Explainer: How does one become an Indian Citizen? What changed with the CAA?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 18, 2019
Violent protests have erupted across the country after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was notified. But how does one acquire Indian Citizenship? What does this amendment change? Here is an explainer.
Violent protests haveerupted in different parts of India following the amendment made to the Citizenship Act of 1955. The Central Government stated that through this
act, the persecuted religious minorities (Hindus,Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis & Christians) from three neighbouringcountries of Pakistan, Bangladesh & Afghanistan will be granted citizenshipunder certain conditions. But who is a citizen of India? How can one acquire Indiancitizenship? What is this amendment made in 2019, popularly known as the CAA,which has sparked a lot of controversy? Here is an explainer.
Citizenship and rules for acquiring it are different
in different countries
Differentcountries have different rules pertaining to citizenship based on history,treaties and public
international law. For instance, in the United
States, a person acquires US Citizenshipjust by birth in the country. Being a permanent resident (authorised to liveand work in US) in the country for five years makes one eligible to apply forcitizenship by naturalisation.
In India,citizenship and its acquisition has been defined in detail in the Citizenship
Act of 1955. This act was originallypassed in 1955 and since then, has been amended five times- in 1986, 2003,2005, 2015 and 2019. The act defines who an Indian
citizen is and how one can acquire the same.The Home Ministry is the sole authority for any issue pertaining to Indiancitizenship.
As per the act, there are four ways to obtain Indian Citizenship-
What about by Birth?
Every person born in India on or after 26 January 1950 and  before 01 July 1987 is an Indian citizen. An amendment made in 2003 granted citizenship to those born in India between 1 July 1987 till the date of notification of the ‘Citizenship Amendment Act of 2003’, provided at least one parent was an Indian citizen when the person was born. Since the amendment made in 2003, one will be an Indian citizen by birth only if at least one of the parents is an Indian citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant.
Citizenship by descent, as the title suggests, refers
to citizenship by virtue of Parentage
A person who isborn outside India between 26 January 1950 and 10 December 1992 will be grantedIndian citizenship if his/her father was an Indian citizen by birth at the timeof the person’s birth.  In case of persons born outside India between 10December 1992 and before 03 December 2004, citizenship will be granted only ifeither of their parents is an Indian citizen by birth.
In both the cases,to acquire Indian citizenship, if the parent is an Indian citizen by descent,then the person’s birth should be registered in the concerned Indian Consulatewithin one year from the date of birth.
As per the 2003amendment, post 03 December 2004, citizenship will be granted to those bornoutside the country only if the parents declare that the minor does not holdthe passport of any other country and the birth of the person should have alsobeen registered in the Indian Consulate within one year.
The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 has redefined
illegal migrants
The recent amendment act of 2019 defines illegal migrant as a foreigner in India who
The latest
amendment to the act states the following:
In other words,those persons from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan belonging to Hindu,Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities, who enteredIndia on or before 31 December 2014 are no longer considered illegal migrants.
What is Citizenship by Registration?
Except for illegalmigrants, Indian citizenship can also be acquired by registration. Thosepersons of Indian origin, who have been residing in the country for seven yearsor are residents in countries outside undivided India are eligible to registerfor citizenship. Even those persons who have been registered as overseas citizensof India for five years can apply provided they have been living in India forone year before applying. Spouses of Indian citizens who have resided in Indiafor seven years and minor children of Indian citizens are also eligible toapply. However, the discretion/authority on whether or not to grant citizenshiplies with the Government of India.
Foreigners can also apply for Indian citizenship
through naturalisation
The fourth mode ofacquiring citizenship is through naturalisation. Any foreigner, other thanillegal migrants, who has been living in India for 12 months before applyingfor citizenship and has lived in the country for at least 11 years of the 14years prior to the 12-month period mentioned above will be granted acertificate of naturalisation.
The Central Government can also grant citizenship to foreigners who have contributed significantly to world peace, art, science, literature, philosophy and human progress. People like Adnan Sami are granted citizenship under this category.
In addition to the above-discussed means of acquiring Indian citizenship, if a new territory gets added to India, then the Central Government can notify through the gazette, who among those living in the territory will be deemed, Indian citizens. This is known as Citizenship by incorporation of territory.
Goa, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli became a part of India in 1961 after liberation from Portugal. Citizenship to those living in these areas was granted as per the Goa, Daman and Diu (Citizenship) Order, 1962.  The case of Pondicherry, Karrikal, Mahe and Yannam is also similar.
What changes with the Current amendment?
‘Citizenship byNaturalization’ is where the latest
amendment comes into picture.  The persons from Afghanistan, Bangladesh andPakistan, belonging to the six religious communities as mentioned earlier canalso be granted a certificate of naturalisation. However, the period ofresidence in India should be a minimum of five years prior to the twelve-monthperiod instead of the 11-year period for others.
Some areas have been excluded from the amendment
The amendmentexcludes certain areas in the North-East.  This is not applicable in the tribal dominatedregions of the North-Eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram,and the area that falls under ‘The Inner Line’ as notified under the Bengal
Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873.Inner Line Permit (ILP) is an official travel document issued by the Governmentof India to allow travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for alimited period. Indian citizens from outside those states cannot enter theseareas without obtaining a permit.
OCI card holders’ card can be cancelled if they
violate any rule
Another amendment made through the act is with respect to OCI card holders. OCI or Overseas Citizenship of India card holders are foreign citizens of Indian origin. They are not entitled to all the rights that citizens of India have. But they can travel, live, work and study in India. The current amendment states that if an OCI card holder violates any law notified by the Central Government, the OCI card can be cancelled. The card holder will be given a chance to be heard.
What else about the amendment should one know?
In the amendment, reference is made to Passport (Entry to India) Act, 1920 and provisions of Foreigners Act, 1946.
According to Section 3 of the Passport (Entry to India) Act of 1920, the Central Government has the authority to allow ‘some people or a class of people’ enter the country even though they do not possess a passport. The Foreigners Act, on the other hand, grants power to the Central Government to regulate the entry of foreigners in the country.
The government on 07 September 2015 notified an amendment to the Passport (Entry to India) Rules of 1950 which says that religious minorities (Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians) persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered the country before 31 December 2014, irrespective of possession of valid documents, were exempted from possessing passport to enter India.
This rule was further amended in 2016 through a notification on July 18 , to include the persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan.
In short, the government has permitted those persecuted religious minorities from the aforementioned religions and countries to live in India in spite of not having any valid document. They will not fall into the category of illegal migrants.
What is the crux of the current amendment?
The CAA makes some major changes as far as citizenship to persons from the three specified countries. They are
However, there is no clarity on how these will be implemented in terms of documents to be submitted as evidence, for one to prove his religion or period of stay since the rules are yet to be notified.
The issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC) combined with the CAA is also being discussed. We will look into this in the subsequent stories.
Featured Image: Citizenship Amendment Act