Under the draft amendments, applicants seeking Indian citizenship will now be required to declare whether they currently hold or previously held passports issued by Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan. The disclosure requirement includes both valid and expired passports and will become part of the mandatory citizenship application process.
The proposed rules further state that applicants who possess passports from these countries must provide detailed information such as passport number, date of issue, place of issue, and expiry date. Once Indian citizenship is granted, such passports must be surrendered within 15 days to the designated postal authorities, including the Senior Superintendent of Post or Superintendent of Post.
The draft amendment has been introduced under Schedule IC of the Citizenship Rules, 2009, and reflects the government’s focus on stronger identity verification and national security checks. Officials stated that the reforms are intended to create a more transparent and accountable citizenship framework.
The amendments also include provisions related to digital reforms in Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) services and broader administrative modernization of citizenship procedures. The proposed rules are currently in the draft stage and may undergo further review before final implementation.
The move comes amid ongoing debates on citizenship regulation, border security, migration management, and documentation standards in India’s immigration and nationality framework.
