KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — The National Registration Department (NRD) approved 286 MyKAS applications, or 96 per cent of the 298 applications received for the document between 2022 and May 31, 2026, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said.

MyKAS (Kad Pengenalan Pemastautin Sementara) is a green, temporary resident identity card issued by the NRD to non-citizens.

He said the department also received 3,117 late birth registration applications from the Indian community, of which 2,810 applications, or 90.1 per cent, had been approved, while another 251 were still being processed.

“For citizenship applications, a total of 1,018 applications have been recorded. Of these, 503 applications, or 49.4 per cent, are still being processed, while 141 applications, or 13.9 per cent, have been approved,” he said during the Special Chamber sitting in the Dewan Rakyat today in reply to a question from Dr V. Sivakumar (PH-Batu Gajah) on the status of documentation and identity card ownership among the Indian community in Malaysia.

On citizenship approvals, Shamsul Anuar explained that the approval statistics referred to applications that had received a decision, with citizenship certificates issued and handed over to the applicants.

“Although an application may have been approved by the Home Ministry (KDN), it will still be recorded as being processed in the NRD system if the certificate has yet to be applied for, printed or handed over to the applicant,” he said.

To address documentation issues in rural areas, Shamsul Anuar said the NRD had adopted a proactive approach through the Menyemai Kasih Rakyat (MEKAR) programme by deploying officers to the ground to ensure those facing access constraints were not left behind in obtaining identity documents.

He also stressed that the ministry had not appointed any non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as intermediaries for NRD applications, as all processes are governed by legal provisions.

Replying to a supplementary question from Sivakumar on the main causes of late birth registration, Shamsul Anuar said the NRD had identified several contributing factors, including parents’ lack of awareness of the requirement to register a child’s birth within the stipulated period of 60 days in Peninsular Malaysia and 42 days in Sabah and Sarawak.

Other factors included family-related issues such as separation or divorce, financial constraints preventing parents from visiting registration offices, and incomplete supporting documents.

To expedite approvals for late birth registration applications, he said the NRD had delegated approval powers to the state level, enabling applications to be processed more quickly without requiring every case to be referred to the headquarters.

“This delegation of authority has also reduced bureaucratic burdens, shortened application processing times and improved the efficiency of service delivery to the public,” he said. — Bernama