CITIZENSHIP ACT 1955

• India has two kinds of people- citizens and aliens.

• Citizens of India enjoy all civil and political rights. Aliens they do not
enjoy these rights.
• The constitution confers rights and privileges on the citizens of India
and denies the same to aliens. These rights are
• 1.Rights against discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth (Art-15)
• 2.Right to equality of opportunity in the matter of public
employment (Art-16)
• 3.Right to freedom of speech and expression,assembly,association,
movement, residence and profession (Art-19)
• 4.Cultural and educational rights (art-29 and 30 )
• 5.Right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and State
Legislative Assembly
• 6.Right to contest for the membership of the Parliament and
State Legislature
• 7.Eligibility to hold certain public offices, that is, President of
India, Vice-President of India, judges of the Supreme Court
and the High Courts, Governs of states, Attorney General if
India and Advocate General of India.
• Along with that rights the citizens of India owe certain duties
towards the Indian state.
• Constitutional Provisions :
• The Constitution deals with the citizenship from
Articles 5 to 11 under Part 2
• It identifies the persons who became citizens of India
at its commencement (i.e., on January 26, 1950 ). It
does not deal with the problem of acquisition or loss
of citizenship subsequent to its commencement.
• Parliament has enacted the Citizenship Act, 1955.
which has been amended in 1986, 1992, 2003, and
2005
• According to the Constitution, the following four
categories of persons became the citizens of India
at its commencement i.e., on 26 January, 1950
• 1.Persons domiciled in India
• 2.Persons migrated from Pakistan
• 3.Persons migrated to Pakistan but later returned
• 4.Persons of Indian origin residing outside India
• Other Constitutional provisions with respect to the
citizenship are :
• 1.No person shall be a citizen of India or be deemed to be a
citizen of India, if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship
of any foreign state (art-9)
• 2. Every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India
shall continue to be such citizen, subject to the provisions of
any law made by Parliament(art-10)
• 3.Parliament shall have the power to make any provision
with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship
and all other matters relating to citizenship (art-11)
• Acquisition of Citizenship :
• 1.By Birth
• 2.By Descent
• 3.By Registration
• 4.By Naturalization
• 5. By Incorporation of Territory
• Loss of Citizenship :
• 1.By Renunciation
• 2.By Termination
• 3.By Deprivation
• Citizenship– The Citizenship Act,1955: Acquisition and
Termination of Citizenship.
• A person born in India after 26 January 1950 would, subject
to certain exceptions, like those of children of diplomats and
of enemy aliens, be a citizen of India;
• Anyone born outside India after 26 January 1950, subject to
certain requirements, would be a citizen of India if his father
was an Indian citizen at the time of his birth;
• Under certain conditions, certain category of persons could
acquire Indian citizenship by registration in the prescribed
manner;
• Foreigners could acquire Indian citizenship on
application for naturalisation on certain conditions;
• If any territory become a part of India, the
Government of India could by order specify the
persons who would become citizen of India as a result
thereof;
• Citizenship could be lost by termination, renunciation
or deprivation on certain grounds;
• A citizen of a Commonwealth country would have a
status of a Commonwealth citizen in India.
• Amendments in the Citizenship Act 1955
• Amended in 1986 to tackle the situation created by the large-
scale unlawful immigration from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and some
African countries.
• Most fundamental changes in the Act came during 2003-2005.
• Maintenance of a national register of Indian citizens and for
‘Overseas Citizenship of India.
• The provision of double citizenship to ‘Overseas Citizens of India’
applies only to those in some specified countries: Australia,
Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands,
New Zeeland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Sweden, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, and United States of America.
• Press Information Bureau 
Government of India
Ministry of Home Affairs
07-January-2015 10:18 IST
• Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 Promulgated 

• The President of India has promulgated the Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 on
January 06, 2015 with immediate effect which provides for the following amendments to the
Indian Citizen Act, 1955: 

• At present one year continuous stay in India is mandatory for Indian Citizenship which is
relaxed stating that if the Central Government is satisfied that special circumstances exist, it
may, after recording such circumstances in writing, relax the period of twelve months
specified upto a maximum of thirty days which may be in different breaks. 

• To enable for registration as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) by a minor, whose parents are
Indian Citizens. 
• To enable for registration as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) by such spouse of a
citizen of India or spouse of an OCI registered under Section 7A and whose
marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less
than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application under
this section. 
• In respect of existing PIO card holders central government may, by notification in
Official Gazette, specify a particular date from which all existing PIO card holders
will be deemed to be OCI card holders. 

• The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for acquisition, termination,

deprivation, determination of Indian Citizenship and other related aspects. The
Act provides for acquisition of Indian citizenship by birth, descent, registration,
naturalization and incorporation of territory under certain circumstances, and
also for the termination and deprivation of citizenship.