Big decision of the government: To apply for citizenship in India, applicants from these countries including Pakistani will have to give complete details of passport.

New Delhi, 19 May. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a new notification making important amendments in the Citizenship Rules, 2009. Under this amendment, it has now been made mandatory for persons applying for citizenship in India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to provide complete details of their passport (valid or expired). According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 18, 2026, applicants from these three countries will have to clearly give information like passport number, date of issue, place of issue and expiry date in the citizenship application form.

Additionally, the applicant must also declare whether he/she holds a valid or expired passport of these countries. A new paragraph (3A) has been added in the notification, under which the applicant will have to give written consent that he will surrender his passport to the concerned Postal Superintendent or Senior Superintendent within 15 days of getting Indian citizenship.

This provision will be applicable to those citizens of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who want to obtain Indian citizenship. This step of the Home Ministry is considered to be in line with the long standing demand of the security agencies. Officials believe that this will effectively curb attempts to obtain citizenship on the basis of fake documents and make the process more transparent.

This amendment has been issued under Section 18 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The notification states that the new rules will become effective from the date of publication in the Gazette. In the notification issued by Gaya Prasad, Joint Secretary, Home Ministry, it has been clarified that this change has been made with the aim of further strengthening the already ongoing process.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was brought in the year 2019 to give citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The new rules may prove helpful in making the scrutiny process of applications under CAA more stringent.