150101067 Citizenship and Emigration

Law.

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

CITIZENSHIP AND EMIGRATION LAW

Final Draft

TOPIC- THE PROCESS OF NATURALISATION: AN

ANALYSIS.

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

KARTHIKEY SEJWAR Dr. RAJNEESH KUMAR YADAV
SEMESTER IX ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (LAW)
ENROLLMENT NUMBER: 150101067

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“Words can never convey what deeds have done.”

Writing a paper on any topic is never a single man’s job. I am overwhelmed in all
humbleness and gratefulness to acknowledge my depth to all those who have helped me to
put these ideas, well above the level of simplicity and into something concrete. I am very
thankful to my Emigration Law teacher, Dr. Rajneesh Kumar Yadav for his valuable help.
He was always there to show me the right track when I needed his help. With the help of his
valuable suggestions, guidance and encouragement, I am able to perform this project work. I
am obliged to the staff members of the Madhu Limaye Library, for the timely and valuable
information provided by them in their respective fields. I am grateful for their cooperation
during the period of my assignment. I would also like to thank my friends, who often helped
and gave me support at critical junctures during the making to this project. I hope you will
appreciate the hard work that I have put in this project work.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.......................................................................................................2

TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................3

Introduction..............................................................................................................................4

Various ways of acquiring citizenship in India.....................................................................4

Citizenship By Incorporation of Territory.........................................................................5

Overseas citizenship of India...................................................................................................6

What is Naturalisation?...........................................................................................................6

Renunciation of Indian citizenship.........................................................................................7

Termination of Indian citizenship..........................................................................................8

Is Dual Citizenship Permitted Under Indian Law?..............................................................8

What is Overseas Citizenship of India? Is it Not Dual Citizenship?...................................8

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Introduction

Citizenship law in India is governed by the Citizenship Act 1955 and The Constitution of
India. India is one of few countries whose citizenship law is incorporated in the constitution
itself. Due to unavoidable circumstances arose because of the partition of India and Pakistan
and the freedom of Indian state to either join the Union or leave it, the citizenship law had to
be incorporated in the constitution itself.

 Various ways of acquiring citizenship in India

1
.

1. By Birth (section 3)

A person born in India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 1st July 1987 is a citizen of
India by birth irrespective of the nationality of his parents.

A person born in India on or after 1st July 1987 is considered as a citizen of India only if
either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.

Further, those born in India on or after 7th January 2004 are considered citizens of India only
if both of their parents are citizens of India or one of whose parents is a citizen of India and
the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of their birth. Illegal immigrant generally refers
to any foreigner who: Entered India without the required travel documents such as a passport
and visa: or Entered India with valid documents but overstayed the permitted time specified
in their visa

2. By Descent (section 4)

A person born outside India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 10th December 1992
is a citizen of India by descent, if his father was a citizen of India at the time of his birth.

A person born outside India on or after 10th December 1992 is considered as a citizen of
India if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.

1
Modes of acquiring Indian citizenship & How to apply for Indian citizenship,
https://nriinformation.com/articles3/indian_citizenship.htm.

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From 07th January 2004, a person born outside India shall not be a citizen of India by virtue
of this Section, unless his birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of the date
of birth or with the permission of the Central Government, after the expiry of the said period.

An application, for registration of the birth of a minor child, to an Indian consulate under
Section 4(1) shall be made in Form I and shall be accompanied by an undertaking in writing
from the parents of such minor child that he or she does not hold the passport of another
country.

3. By Registration (section 5)

Citizenship of India by registration can be acquired by persons of Indian origin, who or

either of whose parents was born in undivided India and who are ordinarily resident in India
for seven years; persons of India origin who are ordinarily residents in any country or place
outside undivided India; persons who are or have been married to a citizen of India and who
are ordinarily resident in

India for five years; minor children both whose parents are Indian citizens; a citizen of
Singapore and Canada who is resident in India for five years and eight years respectively.

4. By Naturalization (section 6)

Citizenship of India by naturalization can be acquired by a foreigner who is ordinarily

resident in India for twelve years (continuously for the twelve months preceding the date of
application and for eleven years in the aggregate in the fourteen years preceding the twelve
months).

5. Citizenship By Incorporation of Territory

According to Section 7 of The Citizenship Act,

 When any territory is added to the constitution of India, then the people of those
territories would be considered as the citizen of India.
 These people would be granted citizenship by the Official Gazetteonce the Central
Government notifies them.
 They would be considered as the citizen from the date specified in the order.

