Britain first established a foothold on the
Malay Peninsula with the settlement of
Penang in 1786. Over the course of the 18th century, the British presence expanded throughout the region.
British Malaya was broadly divided into three political groupings: the
Straits Settlements, the
Federated Malay States, and the
Unfederated Malay States. The Straits Settlements were directly administered by the British government while the Malay states were areas ruled by local monarchs given limited autonomy in exchange for accepting British suzerainty. Residents of the Straits Settlements were
British subjects, but subjects of the Malay state rulers were considered
British protected persons instead. Although Britain had jurisdiction in all three types of holdings, domestic law treated the Malay states as foreign territory. British protected persons were treated as aliens in the
United Kingdom, but both Malay British subjects and protected persons could be issued British passports. Protected persons could not travel to the UK without first requesting permission, but were afforded the same consular protection as British subjects when travelling outside of the Empire. A person with connections both to directly governed portions of British Malaya and one of the Malay states could be a British subject and British protected person simultaneously. Until 1867, the Straits Settlements were governed as part of
British India. Legislation enacted in India prior to that year was applicable locally, including regulations on naturalisation. The Indian Naturalisation Act 1852 allowed foreigners residing in territory governed by the
East India Company to naturalise as British subjects by application to the government. There was no minimum residence requirement and candidates simply needed approval from a relevant official. The
oath of allegiance administered to successful applicants required them to swear loyal service to the company, as well as allegiance to the
British monarch. After separation from India, the
Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements passed the Naturalization Act, 1867 that contained virtually the same naturalisation requirements. Any person born in the Straits Settlements, the
United Kingdom, or anywhere else within Crown dominions was a natural-born British subject. Following the
Second World War, colonial authorities merged the Malay states with Penang and Malacca to form the
Malayan Union in 1946. A federal Malayan citizenship was created at its inception, although the union lasted only two years before reforming into the
Federation of Malaya. Malayan citizenship existed simultaneously with the subject statuses of the individual Malay states and British nationality in the Straits Settlements. Federal, state, and British regulations for obtaining these statuses differed and this multilayered approach to citizenship continued until Malayan independence in 1957.
Penang and Malacca Several early independence acts did not contain any provision for the loss of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies by citizens of the newly independent states. A notable case is that of the former Settlements (colonies) of
Penang and
Malacca in what is now
Malaysia. These were combined in 1948 with the nine
Malay states (which were protected states rather than colonies) to form the
Federation of Malaya. On independence on 31 August 1957, British protected persons (BPP) from the Malay states lost their BPP status. However, as a result of representations made by the
Straits Chinese, known as the "Queen's Chinese", it was agreed by the Governments of the United Kingdom and Malaya that no provision should be made for the withdrawal of Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) status from the inhabitants of Penang and Malacca, who would consequently be allowed to remain CUKCs as well as citizens of Malaya. On 16 September 1963, the colonies of
North Borneo,
Sarawak and
Singapore were joined with Malaya to form Malaysia (Singapore subsequently left Malaysia in 1965). CUKC was withdrawn from those acquiring Malaysian citizenship in 1963, but this did not affect existing citizens of the Federation. Hence, persons connected with Penang and Malacca prior to 31 August 1957, together with those born before 1983 in legitimate descent to fathers so connected, form the largest group of British Overseas citizens (estimated at over 1 million). Most also hold Malaysian citizenship. == Acquisition and loss of citizenship ==