Context
Over 1.6 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2021, highest in the past five years, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Lok Sabha.
Background
- Revised Form XXII under Citizenship Rules: In 2018, the MHA revised Form XXII under Citizenship Rules for declaration of renunciation of citizenship, which, for the first time, included a column on “circumstances/reasons due to which applicant intends to acquire foreign citizenship and renounce Indian citizenship”.
- Simplification of the process: Recently, the MHA had simplified the process and provisions were made for the applicants to upload documents online and an upper limit of 60 days was fixed for the renunciation process to be completed.
Data provided by MHA
- The number of Indians living in Australia who relinquished their citizenship stood at 23,533, Canada- 21,597, U.K.-14,637, Italy-5,986, Netherlands- 2187, New Zealand- 2643, Singapore- 2516, U.S.A.- 78284, Pakistan-41 and Nepal-10.
- The number of Indians who gave up citizenship in the years 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 stood at 1,33,049, 1,34,561, 1,44,017 and 85,248 respectively.
Reasons behind Indians giving up their citizenship
- Privileges: Majority of the Indians do it because of the privileges they get using the passports of other countries.
- Visa-free access: The higher the passport index ranking, the better access they get to travel visa-free to many countries.
- Exempted from bureaucratic delays: They are also exempted from bureaucratic delays in the immigration process which is beneficial for traders and businessmen.
Rules around citizenship in India
- No dual citizenship: Under the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, Persons of Indian Origin are not allowed citizenship of two countries.
- Surrendering the passport: If a person has ever held an Indian Passport and then obtains the passport of some other country, they will be required to surrender their Indian Passport immediately after they gain nationality of the other country.
- After Indians renounce their citizenship, it is necessary for them to apply for surrender or a renunciation certificate.
- Cancelled stamp: It should be noted that Indian passports that carry only a "cancelled stamp" are not considered renounced of their Indian citizenship.
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About Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)
- People eligible under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) may apply for citizenship after the rules are notified.
- The CAA seeks to fast-track Indian citizenship for persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities in the Muslim-majority neighbourhood countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
About National Register of Citizens (NRC)
- National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register prepared after the conduct of the Census of 1951 in respect of each village, showing the houses or holdings in serial order and indicating against each house or holding the number and names of persons staying therein.
- These registers covered each and every person enumerated during the Census of 1951 and were kept in the offices of Deputy Commissioners and Sub Divisional Officers according to instructions issued by the Government of India in 1951.
- Later these registers were transferred to the Police in the early 1960s.
- This NRC was prepared under a directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
- At present, only Assam has such a register and the exercise may be extended to other states as well.
- Nagaland is already creating a similar database known as the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants.
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