Dual citizenship problems

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Scouttravel2016
Scouttravel2016

A friend of mine is considering applying for British citizenship. My friend is Malaysian but has British 'permanent residency'. Having a British passport would make travel easier. Malaysia, however does not recognize dual citizenship. From what I have read on the web, people advise travel using the Malaysian passport upon departure and return. I have two queries.

  1. If my friend travels to and from Malaysia on a Malaysian passport and shows British Permanent residency. On the return journey back to the UK, a landing card will need to be completed. The card requires nationality to be entered. If my friend was granted British citizenship, but is travelling on a Malaysian passport, then I assume Malaysian would be entered as nationality.

  2. In a situation described, would that mean that my friend's Permanent resident status would cease to exist assuming that British citizenship was granted?

I would like to be able to advise my friend on this situation as I would not want my friend to encounter any unforeseeable problems both in the UK and Malaysia.

Hypothetically, if one had both citizenships and decided to visit Malaysia with the Malaysian passport with the 'Right to indefinite leave' stamp, how would the UK immigration view a Malaysian citizen who had become a British citizen, but chose to enter the UK from Malaysia with a Malaysian passport with a PR stamp, despite being British and having a British passport?

Thank you for your suggestions

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marka55
marka55

The point you seem to be missing is that there is no requirement to use the same passport to exit the country you are departing from and the enter the country you are arriving in, lots of people switch passports in flight. If Malaysia wants to see your Malaysian passport to enter and leave Malaysia that does not stop you using your British passport to enter the UK (there is no exit check in the UK).

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friendly_checkingirl
friendly_checkingirl

You should exit and enter the UK on your British passport and enter and exit Malaysia on your Malaysian passport.
Don't confuse the recording of passport details at airline check-in with immigration, the two are separate from one another.
Thus,
1. Airline check-in UK show Malaysian passport.
2. Immigration UK show British.
3. Immigration Malaysia show Malaysian.
4. Airline check-in Malaysia show British.
5. Immigration Malaysia show Malaysian.
6. Immigration UK show British.

This way everyone stays happy and no questions asked. It's perfectly legal in case you're worried.

Every group has its own dynamics, if you can't see the idiot then it's probably you.
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think :-D
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Scouttravel2016
Scouttravel2016

But wouldn't the Malaysian authorities be suspicious, if one of their citizens wasn't displaying any UK stamps in their Malaysian passport despite travelling to and from the UK?

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marka55
marka55

Very few immigration officers will bother to look at all the stamps in a passport anyway and if they do question it then tell them to ask the UK government why it did not stamp your Malaysian passport. When you say that Malaysia does not recognize dual nationality, do you perhaps mean that they will cancel your citizenship if they find out that you have another nationality?

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Scouttravel2016
Scouttravel2016

THat's correct. They will present the option of which nationality to choose. I would not want my friend who is considering taking out UK citizenship to be faced with such a possibility. That's why I am exploring possible scenarios with the hope of dissuading my friend

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friendly_checkingirl
friendly_checkingirl
In response to #3

But wouldn't the Malaysian authorities be suspicious, if one of their citizens wasn't displaying any UK stamps in their Malaysian passport despite travelling to and from the UK?

Many international flights all arrive at more or less the same time in Kuala Lumpur, the queues can be very long. Immigration officers will not assume you are coming from the UK.

Every group has its own dynamics, if you can't see the idiot then it's probably you.
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think :-D
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voyager_2002
voyager_2002

Is there any particular reason why Malaysian citizenship would be important to him?

In the long run, lots of problems might arise. Think about what happens once his Malaysian passport expires and has to be renewed...

He could avoid many of the obvious issues when visiting Malaysia by flying in to Singapore or Bangkok and crossing the surface border.

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alfredm
alfredm

The Malaysian passport is not that bad. My wife still has it because she might go back to Malaysia one day.

See here photos of my trips: https://www.molon.de/
Here are detailed reports of my trips: https://www.molon.de/travelogues/
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Scouttravel2016
Scouttravel2016
In response to #7

Why would you suggest that renewing the Malaysian passport might be a problem?

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