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6. Overseas citizenship of India.2

 A foreign citizen of Indian origin is given the permission of immigration to live

and work in the Republic of India, this is known as Overseas Citizenship of India.
 It was introduced for the purpose of granting dual citizenship.
 It was brought into light from The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005.
 People with Overseas Citizenship of India are permitted from certain rights

1. No right to vote.
2. No right to hold constitutional offices
3. No right to buy agricultural properties.

What is Naturalisation?
Naturalization3 (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen in a
country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done
automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the individual, or it may
involve an application or a motion and approval by legal authorities. The rules of
naturalization vary from country to country but typically include a promise to obeying
and upholding that country's laws, taking and subscribing to the oath of allegiance, and
may specify other requirements such as a minimum legal residency and adequate
knowledge of the national dominant language or culture. To counter multiple citizenship,
most countries require that applicants for naturalization renounce any other citizenship
that they currently hold, but whether this renunciation actually causes loss of original
citizenship, as seen by the host country and by the original country, will depend on the
laws of the countries involved.

The massive increase in population flux due to globalization and the sharp increase in the
numbers of refugees following World War I created a large number of stateless persons,
people who were not citizens of any state. In some rare cases, laws for mass
naturalization were passed. As naturalization laws had been designed to cater for the
relatively few people who had voluntarily moved from one country to another

2
Citizenship in India, https://blog.ipleaders.in/citizenship-india/.
3
Naturalisation, https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2213.

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(expatriates), many western democracies were not ready to naturalize large numbers of
people. This included the massive influx of stateless people which followed massive
denationalizations and the expulsion of ethnic minorities from newly created nation states
in the first part of the 20th century, but they also included the mostly aristocratic
Russians who had escaped the 1917 October Revolution and the war communism period,
and then the Spanish refugees. As Hannah Arendt pointed out, internment camps became
the "only nation" of such stateless people, since they were often considered "undesirable"
and were stuck in an illegal situation, wherein their country had expelled them or
deprived them of their nationality, while they had not been naturalized, thus living in a
judicial no man's land.

Section 6 in the Citizenship Act, 1955,4 Citizenship by Naturalisation.—

(1) Where an application is made in the prescribed manner by any person of full age and
capacity 1[not being an illegal migrant] for the grant of a certificate of naturalisation to
him, the Central Government may, if satisfied that the applicant is qualified for
naturalisation under the provisions of the Third Schedule, grant to him a certificate of
naturalisation: Provided that, if in the opinion of the Central Government, the applicant is
a person who has rendered distinguished service to the cause of science, philosophy, art,
literature, world peace or human progress generally, it may waive all or any of the condi-
tions specified in the Third Schedule.

(2) The person to whom a certificate of naturalisation is granted under sub-section (1)
shall, on taking the oath of allegiance in the form specified in the Second Schedule, be a
citizen of India by naturalisation as from the date on which that certificate is granted.

Renunciation of Indian citizenship.5

Under Section 8 of the Citizenship Act,1995 the provisions for renunciation of
citizenship has been laid down

a) When both the parents are no more citizen of India, then their minor child is given the
right to choose the nationality of his/her preference within the given period of time,
after he/she attains the age of eighteen

4
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1683497/.
5
Citizenship in India, https://blog.ipleaders.in/citizenship-india/.

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b) When a citizen of India has attained the age of maturity or capacity and decides to
renunciate the citizenship of India then he can submit his renunciation by registering
under the prescribed authority.
c) After submission to the prescribed authority, the person ceases to be a citizen of
India.
d) if the person submits the request for renunciation of citizenship during the period of
war India is engaged in then the request would be kept pending until directed by the
Central Government of India.

Termination of Indian citizenship6

According to Section 9 in the Citizenship Act,1995 the following provisions are
provided for the termination of Citizenship,
a) When a citizen of India voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another
country, then he ceases to be a citizen of India.
b) But a citizen of India who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of some other
country during the period of war, then his citizenship won’t be ceased till the
Central Government directs.

Is Dual Citizenship Permitted Under Indian Law?7

The Indian constitution does not allow dual citizenship. An Indian citizen can hold the
citizenship of only one nation at a time and that must be of India.

As explained above, the provision of OCI and PIO is often confused with dual citizenship.
There is a misconception among the people that our Indian Constitution grants the provision
for dual citizenship.

What is Overseas Citizenship of India? Is it Not Dual Citizenship?

Person of Indian Origin who migrated from India to other countries except Pakistan and
Bangladesh can be called an overseas citizen of India, provided their country allow OCI
citizenship.

6
Citizenship in India, https://blog.ipleaders.in/citizenship-india/.
7
Citizenship in India, https://blog.ipleaders.in/citizenship-india/.

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The following Categories of persons (except Pakistan and Bangladesh) are eligible to apply
under OCI scheme:

1. Who is a citizen of another country but was a citizen of India at the time of, or at
any time after, the commencement of the Constitution.
2. Who is a citizen of another country but was eligible to become a citizen of India at
the time of the commencement of the Constitution.
3. Who is a citizen of another country but belonged to a territory that became part of
India after the 15th day of August, 1947.
4.  Who is a child or a grandchild or a great grandchild of such a citizen.

OCI is not equivalent to Dual citizenship. Overseas citizen of India do not enjoy the
following right –

 They do not have the right to vote.

 They cannot hold an Indian passport.
 They are not eligible for constitutional posts.
 They cannot be a member of legislature of any house.

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