5.2.3

PREVIEW

What citizenship and identity documents can people living in Myanmar have?

CSCs, ACSCs and NCSCs all prove that the holder has a certain legal citizenship status under the Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. The holders of these cards may also access certain rights more easily, such as their right to travel freely, to enrol in education, to vote and to enter into marriage. 

The first time a person can apply for documents that prove their legal citizenship status is at the age of 10 years. If a person receives any of these three cards, they need to renew it at the ages of 18, 30 and 45 years. Children may have the same legal citizenship status as their parents. Their names are allowed to be included on the cards of their parents, until they reach the age of 18 years.

In addition to these cards, there are other cards, certificates and official documents that a person can have related to legal citizenship, residency and identification.

National Registration Cards (NRC) were issued to all Myanmar residents, except “foreigners”, after 1948. The government began replacing NRCs with CSCs in the 1980s. To this day, it is common for people to mistakenly refer to CSCs as ‘NRCs’. 

Temporary Registration/Identification Certificates (TRC), also known as ‘white cards’, were given under the Residents of Burma Registration Act of 1949 and the Residents of Burma Registration Rules of 1951. They were given to persons who had handed in their NRCs in citizenship scrutiny processes, but who had not received any CSCs in return. All TRCs became invalid on May 31, 2015.

Identity Cards for Nationality Verification, more commonly known as National Verification Cards (NVC), show residency in Myanmar. NVCs do not state ethnicity or religion and they do not have an expiration date. NVCs do not prove a legal citizenship status, but they can be useful in helping authorities determine legal citizenship status. They are turquoise. 

Persons who have turned in a TRC can receive an NVC. Persons who have lost their identification documents may receive an NVC. Authorities may instruct certain persons to receive NVCs if they do not have other identification. Persons with either of the three legal citizenship status cards do not need to have an NVC. 

Foreign Registration Certificates (FRC) can be issued to “foreigners”. They are valid for one year and prove residence and identity. 

A Household List or Family List identifies all members of a household or family living in the same house. This document is given by the township-level Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population offices. This document needs to be updated when the members of a family change, such as after a birth, marriage, or death. 

A Birth Certificate (Form 103) is issued by the Ministry of Health and Sports when a child is born. It is signed and issued by the Township Medical Officer. This document is important because it allows for newborn children to be registered onto a family’s Household List. It is also necessary for enrolment in primary school and for applying for any of the three scrutiny cards. 

Registered births, deaths and marriages, and Household Lists are part of how the government administers the population in Myanmar. These documents do not prove legal citizenship status but they may be used with applications for legal citizenship documentation. Birth Certificates and Household Lists are both required when applying for documents that prove legal citizenship status.

Documents for Applying for Citizenship

There are many documents that an immigration official might ask for when a person applies for documents that prove their legal citizenship status. An applicant may be asked for all of these documents or only some of them. It is also possible that the applicant is asked for documents that are not listed.

• Personal History Form
• Family Tree Form
• Original Birth Certificate
• Parents’ original identity documents and one copy of each
• Original Household List and one copy
• Death Certificates of deceased family members
• Letter of Recommendation from the Ward or Village-Tract Administrator, as proof of residence in their ward or village-tract
• Original scrutiny card, if replacing or renewing a scrutiny card
• Original Blood Test Report
• Photos

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION

1. Review the documents that are useful for applying for scrutiny cards. Do you currently have each document?
2. Which of these documents should be required and which should be optional?
3. Which are the hardest to get?

FOCUS ON MYANMAR:
Awaiting legal citizenship status

Many people were given NRCs after Burma’s independence in 1948. There were not three different cards at that time, and so NRCs were recognised as evidence of a legal citizenship status equal to the status of today’s CSCs. NRC-holders were recognised as legal citizens of Burma and not considered “foreigners”. Those considered to be “foreigners” were instead given Foreign Registration Cards, under the Registration of Foreigners Act of 1940 and its Rules of 1948.

In 1982, the Burma Citizenship Law was adopted. The 1983 Procedures, which complemented the new law, stated that three new cards be issued and the government then announced that all NRCs would be replaced with CSCs through a nationwide process in 1989. However, many people who handed in their NRCs were not given CSCs and their old NRCs were not returned to them.

In 1995, some of the people who used to have NRCs were instead given TRCs. These cards did not prove any legal citizenship status. TRCs were only proof of an individual’s identity and residence. Therefore, people who used to have NRCs became de facto stateless and they also lost an important part of evidence to prove their former legal citizenship status. Moreover, although the TRCs were supposed to be temporary, many people who were given TRCs never received a CSC and had to keep their TRCs for many years.

In 2015, the government announced that all TRCs would become invalid and had to be handed in to the authorities. Some TRC-holders followed the announcement of the government and handed in their cards, while others did not.

Later in 2015, the government announced that former TRC-holders should apply for an NVC. This card would not prove a legal citizenship status, but it would enable them to apply for scrutiny cards. It is not known how many NVC-holders have successfully been able to apply for scrutiny cards to prove their legal citizenship status.

DISCUSSION/REFLECTION

How would you feel if you were a former NRC-holder who currently has no proof of legal citizenship status?