India has introduced stricter citizenship requirements for applicants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), adding fresh disclosure and passport surrender conditions amid growing political debate over the law. 

The revised rules, notified by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, require applicants seeking Indian citizenship to declare whether they possess valid or expired passports issued by their home countries. 

Under the amended Citizenship Rules, 2009, applicants holding passports from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan must provide detailed information, including passport number, date and place of issue, and expiry date. 

They will also be required to surrender both valid and expired passports within 15 days after approval of their citizenship applications. Indian authorities said the amendment aims to strengthen documentation and improve scrutiny during the citizenship verification process. 

The new provision has been inserted into “Schedule IC” of the Citizenship Rules, which applies to non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — from the three neighbouring countries who entered India before December 31, 2014. 

The CAA, passed in 2019 and implemented in March 2024, offers a fast-track path to Indian citizenship for these communities. 

Officials familiar with the development said the tighter rules followed the detection of cases where some applicants allegedly retained expired or invalid foreign passports while applying for Indian nationality. 

Indian law does not permit dual passport ownership, prompting authorities to demand formal surrender declarations from applicants. 

The move comes shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured power in West Bengal for the first time, a politically significant state with a large Matua population — a Hindu community with roots in Bangladesh and considered among the main beneficiaries of the CAA. 

Reports in Indian media said many Matua families possess limited documentation, making the citizenship process complicated despite the law’s intended protections. 

The latest changes are expected to intensify political discussions surrounding the CAA, which has remained controversial since its passage. 

Critics argue the law discriminates on religious grounds, while the Indian government maintains it is designed to provide refuge and legal status to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. 

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