The central government has issued a fresh directive requiring nationals from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who seek Indian citizenship to submit a formal declaration about the current status of their home-country passport. In a recent notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs amended the 2009 Citizenship Rules to make this passport-status declaration mandatory for applicants from those three countries. The move is intended to record whether applicants hold any valid or expired passport issued by their country of origin and to capture its identifying details.
Under the new requirement, any Bangladeshi, Pakistani or Afghan national applying for Indian citizenship must disclose whether they possess a valid or expired passport. If an applicant holds a passport, they must provide the passport number, date of issue and expiry details to the central authorities. Applicants must also sign a written undertaking that, within 15 days of acquiring Indian citizenship, they will surrender any such valid or expired foreign passport at the office of the concerned Senior Superintendent/Superintendent of Post Offices.
The amendment inserts a new paragraph into the Citizenship Rules immediately after Rule 1C. Rule 1C applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities. The change follows the broader Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019, which provided a route to Indian citizenship for undocumented migrants from these three countries who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.
By formalizing passport disclosures and a mandatory surrender process, the Home Ministry’s amendment clarifies documentation requirements for eligible applicants and establishes a specific administrative step to be completed after citizenship is granted. The notification focuses on procedural compliance under the existing legal framework and reiterates the categories and cut-off date established by the 2019 amendment.
Original Source: https://assam.nenow.in/india-citizenship-rules-2026/
Category: Popular Stories,দেশ,শীর্ষ সংবাদ
Tags:
Publish Date: 2026-05-19 13:32:00
