Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019

In India, citizenship is regulated by the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Act specifies that citizenship may be acquired in India through five methods – by birth in India, by descent, through registration, by naturalisation (extended residence in India), and by incorporation of territory into India.

An illegal migrant is prohibited from acquiring Indian citizenship.
An illegal migrant is a foreigner who: (i) enters the country without valid travel documents, like a passport and visa, or (ii) enters with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.
Illegal migrants may be imprisoned or deported under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.

The Act makes it clear that immigrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi communities from the Muslim-majority nations (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) will not be treated as illegal.
They will also be eligible to get naturalised citizenship.
One of the requirements for citizenship by naturalization under the 1955 Act is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years.
The amendment act relaxes this 11-year requirement to five years for persons belonging to these six religions from these three countries.
They will also no longer be deported or jailed under the Foreigners Act of 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act of 1920.
The cut-off date for citizenship is December 31, 2014 which means the applicant should have entered India on or before that date.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons in the amendment Act (SoR) states that India has had historic migration of people from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and these countries have a state religion, which has resulted in religious persecution of minority groups.

The Act clarifies that the amendments will not apply to certain areas. These are:
- the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura, as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. These tribal areas include Karbi Anglong (in Assam), Garo Hills (in Meghalaya), Chakma District (in Mizoram), and Tripura Tribal Areas District.
- the states regulated by the “Inner Line” permit under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873.

The Act also amends the provisions on registration of Overseas Citizens of India (OCI).
OCI cardholders are foreigners who are persons of Indian origin.
At present, the government may cancel a person’s OCI registration on various grounds specified in the 1955 Act.
The 2019 amendment adds another ground for cancelling OCI registration — violation of any law notified by the central government.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda recently said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be implemented and the process of framing rules is on.

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