KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — Advocacy group Family Frontiers has welcomed the government’s announcement that a constitutional amendment granting automatic citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers will be implemented by mid-2026, but is urgently calling for a solution for adult children left behind by the change.

While celebrating the progress, the group highlighted the plight of individuals who have already “aged out” of the system.

Because the new amendment is not retrospective, it does not apply to those who have already turned 21, leaving them in a state of legal limbo.

Family Frontiers said many of these individuals were born at a time when there was no formal pathway for Malaysian mothers to confer citizenship.

Today, as adults, they are still treated as “foreigners,” often relying on temporary student or social visit passes.

“Once these expire, they face the devastating prospect of being forced to leave the only country they call home,” the group said in a statement.

“As ‘non-citizens’, these individuals lack the right to work or stay permanently. This creates a heartbreaking set of circumstances where they are unable to care for their elderly Malaysian mothers.”

While acknowledging the Home Minister’s initiative in allowing some to apply for a temporary resident (myKAS) permit, Family Frontiers argued this is an insufficient substitute for full citizenship, as the path from myKAS to permanent residence and then citizenship can span decades.

To address this gap, Family Frontiers is urging the Ministry of Home Affairs to establish a Multi-Stakeholder Citizenship Task Force.

This body would be tasked with reviewing the cases of “aged-out” individuals and others who have fallen through procedural gaps, ensuring no one of Malaysian parentage is left behind.

The group also called for greater procedural transparency, including a clear and definitive pathway for adult citizenship applications through naturalisation, to prevent individuals from being left in “a state of indefinite limbo.”

Family Frontiers also praised Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for his success in clearing the long-standing backlog of citizenship applications, reducing pending cases from over 50,000 to fewer than 4,000.