NEW DELHI: Following Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s announcement of the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday officially launched a user friendly web portal to facilitate the registration of the people applying for Indian Citizenship under CAA.
According to the MHA spokesperson, the launch of a mobile application, ‘CAA-2019,’ is imminent and is expected to further expedite the citizenship application process for non-Muslim migrants. This technological advancement aligns with the government’s commitment to ensuring a streamlined and efficient application process for those seeking Indian citizenship.
The Ministry of Home Affairs emphasized that the recently notified Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 under the CAA-2019 have paved the way for the launch of the new portal. Eligible individuals, particularly migrants who arrived in India from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh before 2015, can now apply for citizenship through this portal, accessible at Indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in.
Under the provisions of the CAA, individuals belonging to minority communities—Parsi, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jainism, and Christian—facing persecution on religious grounds in neighboring countries are eligible to seek Indian citizenship without the need for a valid passport from their country of origin or a valid Indian visa. The web portal offers a seamless registration process for such individuals, enabling them to apply online for Indian citizenship.
Notably, the Centre’s notification of the rules for CAA implementation, coupled with the release of application formats for migrants, marks a significant milestone in the process of granting Indian citizenship to eligible individuals fleeing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
