India Revises Citizenship Norms for Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Afghan Passport Holders
Citizenship Amendment Rules 2026. Image courtesy: Wikimedia
In a bid to streamline citizenship norms for Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Afghan passport-holders, India amended its rules on Monday (May 18, 2026), making it stricter for applicants from these three neighbouring nations.
The amended citizenship rules were notified by the Indian government, changing the 2009 mandates, now seeking passport disclosures for applicants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
The notification on the amendments came under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026. The Ministry of Home Affairs, the nodal department for citizenship, notified the amendments in the Extraordinary Gazette of India.
The amendment introduces new provisions in the Schedule IC of the 2009 Citizenship Rules, which now says the applicant for Indian citizenship should declare if they possessed valid or expired passports issued by the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Afghan governments.
Under the amended rules, the applicant must disclose complete details of their passports, including their number, date of issue, place of issue, and date of expiry in the citizenship applications.
They must also provide an undertaking to surrender their valid or expired passports issued by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to the Indian authorities notified by the Indian government within 15 days of their citizenship applications being approved.
The Home Ministry said the amendment was done under the powers conferred by Section 18 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the new rules would come into effect immediately.
