Who can get Indian citizenship?
Why is the citizenship law in the news?
Almost four years after the law was made, the Central Government made enforceable the Indian Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2019 by issuing a notification on 11 March 2024. When this law was passed in 2019, there were fierce protests across the country and so after its enforcement.
What is citizenship?
In general terms, citizenship means the nationality of a person. It creates a legal relationship between the individual and the nation which determines the legal status of that individual, his duties and rights toward the nation. There are many such rights in the country which are available only to the citizens here and not to the foreigners or migrants living here.
What is asylum?
Asylum is different from citizenship. Citizens are permanent residents of that country unless they renounce their citizenship as per legal provisions or the state revokes their citizenship. Asylum is when a person seeks the right to stay in another country for some time because of any specific problem in his or her home country. His purpose is to stay there temporarily. He intends to return to his country once the situation there has improved.
They are generally permitted to stay in that country on humanitarian grounds. Their legal rights are limited. For example, for the last 70 years, the people of Tibet have been living here as refugees due to the occupation of their country by China. But they cannot demand equal rights of citizens here but are spending time in the hope that when the situation in Tibet becomes normal then they will go back to their country.
Who are immigrants?
People who temporarily live in other countries for some special work, like tour, study, research, job or for participating in any event, are called immigrants.
There are differences in the legal status, rights and duties of citizens, refugees and immigrants.
There is a legal procedure to enter a country. That country has the right to make rules and procedures to enter or stop someone from entering its country. If someone enters without completing this process or unauthorised way, or overstaying a visa, Called illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are considered criminals in the country.
Their status, activities, purpose of coming etc. are not known to the government, hence they are considered dangerous for the security of the country. Secondly, every country’s land and other material resources are limited. If people start coming from outside without limit, there will be a shortage of these resources for the native people there. Therefore, all countries have the right to make certain rules for coming to their country and stop anyone from coming.
What are the basic laws regulating citizenship in India?
The provisions related to citizenship in India are given in Part II of the Constitution (Articles 5 to 11). Article 11 gives the power to make laws in this regard to Parliament. Using this power, Parliament passed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1955.
The 1955 Act has been amended in 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005 and 2015. It has been amended for the sixth time in 2019.
Problems of Indian Citizenship Law
One of the main problems facing India after independence was the question of citizenship. People who lived in the geographical area of India before the country was declared a republic on 26 January 1950, naturally became citizens of India. But the problem was that what should be the criteria for giving Indian citizenship to the people who came from the areas that were separated from the country after partition? It became necessary for them to create a time limit. Therefore, some temporary provisions were made in the Constitution regarding the granting of citizenship for post-partition circumstances.
The second problem was that certain areas were laid within the geographical boundaries of the country; as Goa, Daman, Diu – had not yet become a part of the country.
Basis for obtaining Indian citizenship
In India, four grounds have been recognized for granting citizenship to a person:
a. Birth
b. Registration
c. Residence
d. Lineage
e. Six religious communities– Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis (Parsees) and Christians – declared as a minority by three neighbouring Islamic countries– Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan– who have come to India before December 31, 2014, lives here for at least six years and want to live here permanently (added in 2019).
What is the amendment made in CAA i.e. Citizenship Act in 2019?
The Constitution of India and the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 create four grounds for Indian citizenship i.e. (1) Birth (2) Descent (3) Registration, and (4) Residence, the 2019 amendment adds one more basis to it. On fulfilment of these conditions, Indian citizenship can be acquired by following a certain procedure. There were five amendments in this Act before 2019 but the grounds of citizenship were not changed whereas the sixth amendment in 2019 added another new ground to it.
But the new basis added by the Sixth Amendment in 2019 is that:
(1) If people from six religious minority communities- Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Christian and Parsi;
(2) From three neighbouring countries– Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh;
(3) Entered India before December 31, 2014;
(4) Stay here for consecutive six-year;
Seeks Indian citizenship here on the grounds of religious persecution, they can be given Indian citizenship after completing the necessary procedures.
No legal provision already in force, or any right of anyone, has been abrogated.
