India: Follow-up to Response to Information Request LKA11726 of 30 September 1992 on whether a child born in India between 1986 and the present, whose birth was registered with Sri Lankan authorities, thus giving him/her Sri Lankan citizenship, who chose to voluntarily renounce that Sri Lankan citizenship, would that child be entitled to Indian citizenship based on his/her birth there
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND23660.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Follow-up to Response to Information Request LKA11726 of 30 September 1992 on whether a child born in India between 1986 and the present, whose birth was registered with Sri Lankan authorities, thus giving him/her Sri Lankan citizenship, who chose to voluntarily renounce that Sri Lankan citizenship, would that child be entitled to Indian citizenship based on his/her birth there, 1 May 1996, IND23660.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab838c.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on this specific subject could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
However, the following information may be of interest.
According to the attached 1991 article by Werner F. Menski entitled "Recent Changes in the Citizenship Law of India," Section 2 of India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 1986 replaces s. 3(1) of India's Citizenship Act of 1955 with the following
"'Except as provided in sub-section (2), every person born in India, -
(a) on or after the 26th day of January, 1950, but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1986;
(b) on or after such commencement and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth,
shall be a citizen of India by birth.'" (86)
Menski states that, as a result of this substitution of s. 3(1), "any person born in India on or after 28 November 1986 becomes a citizen of India by birth only if either of the child's parents is an Indian citizen at the time of the child's birth" (ibid.). Menski's article also discusses the issues of the acquisition of Indian citizenship by registration.
For additional information on citizenship, please consult the attached copy of the Citizenship Act of 1955, which includes amendments to 1992.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the additional source consulted in researching this Information Request.
Reference
Immigration and Nationality Law & Practice [London]. July 1991. Vol. 5, No. 3. Werner F. Menski. "Recent Changes in the Citizenship Law of India."
Attachments
India. 1992. The Citizenship Act, 1955. Including amendments up to and including 1992. (UNHCR/REFLEG), pp. 1-13.
Immigration and Nationality Law & Practice [London]. July 1991. Vol. 5, No. 3. Werner F. Menski. "Recent Changes in the Citizenship Law of India," pp. 83-87.
Additional Source Consulted
High Commission for the Republic of India, Ottawa.
