citizenship of India

citizenship of India, legal relationship between an individual and the Indian state, defined in Articles 5–11 of the Constitution of India and governed by the Citizenship Act of 1955. Citizenship can be acquired through several ways, primarily by the principles of jus soli (“right of the soil”), which grants citizenship by birth, and jus sanguinis (“right of blood”), which grants citizenship by parental descent. India does not allow dual citizenship. Indians can renounce their citizenship, have it terminated by acquiring foreign citizenship, or be stripped of it on grounds such as disloyalty or fraud.

Constitutional provisions

Indian nationality had no precise definition until the Constitution came into effect in 1950, officially making India a republic. During the British raj residents of the Indian subcontinent had been subjects of the British crown. In August 1947 the Indian subcontinent achieved independence from British rule but was simultaneously partitioned into the separate countries India and Pakistan. The newly created Constitution defined citizens of India as every person living in India who had either been born in India, or whose parents had been born in India, or who had lived in India for no less than five years before the commencement of the Constitution.

The Constitution also provided for granting citizenship to those who had migrated from Pakistan to India during the partition. Such people were citizens of India if they had been living in India for at least six months and fulfilled any of the following conditions: their parents or grandparents had been born in Indian territory (as defined in the Government of India Act of 1935); they had migrated to India before July 19, 1948, and lived there since; or if they had migrated after that date but had been registered as a citizen by the government of India in the interim period of 1947–50.

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The Constitution specifically excluded migrants from India to Pakistan from claiming Indian citizenship. However, it brought other persons of Indian origin living outside the country within its ambit. These persons could be granted citizenship if their parents or grandparents had been born in Indian territory (as defined by the Government of India Act of 1935) and if they had been registered as an Indian citizen by the diplomatic or consular representative of the government of India.

Citizenship Act of 1955

The Parliament of India, constitutionally empowered to regulate citizenship by law, passed the Citizenship Act of 1955, which provided the formal and legal framework determining citizenship of India. It allowed five methods of acquiring citizenship:

• By birth: Any person born in India on or after January 26, 1950 (celebrated as India’s Republic Day), is eligible for citizenship. This provision was later amended to specify that citizenship by birth could be granted only if one or both parents are Indian citizens and that neither is a migrant illegally residing in the country.
• By descent: Any person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950, is eligible for citizenship if the person’s father was an Indian citizen at the time—“father” was later amended to “either parent.” If the parent’s citizenship was also acquired by descent, then the child is granted citizenship only if the birth is either registered at an Indian consulate within a year or if the parent in question is a government employee.
• By registration: Any person can be registered as a citizen of India if that person is of Indian origin or is married to an Indian citizen and has lived in India for at least seven years; is of Indian origin and lives in any other country that was not part of undivided India; or is a minor child of an Indian citizen. Persons who are not currently citizens but were previously can regain citizenship by this method. This provision was later amended to exclude migrants illegally residing in the country.
• By naturalization: Upon application, the government can grant a certificate of naturalization to those with achievements in the fields of science, philosophy, art, literature, world peace, or human progress. Naturalized citizens are required to take an oath of allegiance. In 1985 the act was amended with a special provision to determine citizenship based on the Assam Accord, which had been signed that year and addressed concerns about large-scale migrancy from Bangladesh (for more, see box).
• By incorporation of territory: Residents of any territory that becomes part of India are granted citizenship by this method. Residents of Goa became Indian citizens by this method in 1962, after Portuguese rule in Goa ended.

Overseas citizens of India

Although India follows the principle of single citizenship, an amendment to the Citizenship Act in 2005 recognized “overseas citizen of India” (OCI) as a legal status for diaspora communities, allowing them to maintain an association with India. The OCI scheme was an addition to an extant provision for “person of Indian origin” (PIO), which had been introduced in 1999; the two provisions were later merged. Under the OCI scheme citizens of countries other than Pakistan and Bangladesh can register as overseas citizens of India if they have previously been an Indian citizen; had been eligible for Indian citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution; belong to territory that became part of India after the day it became an independent country; or are a descendant of such a person or of Indian citizens. Any person who has been an overseas citizen for five years and has lived in India for a year can acquire full citizenship by registration.

Unlike full citizens, who are entitled to passports, overseas citizens are issued a card proclaiming them as such. The OCI card acts as a permanent visa, allowing free entry into the country. Overseas citizens can work and own property in India with some restrictions. They can work in the private sector without a work permit but cannot work in government jobs. They also cannot own agricultural land. The fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution to Indian citizens apply only partially to overseas citizens—they are barred from voting and from holding public office.

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Difference between NRI and OCI

Indian citizens who live and work outside India are regarded as “nonresident Indians,” or NRIs. Unlike OCIs, NRIs have full citizenship and are accordingly entitled to a passport and a voter’s identity card. Under Indian taxation laws NRIs are recognized as such if they spend less than 182 days in India in a financial year. Although they are allowed to vote and acquire property, NRIs are subject to different banking rules from resident Indians.

A large proportion of NRIs are employed abroad as unskilled and semiskilled labor in sectors such as construction, services, and agriculture. Remittances from these migrant workers significantly contribute to the Indian economy—in 2023–24 inward remittances totaled $119 billion. NRIs working in informal sectors are often vulnerable to exploitation, subjected to poor living conditions and financial deprivation. The Indian government has been deliberating on legislative measures to protect and promote the welfare of NRI laborers.

Amendments to the Citizenship Act

2019 amendment and controversy

A bill proposing an amendment to the Citizenship Act based on religious identities was introduced by the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 2016 and provoked widespread outrage and criticism. The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) provided for the fast-tracking of citizenship to certain refugees and migrant groups who had entered India from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan before 2014. The provision specifically applied to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians. The amendment also proposed a National Register of Citizens (NRC), which required all citizens to submit documents in order to be retained as citizens on the NRC.

The CAB ignited a fierce public debate over the constitutional validity of linking citizenship qualifications to religious criteria. The omission of certain religious minorities was seen by many as a deliberate attempt to exclude Muslims from the NRC. Protests—sometimes violent—by opposition parties and civil society erupted across the country. The first state to oppose the CAB was Assam, where the NRC was being debuted and where the amendment was seen as a violation of the terms of the Assam Accord. Despite the agitations the CAB was passed by Parliament in 2019, though the NRC has not been implemented in states other than Assam.