The Central government has amended the Citizenship Rules, 2009, introducing new requirements for people applying for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019.
Under the updated rules, some applicants will now have to declare details of passports issued by Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh.
The changes were announced through a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Who Will Be Affected by the New Rules?
The amendment applies to applicants from the following communities:
Hindu
Sikh
Buddhist
Jain
Parsi
Christian
These are the groups covered under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
The law provides a path to Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
What Information Applicants Must Provide
Under the revised rules, applicants must clearly state whether they currently hold — or previously held — a passport issued by:
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
If they possess a valid or expired passport from any of these countries, they must provide:
Passport number
Date of issue
Expiry date
Place of issue
The government says this step is aimed at improving verification and record-keeping during the citizenship process.
Foreign Passports Must Be Surrendered
The new rules also make passport surrender mandatory after Indian citizenship is approved.
Applicants must declare that they will surrender their foreign passport within 15 days of receiving Indian citizenship approval.
According to the notification, the passport must be submitted to the concerned postal authorities mentioned under the rules.
The provision has now been formally added to Schedule IC of the Citizenship Rules, 2009.
Why the Government Introduced This Change
Officials described the amendment as an administrative clarification designed to strengthen:
Identity verification
Documentation checks
Citizenship record management
The government believes the updated rules will help create a clearer and more transparent citizenship application process.
Rules Effective Immediately
The amended citizenship rules came into effect immediately after being published in the official gazette.
The latest move is expected to play an important role in how citizenship applications under the CAA are processed going forward.
