Centre Expands Eligibility for Citizenship Under CAA, Eases Documentation Rules

New Delhi- The Union government has broadened the scope of rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), enabling persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to obtain Indian nationality with greater ease. In a recent announcement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clarified that "any document" issued by central or state governments, or quasi-judicial bodies in India, proving that an applicant’s parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was a citizen of one of the three countries, will be accepted as valid proof.

This clarification follows reports of applicants facing difficulties due to specific provisions in the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. Previously, the rules required applicants to provide documents showing that their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan, which led to confusion and delays in processing citizenship applications.

The MHA has now specified that acceptable documents may include land records, judicial orders, or any other official document issued by recognized authorities in India that indicate the applicant’s familial connection to one of the three countries. This move is intended to streamline the process and remove bureaucratic hurdles for eligible applicants.

"The above clarification may be taken note of while deciding any citizenship application under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA)," the ministry said in its statement.

The CAA, enacted in December 2019, grants Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Despite receiving presidential assent soon after its enactment, the rules detailing the procedure for granting citizenship were only issued on March 11, 2024, after a delay of over four years.

Since May 2024, the government has begun granting citizenship under the CAA to eligible individuals from the three countries. However, the law remains controversial, having sparked widespread protests across India in 2019 and early 2020, with critics labeling it as discriminatory. The protests, which turned violent in some areas, resulted in the deaths of over a hundred people due to clashes with law enforcement.

The latest clarification by the MHA is expected to facilitate the citizenship process for applicants and address some of the concerns raised by those facing difficulties under the existing rules.