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Citizenship
The Union Home Ministry on Thursday notified changes to the Citizenship Rules, 2009, introducing a digital shift across various processes for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and citizenship applications. In a gazette notification published on Thursday, the government has added a specific proviso for citizenship applicants involving children that "the minor child cannot at any time hold the passport of any other country while also holding the Indian passport". The Citizenship Rules, 2009, allowed a person to submit an application for the registration of the birth of his minor child born outside India to the Indian consulate in the country where the child was born, together with a declaration that the child does not hold a passport of any other country. The changes, known as the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026, introduce a slew of online initiatives for OCI cardholders, including a digital application and renunciation process. All applications for card registration an
Bahrain revoked citizenship rights of 60 people for praising Iran's "hostile and criminal acts". Bahrain's interior ministry said the move also applied to the families of individuals accused. The ministry said it revoked citizenship rights "of those who expressed sympathy and praise for Iran's hostile and criminal acts". Bahrain is among several countries in the region that tightly controlled information about Iranian strikes during the war, arresting residents and foreigners who filmed them. The Sunni-ruled monarchy, like Iran, has a majority Shiite population and saw pro-Iran demonstrations early in the conflict. Authorities arrested protesters and those who filmed demonstrations en masse, charging dozens with misusing social media, inciting hatred or treason, an offence that can carry the death penalty. The country is also one of several in the Gulf with laws allowing courts to strip citizenship from people convicted of certain crimes, potentially rendering them stateless. Suc
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered an FIR be filed against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with an alleged dual citizenship controversy. The bench permitted the state government to hand over the probe to any central probe agency after registration of the FIR. The order was passed by a bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi on a petition filed by S Vignesh Shishir, who had challenged a January 28 order of a special MP/MLA court rejecting his plea for an FIR against Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The special court had earlier held that it was not competent to adjudicate on issues related to citizenship. The petitioner, a BJP worker from Karnataka, had sought registration of an FIR and a detailed probe into the matter, levelling allegations against Gandhi under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act. The complaint was initially filed before the special .
The government has notified a set of 33 questions to be asked during the first phase of Census 2027 -- Housing Listing and Housing Operations (HLO) -- a month-long exercise to be conducted between April 1 and September 30 as per schedules finalised by states and Union Territories, a top official said on Monday. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan, said, according to a January 22 notification, enumerators will collect details such as building number (municipal or local authority or census number), census house number, and the predominant materials used for the floor, walls, and roof. They will also record the use and condition of the house and assign a household number. They will also ask about the total number of usual residents in the household, name and sex of the head of the household, whether the head belongs to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or other category, ownership status of the house, number of dwelling rooms and the number
Canada has moved closer toward modernising citizenship-by-descent law, after a bill to amend the act received royal assent, in a move that is likely to affect thousands of Indian-origin families. Bill C-3, an Act to amend the Citizenship Act (2025), has received royal assent. This represents an important milestone in making the Citizenship Act more inclusive, while maintaining the value of Canadian citizenship, said a news release issued by the Canadian government on Friday. "Once the new law comes into force, Canadian citizenship will be provided to people born before the bill comes into force, who would have been citizens if not for the first-generation limit or other outdated rules of past legislation, the news release said. The first-generation limit to Canadian citizenship by descent was introduced in 2009. It means that a child born or adopted outside Canada is not a Canadian citizen by descent if their Canadian parent was also born or adopted outside Canada. This limit cause
Former Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina has been stripped of his citizenship after he was ousted during a military takeover just over a week ago. Rajoelina, whose whereabouts remain unknown after he fled the country following protests that demanded his resignation, also holds French citizenship. The country's new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, has signed a decree invoking laws which strip all Madagascans of their citizenship if they have citizenship of another country. Rajoelina's possession of French nationality had previously caused a debate about his eligibility to run for the presidency in the 2023 polls, an election he won. He fled the country at the height of youth-led protests, which brought thousands into the streets in several cities and initially sparked a harsh crackdown by security forces that left 22 people dead and more than 100 injured, according to the United Nations. At the time, he said he feared for his life, and addressed the nation from an unk
The Pakistan government has set March 31 as the deadline for Afghan Citizen Card (ACCs) holders to leave Pakistan voluntarily as part of a plan to repatriate all illegal foreigners, according to an official document. The document, purportedly leaked to the media on Friday night, indicated that the ACC holders staying in Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be moved out and sent back to Afghanistan as part of a multiphase relocation plan for Afghan migrants, including those awaiting resettlement in third countries. The decision comes amidst deteriorating ties between Islamabad and Kabul over the issue of terrorism and it may impact over 800,000 documented Afghan refugees holding Afghan Citizen Cards and are included in the category of documented refugees, contrary to hundreds and thousands of undocumented ones. It stated that the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Programme (IFRP) has been implemented since November 1, 2023 and in continuation to the government's decision to repatriate all ..