For the benefit of those husbands experiencing difficulty in obtaining permanent residence status for their spouses, I explain below the procedure before Ghazali Shafie became our home minister.

The husband who marries a foreigner applies for an entry permit for his wife to enter Malaysia with documentary proof of his marriage. The visa was granted without any problem. On arrival in the country, the husband and wife present themselves at the National Registration Department and produce the wife's visa. The department gives the wife a red identity card which gives her permanent residence status.

After living in Malaysia for two years, she qualifies to apply for citizenship by the constitutional provision of 'registration' unlike 'naturalisation'. The only condition for the process of registration for citizenship was for the couple to register their marriage at the civil marriage registry which could be done without any hassle.

When Ghazali became the home minister, the procedures were arbitrarily changed and we now have the current shameful state of affairs. Instead of liberating the frustrated couple from their anxiety and frustration, our present deputy home minister has the cheek to say that PR applications are delayed because the applicants do not inform the ministry of any change of address.

Instead of making frivolous and frankly silly statements, he should put the old procedure which I have explained as above back in practice Is it not a citizen's right to live with his chosen partner in his home country and raise a family peacefully? Is it not a universal practice?

While these law-abiding citizens struggle for the right to live in our country, we are told that the same ministry which denies the spouses PR (according to reports) has distributed MyKads with citizenship rights to illegal immigrants by the millions! Can this sort of idiotic contradiction happen or be allowed to happen anywhere else in the world?

I am told that the laws in the constitution as to foreign spouses have not been amended from pre-Ghazalie days. Perhaps some smart lawyer should challenge the current practice and procedures of the Home Ministry is this regard.

The procedure I explained above is what I went through with respect to my foreign-born wife whom I married overseas. It is therefore from the horse's mouth.