KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 13 -- Foreign nationals who marry Muslim Malay citizens in Malaysia will not automatically see their ethnicity altered or qualify for special Bumiputera privileges, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said in a written parliamentary reply.

He stressed that the National Registration Department (JPN) does not reclassify a foreign national's ancestral lineage based solely on marriage, amid persistent questions around the legal and administrative status of cross-border marriages.

"Determining whether an individual holds Bumiputera status, as well as their eligibility to enjoy rights or privileges allocated to Bumiputera, falls outside JPN's jurisdiction," Saifuddin said in the written reply dated October 12...