Muslims coming from abroad can get Indian citizenship in these 4 ways, not through CAA

The Central Government released the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) notification on Monday evening, March 11. Now minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India before 31 December 2014 who are Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Parsi can apply for citizenship in India. Meanwhile, the question is being raised that how Muslims coming from abroad can get Indian citizenship.

Matters related to Indian citizenship come under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Under the Citizenship Act of 1955 (amended in 2003), a person can acquire Indian citizenship in four ways. Let us know what those methods are.

Citizenship at birth

A person who is born in India on or after 26.1.1950 but before the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 comes into force and one of the parents is a citizen of India, shall be a citizen of India by birth. However, one of the conditions is that neither of his parents should be an illegal immigrant.

Citizenship by descent

A person born outside India can also acquire citizenship. The condition in this is that both or one of the parents of the person should be Indian citizens and should not be illegal immigrants. Also, it is mandatory to register the person's birth at the Indian Embassy abroad. If the parents register the child after one year of its birth, in such case the permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs of India is required.

Based on registration

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, a person can be granted Indian citizenship if he is not an illegal immigrant and falls under any of these categories.

• A person of Indian origin who has resided in India for 7 years prior to application.
• A person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in any country or place outside undivided India.
• A person who is married to an Indian citizen and has ordinarily resided in India for 7 years before applying.
• Minor children of persons who are citizens of India.
• whose parents are registered as Indian citizens under Section 5(A) or 6(1) of the Citizenship Act.
• A person who has been registered as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) for the last 5 years, and has resided in India for two years prior to application.

Citizenship by naturalization

A person can apply to the Ministry of Home Affairs for citizenship by naturalization under the provisions of the Third Schedule to the Citizenship Act. For naturalization one has to fulfill certain qualifications- such as,

• He should not be a citizen of any country where the laws of the country prevent Indian citizens from becoming citizens by naturalization.
• If he is a citizen of any country and he promises that after acquiring Indian citizenship, he will renounce the citizenship of his country.
• A person must have resided in India or been in the service of the Government of India for 12 consecutive months before submitting the application for citizenship to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• He should have either resided in India or been in the service of the Government of India during the 14 years preceding the 12 months preceding the application. Partially, in both these situations, he is required to serve a total of 11 years.

Must have good character

He should have adequate knowledge of at least one of the Indian languages ​​listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Sanskrit, Punjabi in Eighth Schedule. Languages ​​like Bengali, Hindi are included. If the citizen is granted naturalization, he wants to remain in India or continue to serve in the Government of India.