The Centre has made it mandatory for applicants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh seeking Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Rules, 2009, to declare the status of the passport from their native country, according to a home ministry notification on Monday.
The ministry has amended the Citizenship Rules, 2009, introducing a paragraph under which the applicant should not possess a valid and/or expired passport issued by the governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh.
In case the applicant holds an active passport, he will have to submit the passport number and other details such as date and place of issue and date of expiry, the gazette notification said.
They will also have to submit a declaration surrendering their valid and/or expired passport to the senior superintendent of post or the superintendent of post concerned within 15 days of the approval of the citizenship application, it said.
The new addition will be inserted after Schedule IC of the rules, which is for Afghan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities seeking Indian citizenship, the notification said.
The CAA paved the way for granting Indian nationality to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before
December 31.