Modern Singapore was founded in 1819 and soon after merged with
Penang and
Malacca to form the
Straits Settlements in 1826. After their incorporation as
Crown dominions in 1858,
British nationality law applied to the Straits Settlements, as was the case elsewhere in the
British Empire. Singaporeans and all other imperial citizens were
British subjects; any person born in Singapore, the
United Kingdom, or anywhere else within Crown dominions was a natural-born British subject. In the rest of
British Malaya outside of the Straits Settlements, local Malay rulers were given limited autonomy in exchange for accepting British suzerainty. Subjects of the rulers in the
Federated Malay States and
Unfederated Malay States were considered
British protected persons. Although Britain held jurisdiction in all of British Malaya, domestic law treated the Malay states as foreign territory. British protected persons were treated as aliens in the
United Kingdom, but both 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. British nationality law during this time was uncodified and did not have a standard set of regulations, relying instead on past
precedent and
common law. Until the mid-19th century, it was unclear whether rules for naturalisation in the United Kingdom were applicable elsewhere in the Empire. Each colony had wide discretion in developing their own procedures and requirements for naturalisation up to that point. In 1847, the
Imperial Parliament formalised a clear distinction between subjects who naturalised in the UK and those who did so in other territories. Individuals who naturalised in the UK were deemed to have received the status by imperial naturalisation, which was valid throughout the Empire. Those naturalising in colonies were said to have gone through local naturalisation and were given subject status valid only within the relevant territory; a subject who locally naturalised in the Straits Settlements was a British subject there, but not in
Bengal or
New South Wales. When travelling outside of the Empire, British subjects who were locally naturalised in a colony were still entitled to imperial protection. Singapore citizenship was first granted in 1957. Singapore Citizenship Ordinance 1957 which commenced on 1 November 1957 provided Singapore citizenship to all people who were born in Singapore (except children of diplomats and enemy aliens). People who were born in the
Federation of Malaya or
citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who had been resident for two years, and others who had been resident for eight years were able to register or naturalise as Singapore citizen. When Singapore gained internal self-government in 1959, Singapore became an independent Commonwealth country for the purpose of
British nationality law. From then on, Singaporean passports had the unusual nationality status of "British subject: citizen of the State of Singapore" instead of the usual "British subject: citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies". There are treaties signed by the
United Kingdom during this period that specifically mention this unusual nationality status. In 1963, Singaporean nationality law was incorporated into the new Constitution of the State of Singapore. The constitution repealed the 1957 Ordinance, and all persons who were citizens as of 16 September 1963 by virtue of the Ordinance continued to be Singapore citizens. All Singaporean citizens became
Malaysian citizens on 16 September 1963 upon Singapore's
merger with Malaysia on that date.
Malaysian nationality law provided that Singapore citizenship to continue to exist as a subnational citizenship. Singapore citizenship continued to be legislated by the
Legislative Assembly of Singapore, subject to the approval of the
Parliament of Malaysia. Singapore citizenship was inseparable from Malaysian citizenship; it was not possible to have Singaporean citizenship without having Malaysian citizenship. Upon Singapore's secession from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, Malaysian citizenship was withdrawn from Singaporean citizens. The Constitution was amended in 2004 to allow female citizens and citizens by descent to transmit their citizenship to children born overseas. For this to occur, citizens by descent must satisfy certain residency requirements. == Acquisition and loss of citizenship ==