mentioned fall on weekdays?
 
Mengyuan

Spr status is cancelled when your baby obtained his sg citizenship. Yet, Your kid still can travel with his exsting malaysia passport. Ica has all the records of his new status as Singapore minor. So when your exit the Singapore there will be few scenario as below,

Step 1
Scenario 1 - non experienced officer
Give your kid passport to the officer, then conversation will start with
Officer: hey, your kid spr is cancelled,
Me: yah, he is singapore minor, can you use type 20.
Officer: what ????? Then officer will Ring to his superior, explain about the problem , get the instruction,eventually use type 20 and safe to good.
Same technic for return to Singapore

Scenario 2 - experienced officer
Pass my kid passport to the officer
Me: Singapore minor, type 20
Then officer will check in the system and verify the passport. Ready to go without any hassle.

Scenario 3 - very experienced and meow officer
Me: Singapore minor, type 20
Officer: you must get the right entry stamp for your kid within one week.
Me: ok
But still able to exit and enter singapore


The correct way, as soon as his spr is cancelled you can ask for right entry stamp for him. He has right to use both passport.
Go ica to get the right entry stamp for your kid on his Malaysia passport. Remember to ask officer to write refer to which page (new stamp) otherwise, his will facing step 1, scenario 1
 
Hi J,

Is there anyway that i can apply dual citizen for my baby if i give birth in singapore. My hb is s'porean & i'm spore pr besides of give birth in m'sia.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi wondering

No way, the only option you can hold dual citizenship is give birth at malaysia. Then apply for Singapore citizens for your baby. Unless you are a diplomat for other country then Singapore government cannot force your baby become a Singapore citizen if delivered in Singapore.
 
Me and my hubby are Singapore PR, we gave birth to baby boy last year, baby has to become Malaysia Citizen and carry Malaysia Passport. I got my Singapore citizenship 2 months later after I gave birth, then I applied Singapore Citizenship for my baby as well. He got it another 3 months later, he is entitled to $1000 of baby bonus cash gift (instead of $4000) and has a CDA dollar to dollar matching account. My baby is a minor Singapore Citizen travelling with Malaysia Passport, under the dual citizenship. He has to decide on whether to be a Malaysia or Singapore citizen when he is 21 years old.

Dear Fleckie, i have same situation as you, kindly advise how to apply my baby from malaysian to Singaporean??
 
Hi Conunut88,

I would apply IC from both Countries. As a citizen for both countries it is baby obligation to have both IC when reaches the age 12. Its not needed to tell Malaysia your baby is holding dual citizen. This will only make thing more complicated. your baby is a malaysian when he is in malaysia while in singapore he is Singaporean. So your baby need the IC as Malaysian. If you wish to send you baby to Malaysia for granny for long period of time. Then u better use only malaysia Passport. Reason....Singapore passport only allow baby to stay in Malaysia ( 30 Days). One thing need to bear in mind, We always travel with same passport in and out of the country.. Avoid the confusion.


Dear traveller, i have some query about Malaysia IC. Yes ! we need to apply IC for our kids when they turn to 12. But, if both of the parent already converted to Singapore Citizenship, I'll not sure will my kids still allow to apply they IC. Malaysia government need Malaysian parent to apply their kids IC right? If parent NOT Malaysian, can it be done ?
 
Dear traveller, i have some query about Malaysia IC. Yes ! we need to apply IC for our kids when they turn to 12. But, if both of the parent already converted to Singapore Citizenship, I'll not sure will my kids still allow to apply they IC. Malaysia government need Malaysian parent to apply their kids IC right? If parent NOT Malaysian, can it be done ?

Hi,

Good question! Never thought of this problem before as only one of us is converted to Singaporean. The other one still put some hopes on Malaysia if one day we might return to ours beloved land, whose know right. So better " don't cut the last road link to malaysia". I have friends both husband and wife have already converted to Australia citizenship but for some reason, they are regret for decision given up Malaysia citizenship so early. It is extremely hard for them to regain the Malaysian citizenship now or I should say 000000.0001 %

Back to your question, I done a search on internet that there should be possible to apply your kid identity card when they turn 12 but need some proof from parents like, parents birth cert, renunciation letter, past copy of ic. Etc....Just a curiosity, your kid reach the age of applying malaysia IC? Or you may want to write a query to malaysia embassy in Singapore. They will direct your question to Putra jaya if they don't know the answer. Hope this help.

Please share all the information if you gotta answer.
 
in all honesty, there is no need for you to be singaporean in order for your kids to attend school in singapore, you'll have to pay for a fair bit more, but it's all going to be worth it. I'm a malaysian, and my wife's singaporean, we live in singapore because I work here, and my three children are all studying in singapore (all malaysian btw). Having the "best of both worlds" is something that many people envision, but not many are lucky enough to have the option. I could say that being born in malaysia was the single best thing that ever happened to me. I lived literally 30 mins away from tuas, but my parents had bought a house in singapore for me to attend school there, so technically, I grew up in singapore. I went to Nanyang Primary School, then the Chinese High School, then Hwa Chong Junior College before heading of to the US for my undergraduate studies. My three children are currently in Berkeley, Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls Primary School respectively. Don't get me wrong, I love singapore to the core, more than I love malaysia in fact, but there are conditions of holding a singaporean passport that have not made sense enough for me to do so, or even apply for a PR.

I cannot deny the fact that Singapore has great schools, and in terms of international recognition, nothing beats the O/A levels. However if education is your objective, I reckon that you wouldn't want your child to throw away 3 years (considering most universities only start in September), just because of the national service. I know this topic has been discussed so many times that it's probably pointless to bring it up, but for people who have the option, it is in fact very significant. My parents were adamant about not wanting me to pause my education to prepare for something that they thought was never going to happen. War is never going to happen, not only because singapore wouldn't be able to last in a war, but also because singapore is too much of an asset for anyone to want to take it out. The national service indeed inculcates values that are not usually taught in schools, but that doesn't mean that without which, your child will be unlikely to succeed, it all boils down to upbringing. If you're like any typical singaporean who pays so much attention to grades that your children becomes those stereotypical nerd children that you usually see in malls (especially in United Square), then the national service will be of significance. My point is, it all depends on how much you think that your child should be in a mode whereby education is continuous so that you don't lose his momentum, my view is the same as my parents, we all love singapore, but the national service is by all means, a deal breaker.
 

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