By this amendment, religion was made one basis of citizenship and the provision for granting citizenship based on residence was reduced from 11 years to six years for a particular category of immigrants and this is the root cause of the controversy.
| Situation before the 2019 Act | Changes brought by the 2019 Act | |
| 1 | Earlier there was no provision to grant citizenship to those coming or staying in India illegally. They were taken into custody and sent to their country. | Now there is a provision to give citizenship to those who have come to India illegally or are living here illegally till December 31, 2014. For example, people from Pakistan who came here legally on religious visa for pilgrimage but overstayed their visa. |
| 2 | Earlier, there were only four grounds for citizenship– birth, lineage, residence and registration. That is, whoever met these criteria would get Indian citizenship, no matter which religion he belonged to. | This Act provides for granting citizenship to six religious communities coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan– Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians. That means only Muslim immigrants have been kept out of it. |
| 3 | In the post-independence period, there were special provisions for people coming from undivided India. But the laws made later were not for any particular country. | In this, provision has been made only for the people coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have minority status there. |
| 4 | Till now there was a provision of staying in India for 11 years for citizenship based on residence. | By this law, this limit has been reduced for a particular category. This class is the immigrants from six minority communities who have come from these three countries. |
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (Act No. 47 of 2019)
The Act was passed by the Lok Sabha on 10 December and by the Rajya Sabha on 11 December 2019. After getting the assent of then President Ramnath Kovind on December 12, this bill got the status of Act i.e. law. Now only gazette notification was required for its implementation which was done on March 11, 2024.
This law was also introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2016, which was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on August 12, 2016, due to disagreement. This committee gave its report on January 7, 2019. Which was approved by the Lok Sabha on 8 January. However, due to the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, it could not be passed at that time. Therefore, after the formation of the new Lok Sabha, it was again passed by both houses.
Four grounds to get Indian citizenship before 2019
By the Act of 1955, the same four grounds for obtaining Indian citizenship were laid down which are in Part 2 of the Constitution. These four bases are as follows:
1. Birth: A person is a citizen of India by birth if he is born:
(1) In India between 26th January 1950 and 1st July 1987, or
(2) Is born after 1st July 1987 and at the time of his birth neither of his parents is a citizen of India;
(3) Is born after 7th January 2004 and at the time of his birth (a) both his parents are citizens of India, or (b) one of them is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal immigrant.
2. Lineage: If a person is born outside India, he will be a citizen of India under the following circumstances:
(1) He is born between 26 January 1950 and 10 December 1992 and his father is a citizen of India at the time of his birth; or
(2) He is born after 10th December 1992 but at the time of his birth, either of his father or mother is a citizen of India.
(3) It is necessary for the guardian of a child born outside India after 3 December 2004 to register the child at the Indian Consulate within one year of his birth and declare that the child does not hold a passport of any other country (The Government of India reserves the right to allow registration even after one year in certain special circumstances).
3. Registration: The Government may grant Indian citizenship to the following persons on application under Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act 1955, provided they are not illegal immigrants:
(1) He is of Indian origin and has been residing in India for seven years before making the application; or
(2) He is married to a citizen of India and has been residing in India for seven years before making the application;
(3) He is adult and mentally competent and has previously been a citizen of independent India, or either or both of his parents and has been resident in India for one year before making the application;
(4) He must be of adult age and mentally competent and has been registered as a foreign citizen in India for the last seven years and has been residing in India for the last one year.
4. Residence: If a foreign national has been living in India for the last 11 years. Out of these 11 years, he must have lived in India for at least 5 out of the last seven years. (He/she has not stayed in any other country for more than 2 years during this period) and has been in India continuously for the last one year, then he can get Indian citizenship.
Single Citizenship: Features of Indian Citizenship
There is a provision of single citizenship, that is, no Indian citizen can take citizenship of any other country. That means he cannot be a citizen of two countries simultaneously.
Termination of Indian citizenship
There is single citizenship in India, so if an Indian citizen deliberately takes the citizenship of any other country, his Indian citizenship will be cancelled.
In America, there is a law to get citizenship by birth. It means if an Indian couple temporarily lives in America for any reason and their child is born there, that child will automatically be considered a citizen of the USA according to American law. But in such a situation, his/her Indian citizenship will not be automatically terminated because he/she has not done so voluntarily. There are separate regulations for this.
Goa, Daman and Diu, though currently integral parts of India, became part of India later. Before that, despite being in Indian Territory, they were under the occupation of some other country, hence separate special provisions were needed for them.
According to Regulation 3A of the Citizenship Regulation 1956, “a person who is a citizen of India issued under section 7 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, the Dadra, Nagar and Haveli (Citizenship) Order, 1962, or the Goa, Daman and Diu (Citizenship) Order, 1962 has become an Indian citizen based on and a passport issued by any other country. The fact that he has not surrendered his passport before 19th January 1963, shall be conclusive proof that he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of that country before that date. After becoming a part of India, the citizens here will have to return their old passports.”
