The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 amends the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Bill merged the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes.
Apart from this, the Bill also provide 30-day break to person who applies for Indian citizenship if they have to leave Indian for some time.
Further, it empowers the Union Government to cancel the OCI card obtained by the spouse of an Indian citizen if the marriage is dissolved by a court or the spouse enters into another marriage even while the first marriage has not been dissolved.
However, the bill was considered to have come into force on 6 January 2015 when the Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 was promulgated.
LATEST: Pakistani Singer Adnan Sami Granted Indian Citizenship
The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal regarding Mr Sami, who has been staying in India since 2011, will have to fill a citizenship form at the Home Ministry’s office in Delhi and pay Rs 13,700.
The decks had been cleared for Mr Sami’s Indian citizenship after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi gave a favourable opinion.
Mr Sami will be given citizenship under Section 6 (I) of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 under the category “citizenship by naturalisation.”
The power to grant citizenship lies only with the Home Ministry and Mr Sami will have to go to the Foreigners Division Office located on Jai Singh Road, near Connaught Place to complete the paperwork.
There is a fee for every process and for acquiring citizenship it is Rs 13,700. He will have to sign the citizenship form as well and once the formality is done he will be provided the citizenship certificate.
As of now, Mr Sami is on a three-month visa extension which was given to him on October 6 by the MHA. Mr Sami’s Pakistani passport issued on May 27, 2010 expired on May 26 this year and it was not renewed by the Pakistan government.
He renounced his Pakistani citizenship then. Following this, Mr Sami approached the Home Ministry with the request to legalise his stay in India on humanitarian grounds.
Lahore-born Sami first arrived in India on March 13, 2001 on a visitor’s visa with a validity of one year. It was issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
