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
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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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