Things You Need to Know to Renounce Your Malaysian Citizenship

As a born and breed Malaysian, the last thing we think of is to give up our citizenships and its accompanying identity. However, some still made the heavy decision to renounce after obtaining citizenship of another country. The most common factor for such move is the need to withdraw Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) in full, prior the official retirement age (extended from 55 to 60 years old over the years and there’s proposal to raise to 62).

Shall the time finally ripe and you decided to renounce in Malaysia, here’re some tips to help you navigate the process and hopefully saves you time and avoid potential frustration.

First things first. DO NOT USE your Malaysian passport when entering Malaysia as you’ll be surrendering it upon renunciation. Immigration at the airport will not allow you to leave the country without the date of entry which was recorded in the passport you used to enter.

(Unless you’re prepared to stay at an extended period in Malaysia to wait for the letter of renunciation, and willing to spend time and money to obtain the special pass — refer to the process below)

Having said that, it’s not the end of the world if you habitually or conveniently used Malaysian passport upon entry, there’s a way where you can depart with the foreign…