India is the 2nd most populated country in the world And one of the biggest business Gateway in Southeast Asia, Victor leading tech industries and various industries which provide a lot of educational and work opportunities for people around the world to settle in or work in India. Being one of the fastest-growing economies of the world India is receiving a huge number of immigrants among which many want to settle in India and the best way to live in India is by getting an Indian citizenship

There are various ways to become an Indian citizen according to the Indian citizenship act 1995. Four main ways to become an Indian citizen are –

1. By birth
2. By descent
3. By registration
4. By naturalisation

NO DUAL CITIZENSHIP 

India is one of those countries which do not provide dual citizenship or dual nationality to its citizens. This means a person can have only one citizenship either of India or any other country, if a person is already a citizen of any other country and wants to be a citizen of India then they have to leave citizenship of that country and only accept the citizenship of India.

Citizenship by birth (Section – 3)i) Any person born in India on or before 26 January 1950 or before 1 July 1987, is an Indian citizen by birth regardless of nationality.

1. Any person born in India on or before 1 July 1987, and before 3 December 2004, is considered an Indian citizen by birth if one of his or her parents is an Indian citizen at the time of birth.

1. A person born in India on or before 3 December 2004 is considered an Indian citizen by birth if both parents are Indian citizens or one of the parents is an Indian citizen and the other is not an illegal immigrant at the time of his or her birth.

1. BY DECSENT (SECTION-4)

Anyone born abroad on or before January 26, but before 10 December 1992, can be considered an Indian citizen by birth if his or her father is an Indian citizen by birth.

1. Anyone who was born outside India on or before December 10, 1992, but before 3 December 2004, can be considered an Indian citizen if, at the time of their birth, any parent is an Indian citizen by birth.

1. Anyone born outside of India on or before 3 December 2004, may be considered an Indian citizen if his or her parents declare that the minor does not have a foreign passport and that his or her birth is registered at an Indian embassy within the year of their birth. There is also a set procedure.

1. BY REGISTRATION (SECTION- 5)

Indian Citizenship by registration can be acquired (not illegal migrant) by: –

Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in India for SEVEN YEARS before making application under section 5(1)(a) (throughout twelve months immediately before making application and for SIX YEARS in the aggregate in the EIGHT YEARS preceding the twelve months). The application shall be made in Form I.

Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in any country or place outside undivided India under section 5(1)(b).

People who are married to a citizen of India and who are ordinarily resident in India for SEVEN YEARS (as mentioned at (a) above) before making application under section 5(1)(c). The application shall be made in Form-II.

Minor children whose both parents are Indian citizens under section 5(1)(d). The application shall be made by his parents in Form-III.

Persons of full age whose both parents are registered as citizens of India under section 5(1)(a) or section 6(1) can acquire Indian citizenship under section 5(1)(e). The application shall be made in Form III-A.

Persons of full age who or either of the parents was earlier citizen of Independent India and residing in India for ONE YEAR immediately before making application under section 5(1)(f). The application shall be made in Form III- B.

Persons of full age and capacity who have been registered as an OVERSEAS CITIZEN OF INDIA (OCI) for five years and residing in India for ONE YEAR before making application under section 5(1)(g). The application shall be made in Form III-C.

Clarification: A person shall be deemed to be a Person of Indian origin if he, or either of his parents, was born in undivided India or in such other territory which became part of India after the 15th day of August 1947.

(Section 5(4))

Any minor child can be registered as a citizen of India under Section 5(4) if the Central Government is satisfied that there are? special circumstances? justifying such registration. Each case would be considered on merits. The application shall be made in Form-IV.

Procedure

Application in relevant Form for grant of Indian citizenship by registration under section 5 has to be submitted to the Collector/District Magistrate of the area where the applicant is resident. The application has to be accompanied by all the documents and fees payments as mentioned in the relevant Forms. Applications must be complete in all respects otherwise valuable time of the applicant would be lost in making good the deficiencies after they were detected. The application along with a report on the eligibility and suitability of the applicant is to be sent by the Collector/District Magistrate to the concerned State Government/UT Administration within 60 days. Thereafter, the State Govt./UT Administration shall forward the application to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India within 30 days.

Each application is examined in MHA in terms of the eligibility criteria under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship Rules, 1956. If the applicant is not fulfilling the eligibility criteria, communication to this extent would be sent through the State Govts./UT Administration. Any deficiency in the application would be brought to the notice of the applicant through the State Govt./ UT Administration. The applicant, thereafter, has to make good the deficiency through the State Govts./UT Administration. No correspondence would be made directly with the applicant. However, a copy of the correspondence through the State Govts./UT Administration would be marked to the applicant. Each applicant whose case is found to be eligible after scrutiny of the application is informed about the acceptance of his application through the State Government. The applicant should not renounce his foreign citizenship till the citizenship application is accepted and informed of the decision. The applicant is then required to furnish through the State Government, a certificate of the renunciation of his foreign citizenship issued by the mission of the concerned country, proof of fee payment as per SCHEDULE IV of the Act, and personal particulars in Form-V. Thereafter, a certificate of Indian citizenship is issued to the applicant through the State Government.

4. BY NATURALISATION(SECTION-6)

Anyone can acquire citizenship if they are usually a citizen of India for 12 years (within 12 months before the application date and 11 years inclusive) and complete other qualifications as set out in Schedule Three of the Citizenship Act.

Earlier this month, Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

Under this amendment, illegal immigrants entered India on or before 31 December 2014, members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Persian and Christian religions facing “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their home countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh. and Afghanistan) are eligible for citizenship. It also reduces the need for local residence from 11 years to 6 years. However, the law is being challenged in the Supreme Court.

By nature, here are the documents you need:

1. A copy of a valid foreign passport

1. Copy of Residential Permit / LTV

1. A copy of the first Bank Challan amounting to Rs.1500 / – deposited in the State Bank of India.

1. One affidavit from the applicant (and two affidavits from two Indians attesting to the applicant’s character in the prescribed language found on the application form.

1. Two language certificates confirming the applicant’s knowledge of any of the Indian languages ​​specified in Schedule E eight of the Constitution. (Language certificate from a recognized educational institution or a recognized organization or two Indian citizens in the applicant region).

1. Two newspapers (traveling to the region in which the applicant resides) cut out different dates or different newspapers announced his intention to apply for citizenship in the prescribed language which is available on the application form.

REFERENCES

1. https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/acquisition1.htm
2. https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-3602-methods-of-acquiring-and-losing-of-citizenship-under-indian-citizenship-act.html

Aishwarya Says:

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