Citizenship by birth

Topic: Citizenship: Idea and Indian Law · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Citizenship"

Meaning

Citizenship by birth (Section 3 of the Citizenship Act 1955) means a person becomes an Indian citizen because they were born in India. Since 1 July 1987, birth in India is not enough on its own: the parents must also meet certain conditions.

It matters because India has slowly moved away from giving citizenship for place of birth alone. This change is closely tied to illegal migration, the Assam movement and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) debate.

Explanation

How the rule works: three time bands

• Base in law:
• Article 11 gives Parliament the power to make laws on getting and losing citizenship.

• Parliament used this power to pass the Citizenship Act 1955. Section 3 of that Act deals with birth.

• The rule depends on the date of birth. Parliament has tightened it twice:

Born in India	Condition	Law behind it
26 Jan 1950 – 30 Jun 1987	Citizen, whatever the parents' status	Original Act, 1955
1 Jul 1987 – 2 Dec 2004	At least one parent a citizen at the time of birth	Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986
From 3 Dec 2004	Both parents citizens, or one parent a citizen and the other not an illegal migrant at the time of birth	Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003

• The Act's own text gives the same three bands. The third band starts when the 2003 amendment came into force [2].
• The parents' status is checked "at the time of birth". What happens to the parents later does not change the rule.

Key terms used in the rule

• Illegal migrant: a foreigner who enters India without valid travel documents, or who stays on after the permitted time runs out [3].

• After 2004, if one parent is an illegal migrant, a child born in India cannot become a citizen by birth unless the other parent is also a citizen.

• Jus soli ("right of the soil"): citizenship based on where a person is born.

• Jus sanguinis ("right of blood"): citizenship based on the parents' citizenship.
• The shift:
• In 1950, India began with jus soli.
• After 1987, and even more after 2004, it moved towards jus sanguinis.
• Today, birth in India counts only when the parents also meet the conditions.

Exclusions: born in India, but not a citizen by birth

• Children of foreign diplomats. Diplomats have legal immunity in India, which means Indian courts and laws cannot act against them in most matters.
• Children of enemy aliens who are born in a place that is under enemy occupation.

Why the rule was tightened

• The 1986 change:
• Large numbers of people migrated from Bangladesh into Assam, which led to the Assam movement.
• Children born in India to migrant parents were becoming citizens automatically.

• Parliament responded by requiring at least one parent to be a citizen.

• The 2003 change:

• This amendment brought in the illegal-migrant bar.
• Now even a child with one Indian parent loses the birth route if the other parent is an illegal migrant.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitution, Part II (Arts. 5-11):
• These articles decided only who was a citizen when the Constitution began on 26 January 1950.
• Art. 5 covered people living in India on that date. Being born in India was one of the ways to qualify.

• Art. 11 left future rules to Parliament.

• Citizenship Act 1955 (Act No. 57 of 1955), s.3: this is the main law for citizenship by birth after 1950 [2].

• The Act lists five modes: birth (s.3), descent (s.4), registration (s.5), naturalisation (s.6) and incorporation of territory (s.7) [2]. Birth is the first of these.
• Amendments that changed s.3:
• 1986 amendment: at least one parent must be a citizen, for births from 1 July 1987.
• 2003 amendment: for births from 3 December 2004, both parents must be citizens, or one parent a citizen and the other not an illegal migrant.

• The same 2003 amendment also added s.14A. This lets the government register citizens and issue national identity cards, and it is the legal base for an NRC.

• Assam link:

• The 1985 amendment added s.6A, which gives special citizenship rules for migrants to Assam under the Assam Accord.
• The tighter birth rule of 1986 followed soon after.
• Together, the birth rule, s.6A and s.14A make up India's legal tools for finding out who is, and who is not, a citizen.

Don't confuse with

• Citizenship by descent (s.4): this covers children born outside India to an Indian parent. Citizenship by birth covers only children born in India. Under descent, the mother's citizenship counts only for births from 10 December 1992 [2].
• Citizenship at the commencement (Art. 5): this applied once, on 26 January 1950, to people already living in India. Citizenship by birth under s.3 is an ongoing rule made by Parliament under Art. 11.
• Citizenship by naturalisation (s.6) and the CAA 2019: this is a route that a foreigner must apply for after long residence. Citizenship by birth is automatic once the conditions are met. The CAA changed naturalisation, not the birth rule.
• OCI cardholder: a foreign citizen of Indian origin who holds a lifelong visa but is not an Indian citizen. Being born to Indian-origin parents abroad does not by itself make someone a citizen.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 11 gives Parliament the power over citizenship. Section 3 of the Citizenship Act 1955 is the birth rule.
• Key dates:
• 1 July 1987: one parent must be a citizen (1986 amendment).

• 3 December 2004: both parents must be citizens, or one a citizen and the other not an illegal migrant (2003 amendment).

• Anyone born in India between 26 Jan 1950 and 30 Jun 1987 is a citizen whatever the parents' nationality.

• Trap: under the birth rule, "one parent a citizen" has been enough since 1987. The mother-based rule of 1992 applies to descent (births abroad), not to birth.
• Excluded even if born in India: children of foreign diplomats, and children of enemy aliens born in a place under enemy occupation.
• The 2003 amendment did three things: it added the illegal-migrant bar to the birth rule, created s.14A (the NRC power) and set up "overseas citizenship".

Mains Points

• From jus soli to jus sanguinis: a trade-off.
• For it: the change stops illegal migration from turning into automatic citizenship for the next generation, which is a major concern in Assam.

• Against it: children born in India to an illegal-migrant parent may become stateless, meaning no country accepts them as citizens. This goes against India's inclusive founding idea of citizenship.

• Proof problems and the NRC.

• The link: the 2003 illegal-migrant bar, together with s.14A (NRC) and s.6A (Assam), means a person born in India may have to prove their parents' status at the time of birth.

• The concern: finding illegal migrants and giving shelter to refugees can work against each other. This supports the argument for a clear refugee and asylum law, which India does not have today.

• Reform debate. The question is whether to keep a parentage-based rule for security reasons, or to protect children born in India with safeguards such as limited birth rights or a path to registration. The aim would be to balance control of migration with equality before law under Art. 14.

Related concepts

• Citizenship Act 1955
• Citizenship by descent
• Citizenship by registration
• Citizenship by naturalisation
• Citizenship by incorporation of territory

Read more

• Acquiring citizenship: the Citizenship Act 1955