ALOR STAR: Couples who marry overseas are responsible for registering the births of their children with the Malaysian National Registration Department (NRD) to ensure there are no complications in the future.
Kedah NRD director Yusman Hambali Ahmad said under Act 299 or the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957, each birth in the country must be registered, something which many couples who marry in Thailand may not view seriously, resulting in late registration of their children.
“Late registration of birth happens when a child is registered with the NRD more than 60 days after birth. This means that if you register on the 61st day, it is considered late.
“The main reason for late registration among Muslims is because they married in neighbouring countries including Indonesia, but in Kedah, these marriages are mostly in Thailand,“ he told Bernama when contacted today.
Bernama had previously reported that the increase in the number of Malaysian couples who marry without permission in Thailand is worrying, with 799 cases recorded last year, an increase of 233 from the 566 cases in 2017.
The report also said many couples who married in the neighbouring country did not register their marriages with the Islamic religious office here and this was worrying as it would have implications on the rights of the wife and the registration process of their children.
Last month, NRD director-general Datuk Mohammad Razin Abdullah was reported as saying that marriages overseas especially in Thailand which were not registered and endorsed by the Islamic Religious Department here were the main reasons for late registration of children’s births with the department.
According to Yusman, although the state NRD records showed only 455 late registration for births last year compared to 600 in 2017, he believed there were many couples who had not registered the birth of their children.
“I believe there are many more (who have not registered the birth of their children) with the majority being those who married in Thailand,“ he said.
He added that couples who married without permission and have not registered their marriages with the Islamic affairs office in this country can register the birth of their children with the NRD but were not allowed to use the “bin” or “binti” with the name of the biological father.
“The couples must first register their marriages with the religious department,“ he said. — Bernama
