Lok Sabha Question No. 207 (STARRED), answered on 2015-08-04
Subject: Grant of Indian Citizenship
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: E. AHAMED

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO.*207

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 4 TH AUGUST, 2015/SHRAVANA 13, 1937 (SAKA)

**GRANT OF INDIAN CITIZENSHIP**

*207.		SHRI E. AHAMED:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the rules and the procedure governing grant of Indian Citizenship or Long Term Visa;

(b) the number of Long Term Visa issued to the foreigners during the last three years, country-wise;

(c) the number of applications received from foreign nationals for grant of Indian citizenship, the number of applications approved by the Government and pending for grant of citizenship during each of the last three years and the current year; and

(d) whether the applications pending for grant of citizenship are mostly from the minority community and if so, the details thereof including the measures taken/ being taken by the Government to make the procedure simpler, faster and transparent for grant of Indian citizenship?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) to (d):	A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*207 FOR 04.08.2015

**(a):** Grant of Indian Citizenship is governed by the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and rules framed there under. The Act provides for the acquisition of Indian Citizenship by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalization and by incorporation of the territory.

As per extant Long Term Visa policy guidelines, Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals in various categories are granted Long Term Visa (LTV)

As per existing procedure, Citizenship/Long Term Visa applications are made to the Collector/FRRO/FRO within whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily resident. The Collector/FRRO/FRO forwards the application with their report to the State Government or the Union Territory Administration, as the case may be. The State Government or the Union Territory Administration along with its report and recommendations forwards the application to Central Government, where applications are examined in consultation with security agencies.

**(b):** As per available information, details of Long Term Visa granted to Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals during 2013, 2014 and 2015 (29-07-2015) are as follows:-

|   Year |   No. of Pakistani nationals granted LTV |   No. of Bangladeshi nationals granted LTV |
|--------|------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|   2013 |                                     3085 |                                        109 |
|   2014 |                                     2779 |                                        126 |
|   2015 |                                     1934 |                                         11 |

**…..3/**

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**(c):** The number of applications received from foreign nationals for grant of Indian citizenship, the number of applications approved by the Government and pending for grant of citizenship during each of the last three years and the current year till date:-

| Year              |   Total Received in year |   Total Grant in Year | Total Pending   |
|-------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------|
| 2012              |                      659 |                   556 | 336 *           |
| 2013              |                      879 |                   563 | 652             |
| 2014              |                      647 |                   619 | 680             |
| 2015  (till date) |                       51 |                   290 | 441             |

* includes pending cases of previous years.

### (d):	The Citizenship applications are processed not on the basis of nationality or religion. These are processed as per the eligibility criteria and other provisions laid down by Citizenship Act, 1955 and rules made there under. In order to make the procedure simpler, faster and transparent, the Ministry of Home Affairs has introduced the	procedure for online submission of the applications for grant of Indian citizenship. Government has taken several other measures in recent past, which inter-alia include setting up of Task Force, delegation of power to Heads of Indian Mission abroad to register the birth of children born outside India even after expiry of one year, relaxation upto a period of 30 days in the required continuous stay period of one year just before making the application, etc.

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