To become a citizen one must be a resident for 6 out of 9 years (including the previous year)

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According to rules notified on Monday, March 11, people seeking Indian nationality under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 will become eligible to apply after spending at least 12 months in the country before the date of application.

Additionally, the rules state that the applicant will be eligible to obtain Indian citizenship only if he or she has spent at least six years in the country out of the eight years immediately preceding those 12 months.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 paves the way for granting Indian nationality to undocumented non-Muslim immigrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians – who came to India before December 31, 2014, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. .

The rules also state that applicants must provide an eligibility certificate issued by a locally reputed community institution confirming that he or she belongs to the ‘Hindu/Sikh/Buddhist/Jain/Parsi/Christian community and belongs to the above community’ Will remain a member of. mentioned communities’.

According to the rules, applicants also have to give a declaration that they ‘irrevocably renounce’ the existing citizenship and that they wish to have ‘India as their permanent home’.

‘Every application made under sub-rule (1) by the applicant shall contain a declaration to the effect that in the event of his application being accepted he will irrevocably renounce his citizenship of that country and that he will make no claim thereto. The future,’ it said.

The rules provide a separate application procedure for these sub-categories:

  • person of indian origin,

  • A person who is married to an Indian citizen,

  • Minor child of an Indian citizen,

  • A person whose parents are Indians,

  • A person who was once a citizen of independent India,

  • A person whose parents (can be any of the parents) were citizens of independent India,

  • A person who is registered as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder

  • and a person seeking citizenship by naturalization.