Post
by cintapants » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:05 pm
Hi everyone -
I've noticed that this has been touched on a few times in the forums, but with no real result.
I gather that many others have experience of this - so would be very grateful if you could share your experiences.
- I am a Malaysian national that was born in the UK
- Malaysia does not recognise Dual Nationality
- Back in 1992 when I returned to the UK after living in Malaysia with my parents, I was given the CoE-Right to Abode
- I became resident in this country, but returning to Malaysia frequently
- Over time, my career required a significant amount of EU and US travel - and the Malaysian passport caused real issues with my frequent travel in and out of the non-UK countries
- I decided to take-up the option to get a British Passport in 2004 to get over this. It was simple at the time, I could have 2 passports, one with a ROA in. I also renewed my Malaysian passport in 2004 - which has been a dream, because this gave me almost border-less travel around the world on my British passport and Asia on my Malaysian one. Malaysia assumes that I have ROA as per my passport, so no questions asked about entry stamps and length of time spent in the UK
... UNTIL NOW...
- I renewed my Malaysian passport this month in London and need to transfer my ROA from one passport to another
- But as per the British rule change in 2006, I am now no longer allowed to have a CoE of Right to Abode in my Malaysian passport, because I also have a British one - PROBLEMO!
- The next time I go back to Malaysia (which is usually an annual event), they will notice that I have no ROA stamp in my passport. This will ultimately raise suspicions about dual nationality and I will be faced with the horror of having to CHOOSE one nationality over the other.
- I do not want to give up my Malaysian citizenship. I don't want my cultural identity wrenched away from me. Moreover, I am an East Malaysian - which means that I can travel to and from Malaysian Borneo without ANY restriction - a real luxury as even Peninsula Malaysians are only granted a 3-month leave to remain in Sabah/Sarawak
- My folks live in Malaysia - I want to be able to see them often and stay in my 'motherland'
- My career still means I travel a lot within the EU and USA, I don't want to have to queue at embassies (let alone being singled out at US immigration because of my Malaysian passport (which has happened about 6 times now) everytime I need to go away for a meeting in New York.
- In the future, I may want to return to East Malaysia - and should I have children, I want them to have the choice of being Malaysian or British too
Can anyone offer any advice????
(1) How can I retain both?
(2) How can I come and go through Malaysia without been 'found-out'?
Ie - How can I have my cake and eat it? LOL
Thanks so much in advance!