What is Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)? Who will be impacted?

File Photo of PM Modi and Amit Shah

The ministry of home affairs on March 11 notified the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) to facilitate the process of granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, according to sources.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by Parliament in December 2019. The then-president of India, Ramnath Kovind, approved the Act, turning it into a law.

What is CAA?

The legislation grants citizenship to six minorities (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian) fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The citizenship will be granted to those who entered India from these countries on or before December 31, 2014. CAA is an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955. According to  CAA, the migrants will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in six years. The amendment also relaxed the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from eleven years to five. This deviates from the previous norm of a 12-year residency requirement for naturalisation. Muslims are not included in CAA as they are not in minority in the specified countries.

Also Read | Citizenship Law: What are CAA rules? Know eligibility, papers needed, language requirement, process of getting citizenship

Who will be impacted by CAA?

The citizens of India will not be impacted by the CAA. It was introduced only to benefit the six minorities from the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

How will citizenship be granted under CAA?

The Ministry of Home Affairs has readied a portal for the convenience of the applicants as the entire process will be online. The applicants will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents. No document will be sought from the applicants, an official said.

Why only these three countries?

The CAA deals with religious persecution in three neighboring countries where the Constitution provides for a specific state religion. Followers of other religions have been persecuted in these three countries.

Whose application will be considered under CAA?

• Individual of Indian origin seeking registration as a citizen of India
• Individal married to a citizen of India, seeking registration as a citizen of India
• Minor child of an Indian citizen, seeking registration as a citizen of India
• Individual whose parents are registered as citizens of India, seeking registration as a citizen of India
• Individual who or either of their parents was a citizen of Independent India, seeking registration as a citizen of India
• Individual who is registered as an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder

Besides meeting the above-mentioned conditions, the applicants for Indian citizenship will have to continuously spend at least 12 months in India preceding the date of the application. The notified rules also said that during the eight years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months, the applicants will have to spend at least a total of six years in India to be eligible to get Indian citizenship.

Further, the applicants will also have to give a declaration that they "irrevocably" renounce the existing citizenship and that they want to make "India a permanent home". They will have to declare that they will not lay claim on the renounced citizenship in future.

What will happen after the applicants fulfil all conditions?

All cleared applicants will have to take an oath of allegiance affirming that they will "bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India" as by law established and that they would "faithfully observe the laws of India" and "fulfil" their duties as a citizen of India.

Is NRC connected to CAA?

The government has clarified that CAA has no link with NRC. The National Register of Citizens (NRC), established in 1951, serves as a comprehensive database of Indian citizens. It is kept within the administrative domains of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officers. It has only thus far been introduced in Assam, a region battling challenges due to illegal immigration. The aim is two-pronged: to expunge unauthorised entries and act as a deterrent against prospective migrations.