Members of six minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh whose passports and visas have expired while they have been residing in India may soon be able to apply for citizenship more easily thanks to a move by the Union government.
According to a government source, the Home Ministry will update the citizenship portal to accept expired passports and visas as supporting documentation for processing citizenship applications from Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists, and Jains from the three nations.
Only those Hindu and Sikh candidates from Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2009, are now permitted to submit expired passports as supporting papers on the Ministry’s website.
Even those who are qualified are impacted, according to Hindu Singh Sodha, head of Seemant Lok Sanghathan, a group that advocates for the rights of minorities from Pakistan.
By excluding them from the provisions of the Passport Act and Foreigners Act even as their passports expired, the Ministry amended the Citizenship Rules in 2015 to allow migrants from these six communities who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, because of religious persecution, to remain in the country. The online portal still refuses to process their applications using their expired passports, despite the fact that they are not subject to any criminal penalties for having stayed in India without authorization. Either long-term visas (LTVs) or pilgrim visas are used by applicants for Indian citizenship. The five-year LTV is regarded as a step toward citizenship.
News Mania Desk
