MINISTRY TO SPEED UP APPROVAL FOR CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 (Bernama) -- The Home Ministry will speed up the
approval for Malaysian citizenship, entry permit and birth registration so long
as the applications meet the criteria set by the government, Minister
Hishammuddin Hussein said.

For citizenship, he said, the ministry targeted to process all applications
by end of the year.

"We will approve all applications if they meet the criteria set by the
government so that they can contribute to the country's development process,"
he said in a statement.

He was commenting on the 11 measures announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak
in conjunction with his 100th day in office today, which included measures to
reduce crime and fight corruption as well as facilitating applications for
registration of births in Sabah and Sarawak.

Hishammuddin said that as of June 30 this year, the ministry had disposed of
a total of 14,443 applications for citizenship while 18,484 more were still
pending.

The ministry would also speed up the approval for late registration of
births so that the affected children would not be deprived of their rights to
facilities, including the rights to education.

"To me, it is not fair if these children are left behind due to bureaucratic
red tapes.

"I will ensure that those who are qualified will not be sidelined," he said,
adding that a total of 35,012 out of 37,783 applications received between 2005
and June 2009 had been approved while 2,696 were still being processed and 75
rejected.

He said that for Sabah, 33,505 of 36,534 applications received during the
same period had been approved, 2,870 were still being processed and 159
rejected.

To speed up the approval process for permanent residency, he said, the
Immigration Department would focus on three categories of applications, namely
foreign wives of Malaysian citizens who had been staying continuously in the
country for five years or more under social visit passes or other passes.

Other categories are application by children of Malaysian citizens aged six
and below, and by spouses and children of Malaysian professionals abroad who
wanted to return to the country, he said.

He said that of the 34,523 applications for permanent residency between 2001
and 2008, a total of 19,728 had been approved, 5,299 were still being processed
and 9,496 rejected.

On appeal cases referred to the Home Minister, he said, 2,333 out of 9,468
cases had been approved, 3,765 were still being processed and 3,370 rejected.

Hishammuddin also said that the ministry was stepping up measures to fight
crime throughout the country with the focus on snatch theft.

He assured the people that other crimes would be similarly tackled, and
urged them to assist the authorities by channelling information through the
ministry's portals at www.ikdn.org or www.ikdn.gov.my or sending text messages
to 019-3888993.

He said that in line with the 1Malaysia concept, the ministry would also
review outdated acts, including the Internal Security Act (ISA) and had set up a
special committee to look into the matter.

He said the ministry would also tighten its Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
at all levels in line with the national Key Result Areas (KRA).

The ministry, he said, would continue to be firm but at the same time be
people-friendly.

He added that the ministry had identified six KRAs namely enhancing public
safety, ensuring laws and regulations are up-to-date, improving safety and
addressing overcrowding in prisons and detention centres, improving the welfare
of enforcement officers, enhancing delivery of services as well as strengthening
national unity and integration.
-- BERNAMA