A 23-year-old youth of mixed Singaporean and Thai heritage has lost his Singaporean citizenship after failing to complete his Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty (ORAL) in time, according to Lianhe Wanbao.

The youth, identified as Koh Huan Yin, was born when his Thai mother reportedly returned to Thailand to visit a relative and gave birth to him there.

Koh alleges that he was unable to take the ORAL as his requests to take leave during National Service for the necessary procedures were denied.

What is the ORAL and why take it?

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the ORAL is a necessary procedure for a minor, who is a Singaporean citizen by either descent or registration, to take within 12 months on attaining the age of 21 years to remain as a Singapore citizen.

Should the minor fail to take the ORAL within this period, "he/ she will automatically lose his/ her citizenship on attaining the age of 22 years and there is no assurance that he/ she can continue studying, working or residing in Singapore as a foreigner on any form of student pass, work pass, social visit pass or as a permanent resident".

In the case of this particular youth, Koh's Singaporean citizenship was gained through his descent from his Singaporean father.

Koh states that he was called to do NS in 2016 and had just turned 21 during that year on Sept. 5, when he received a letter from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore.

The letter stated that "[he] was an underage citizen who [had] attained [his] citizenship either through application or via biological ties to a Singaporean parent. As such, [he] had to complete [his] ORAL within a year to keep my citizenship.”

What does the ORAL involve?

The ORAL consists of multiple procedures, which can be extremely time-consuming to fulfil.

MFA states that the following documents are required:

• A copy of Minor's Identity Card

• Minor's Original Singapore Citizenship Certificate

• Certified True Copy of the Renunciation Certificate of the other country

• The prescribed Oath Form duly completed/ signed/ affirmed. Minors residing overseas may take the ORAL at the nearest Singapore Missions or with the permission of the Registrar, take the ORAL in the presence of any authorised notary public or person authorised to administer Oaths.

The ORAL applicant must therefore first visit the embassy of his original nationality to give up his original citizenship. He will then be issued a Renunciation Certificate of foreign citizenship.

This step can take from a month to a year to complete.

Following that, the applicant must visit the ICA office with the original renunciation letter and another photocopy in order to take the ORAL.

For Koh, this meant having to travel back to Thailand first, in order to attain the required documents before heading down to the Thai embassy in Singapore to renounce his Thai citizenship.

Requests for leave denied

Koh alleges that while he was in NS, his requests for leave were rejected, preventing him from making the trip to Thailand and by extension, completing his ORAL in time.

Koh had been serving as a section commander who was responsible for training new recruits until Sept. 9 last year.

ICA revoked his citizenship on Sept. 5, 2017.

Koh added that he eventually managed to visit Thailand in December 2017 to retrieve the required documents.

However, his Singaporean citizenship had already been revoked by that point, which he felt was extremely regrettable.

In order to remain in Singapore, Koh now requires a Special Pass which has to be extended every three months. Should the pass fail to be approved for extension, he will have to leave Singapore.

Koh further said:

"All my family members are in Singapore and I don’t want to leave them. I have been trying to think of ways to regain my citizenship. The last time I went to ICA to reapply for citizenship, it was rejected, but I intend to try again. Hopefully, they will let me stay in Singapore. I will definitely contribute to society.”

Mindef's response

Mindef has since issued a response to Koh's story. It said Koh did not apply for leave to go back to Thailand for the first 10 months of the one-year window to fulfil his ORAL requirements.

This is Mindef's reply in full:

Upon turning 21 years of age on 5 September 2016, Mr Koh Huan Yin was informed by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to complete his Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty (ORAL) before he turned 22, so as to retain his Singapore citizenship.

Despite the one-year period to fulfil his ORAL requirements, Mr Koh did not apply for leave to go to Thailand to renounce his citizenship until July 2017, less than two months before the deadline. At that point of time, he was a section commander managing a batch of recruits undergoing basic military training, which would have completed on 9 Sep 2017. Hence, his commander had asked him to provide supporting documents for his leave application. However, he did not follow up with the request. While he had also taken leave three times after 5 Sep 2016, Mr Koh did not fly to Thailand to renounce his Thai citizenship.

The Singapore Armed Forces would have supported Mr Koh's request for leave if he had provided the required documents as requested. We understand that ICA is currently assessing Mr Koh's appeal.

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ICA's response

An ICA spokesperson has reaffirmed that minors who obtain Singapore citizenship through blood ties or via application must complete their ORAL once they reach 21 years old to retain their citizenship.

The spokesperson added that ICA sent Koh a letter to inform him of the necessary procedures before he turned 21 and another reminder six months before his 22nd birthday. 

Under the constitution, once a citizenship is revoked, it cannot be recovered.

Emphasising that citizenship is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly, the spokesperson also stated that the ICA was reviewing Koh's citizenship application.

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