Renunciation of Indian Citizenship

Context:- More than 16 lakh Indians renounced their Indian citizenship since 2011 including 2,25,620 last year, according to data provided by the government in Rajya Sabha on February 9, 2023.

Citizenship

Citizenship is listed in the Union List under the Constitution and thus is under the exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament.

The Constitution does not define the term ‘citizen’ but details of various categories of persons who are entitled to citizenship are given in Part 2 (Articles 5 to 11).

Acquisition of Indian Citizenship

The Citizenship Act of 1955 prescribes five ways of acquiring citizenship, viz, birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and incorporation of territory.

Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019

The Act amended the law to fast-track citizenship for religious minorities, specifically Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India.

Why do People Relinquish Citizenship?

General

People leave their countries for better jobs and living conditions, and some are pushed out by climate change or unfavourable political situations at home.

According to a 2020 report by the Global Wealth Migration Review,

High net worth individuals around the world who renounce citizenship acquired at birth may do so for reasons of rising crime rates or the lack of business opportunities at home.

Among the other reasons are safety of women and children, lifestyle factors like climate and pollution, financial concerns including taxes, better healthcare for families and educational opportunities for children, and to escape oppressive governments.

India

For India with newer generations holding passports of other countries, some older Indians are choosing to leave to be with family settled overseas.

Since India does not provide dual citizenship, therefore one has to renounce his/her Indian Citizenship for acquiring citizenship of another country.

Ways to Renounce Citizenship in India

1.Voluntary Renunciation:

If an Indian citizen wishes, who is of full age and capacity, he can relinquish citizenship of India by his will.

When a person relinquishes his citizenship, every minor child of that person also loses Indian citizenship. However, when such a child attains the age of 18, he may resume Indian citizenship.

2.By Termination:

The Constitution of India provides single citizenship. It means an Indian person can only be a citizen of one country at a time.

If a person takes the citizenship of another country, then his Indian citizenship ends automatically. However, this provision does not apply when India is busy in war.

3.Deprivation by1 Government:

The Government of India may terminate the citizenship of an Indian citizen if;

The citizen has disrespected the Constitution.

Has obtained citizenship by fraud.

The citizen has unlawfully traded or communicated with the enemy during a war.

The citizen has been living outside India for 7 years continuously.

Within 5 years of registration or naturalisation, a citizen has been sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment in any country.