The Citizenship Act, 1955

What it does

The Constitution of India says who became a citizen at its commencement. This Act takes over from there. It provides for the acquisition and termination of Indian citizenship after that date. A person may be a citizen by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalisation or by the incorporation of territory, and each of those heads has its own conditions.

The Act also provides for the end of citizenship. It does so in three ways: renunciation by the citizen, termination where the citizen has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country, and deprivation by order of the Central Government on the grounds the Act lists. India does not allow dual citizenship, and the termination provision is the legal expression of that position.

Overseas Citizen of India registration is also made under this Act. The Overseas Citizen of India cardholder is not a citizen. The status is a registration that gives a person of Indian origin, and certain family members, a long-term relationship with India, with rights the Act and the rules set out.

Who it binds

Every person whose citizenship is in question, and the State when it decides applications. The Act binds the Central Government in the exercise of its powers to register, naturalise and deprive, and the decisions are made on the facts of the application. A citizen of India who takes the citizenship of another country is bound by the termination provision whether or not the person has told any authority.

What has changed, and when

The Act has been amended several times, including in 1986, 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2019. The amendments narrowed citizenship by birth for children born after particular dates, introduced the Overseas Citizen of India registration in 2003 and, in 2015, merged the earlier category of Person of Indian Origin into it. The 2019 amendment created a route to citizenship for members of certain communities who came from three neighbouring countries by a stated date. Which version applies to a person depends on the date of the person's birth or application, and that date is the first fact to establish.

What turns on it in practice

For the firm's work the Act matters mostly through status. Whether a person is a resident Indian, a non-resident Indian or an Overseas Citizen of India decides which of the foreign exchange rules apply to that person's property and money. The site's note on a non-resident Indian or Overseas Citizen of India selling a flat in India and sending the proceeds abroad names this Act for that reason: the right to sell, the tax that follows and the route by which the money leaves all depend on the person's category.

The second point is the difference between a citizen and a cardholder. An Overseas Citizen of India cardholder has no vote and cannot hold certain offices, and the restrictions on the holding of agricultural land and similar property are found in the foreign exchange law and the registration rules. The Act is where the status begins, and the other instruments say what follows from it.

The third is the effect of a change of citizenship on existing arrangements. A person who gives up Indian citizenship, whether by renunciation or by acquiring another nationality, changes the category in which that person's assets in India are treated, and the documents that were drawn for a resident (a will, a power of attorney, a bank mandate) may need to be looked at again.