Malaysian Applying for Canadian Citizenship

[jasonchow3889]

Hello,

My cousin was born in Malaysia and currently holds Malaysian citizenship. His father is Canadian and mother is Malaysian, and they're contemplating moving to Canada.

Assuming my cousin completes all the prerequisites for citizenship (ie. Stay here for 5 years, citizenship tests), would he be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship? When applying, would he be forced to give up his Malaysian citizenship (as Malaysia does not allow dual nationality), or can he hold both Malaysian and Canadian citizenship?

Appreciate any insight, thank you guys.

 

[hawk39]

Hello,

My cousin was born in Malaysia and currently holds Malaysian citizenship. His father is Canadian and mother is Malaysian, and they're contemplating moving to Canada.

Assuming my cousin completes all the prerequisites for citizenship (ie. Stay here for 5 years, citizenship tests), would he be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship? When applying, would he be forced to give up his Malaysian citizenship (as Malaysia does not allow dual nationality), or can he hold both Malaysian and Canadian citizenship?

Appreciate any insight, thank you guys.

If your cousin's father was born in Canada, or naturalized in Canada before your cousin's birth, then your cousin is already a Canadian citizen by descent. He just needs to apply for his citizenship certificate, and after obtaining it, he will need to apply for a Canadian passport in order to move to Canada, as Canada requires its citizens (including dual, except US-Canadian) to enter with a Canadian passport.

Canada allows multiple citizenship and will not require your cousin to renounce his Malaysian citizenship. However, since Malaysia does not allow multiple citizenship, your cousin should expect that if he were to return to Malaysia, that Malaysia could have automatically revoked his Malaysian citizenship and invalidated his Malaysian passport.