The one thing to check first

Will your baby be a US citizen?

A child born abroad to qualifying US citizen parents is a US citizen from their first breath — no visa tricks, no gray areas. But Malaysia grants no citizenship by birthplace, so this is the question to answer before any other planning. Two minutes, up to six questions, plain English.

Why we screen so hard

Because the stakes are a passport, not a preference.

Here is the honest reason this page exists. The United States passes citizenship by blood, not just by birthplace — and the rules have edges. Malaysia, meanwhile, grants no citizenship to children of two foreign parents. A family that fails the US transmission rules and delivers in Malaysia could have a baby with no citizenship at all on day one.

That outcome is rare, avoidable, and completely unacceptable — which is why this screening is the first conversation we have with every family, why "not sure" answers get routed to a human, and why edge cases go to a qualified immigration attorney before anyone books a flight. Most families pass easily. We just never assume.

Quick answers

Three things people ask next

Does being born in Malaysia give my baby anything from Malaysia?
No — and that's by design of Malaysian law, not a loophole. Malaysia follows citizenship by descent, so a child of two foreign parents gets a Malaysian birth certificate but not Malaysian citizenship. Your baby is simply an American born abroad, like tens of thousands born to US families overseas every year.
How does the citizenship actually get documented?
Through a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) at the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur — an appointment where you present the birth certificate, your passports, your marriage certificate if applicable, and evidence of the US residence or physical presence this screener just asked about. Then you apply for baby's first US passport. We've assembled this exact file twice; it's very doable with the right preparation.
What counts as "physical presence" in the US?
Actual time on US soil — school years, jobs, childhood, military service (which gets special treatment). It doesn't need to be continuous, and you prove it with things like transcripts, tax records, and employment history. If adding it up feels murky, that's exactly the kind of case we sit down with — and, when needed, hand to an immigration attorney.

Prefer to talk it through with a person?

The first thing we do in every consult is this screening — properly, with your documents, and with everything that comes after it mapped out.

Book a consult