A 94-year-old woman, K Mahalakshmamma, who lived in the United States for over two decades, has renounced her American citizenship to return to her native village in Andhra Pradesh and die as an Indian citizen. She underwent an oath-taking ceremony before the Bapatla District Collector, and her application for Indian citizenship restoration has been forwarded to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Amid the passport row, Shashi Tharoor has proposed legal changes to simplify proof of Indian citizenship.
The Gauhati high court observed that merely producing a number of documents does not automatically establish citizenship unless they are legally admissible and capable of proving the person's linkage to Indian ancestors.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the determination of citizenship status in India must adhere to a fair, lawful, and reasoned process, setting aside Gauhati High Court verdicts that had affirmed orders declaring some individuals as foreigners. The court stressed that constitutional protections of equality, life, and personal liberty apply to every person within India's territory.
Poonam, a 38-year-old woman who came to India from Pakistan in 2004, has been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). She had been living in Rampur on a long-term visa and expressed joy at finally being recognized as an Indian citizen.
Government sources have clarified that a passport has never been considered proof of citizenship in India, a stance consistent for the past 12 years and rooted in the Passport Act 1967. This clarification, reiterated by the Ministry of External Affairs, has drawn criticism from opposition leaders and public figures.
The high court granted the petitioner one opportunity to establish her claim to Indian citizenship.
A clarification by the ministry of external affairs that the passport is not a proof of citizenship has once again brought to the fore the need for a legal framework to provide citizens with a single document to establish they are Indians.
The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed a nearly 75 per cent increase in the filing fee for Form N-400, the application for US citizenship through naturalisation, raising it from $760 to $1,330. The proposal also seeks to eliminate reduced-fee options and fee waivers, potentially impacting thousands of immigrants, including Indians.
An undated viral video of an Indian citizen dancing all the way to become a citizen of New Zealand has angered and divided netizens.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has clarified that an Indian passport is primarily a travel document issued to regulate the departure of citizens and is not intended as proof of citizenship. This statement comes amidst a debate on its use for verifying citizenship, particularly concerning electoral rolls, and has drawn criticism from opposition parties.
Shane Sabastian Pereira, born in Karachi, Pakistan, was granted Indian citizenship after 43 years of living in his ancestral village in Goa. He is the second person from the coastal state to receive the certificate under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Pereira's journey to citizenship highlights the impact of the CAA on individuals seeking to become Indian citizens.
India too can rise to the top if the 1.4 billion Indians back home are given better opportunities to use their innate talent and capacity to work hard, with right incentives in a more meritocratic rules-based system, asserts Ajay Chhibber.
Eligible and selected students will receive a stipend of 20,400 per annum, course fee and other costs.
AFC Executive Committee member Shaji Prabhakaran advocates for a balanced, long-term strategy for integrating OCI and PIO players into Indian football, stressing it's not a complete solution but a part of broader development. He also analyses recent World Cup semifinals, highlighting Spain's tactical dominance and Argentina's fighting spirit.
'40 percent of voters in Bihar will be excluded.'
Eighteen Hindu refugees from Pakistan residing in Ahmedabad have been granted Indian citizenship during a camp attended by Gujarat minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi.
The Union Home Ministry has announced changes to the Citizenship Rules, 2009, introducing a digital shift for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and citizenship applications, including online applications and renunciation processes.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has opened applications for its Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM) roster, a crucial step under the newly adopted National Sports Governance Act. This initiative aims to induct retired players into the federation's General Body, ensuring greater representation and direct involvement in governance. The process outlines specific eligibility criteria across various tiers of sporting achievement and allows direct applications, bypassing state association endorsements.
For hundreds of Indian scholars who journeyed to Canada aiming for a foreign degree and a path toward long-term career opportunities, what should have been a triumphant graduation has instead spiralled into deep uncertainty.
Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has filed a reply in a legal matter concerning her inclusion in the voter list, which is alleged to have occurred before she became an Indian citizen. The case, initiated by Advocate Vikas Tripathi, seeks the registration of an FIR against Gandhi and is currently pending before a sessions court.
'98 lakhs in Bengal, 97 lakhs in Tamil Nadu, 2.83 crores in Uttar Pradesh.'
Sonia Gandhi's counsel argued in a Delhi court that a complaint alleging she was included in the electoral roll before acquiring Indian citizenship was politically motivated.
CBSE exams and unemployment are divergent concerns for the middle class and the poor, and the idioms of protest don't speak to all of India's young people, points out Kanika Datta.
A mobile app 'CAA-2019' will also be launched shortly to facilitate applications through mobile app.
The Indian government informed the Lok Sabha that over two lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2024. The data, provided in response to queries, highlights a trend of increasing citizenship renunciations in recent years.
The Union home ministry has updated the Immigration and Foreigners Rules, 2025, requiring foreigners staying in India beyond 180 days to register before their visa expires. The new rules also offer relief to children born to foreign parents and revise reporting requirements for medical institutions.
The Election Commission has ordered an investigation into allegations that foreign nationals fraudulently voted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election. The probe was initiated after police arrested ten foreign nationals with indelible ink on their fingers at Chennai and Madurai airports.
With the duration of stay capped at four years, the biggest impact of the new F-1 visa rules is likely to be on PhD scholars, students enrolled in longer professional programmes, those whose graduation gets delayed and students moving from one academic programme to another, highlight education experts.
Delighted by the Centre's move to notify the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), nearly 2,000 Pakistani Hindus living in Nagpur are preparing to seek Indian citizenship.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an immediate stay on the controversial Maharashtra Right to Information (RTI) rules following a backlash from transparency advocates and a hunger strike threat by veteran anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare.
The population is gripped by anxiety against arbitrariness and the cruelty of a state that sells its actions as minimum government, asserts Aakar Patel.
A 62-year-old Indian-origin man, now a US citizen, faces denaturalisation proceedings for allegedly defrauding investors of USD 2.5 million and concealing this from US authorities.
If Trump doesn't like India, that is his choice. But to use such distasteful language on a public platform is deeply offensive and needs to be called out, points out Amberish K Diwanji.
This could come as a setback to thousands of Indian engineers who have waited for years for their work visas to pave the way for the coveted Green Card.
A man from Gujarat's Anand district has urged the state government not to deport his Bangladeshi-born wife, claiming that she had embraced Hinduism and that her life could be at risk if she is sent back to her native country.
Two individuals, including a woman, have been granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam, bringing the total number of recipients in the state to four. This marks the first instance of a woman receiving citizenship under the Act in Assam.
After being wrongly deported and labelled as Bangladeshis, migrant workers in West Bengal's Murshidabad are heading to the polls to reclaim their Indian identity and fight for their right to belong.
The H-1B visa once symbolised the American Dream for Indians, but today's students are increasingly asking whether they need America at all. In 1995, the question was: How do I get to America? In 2026, it may be: Do I need to?
The NCERT Class 8 social science textbook has undergone significant revisions, including a tweaked narrative on the 1947 Partition, the inclusion of VD Savarkar's demand for Swaraj, and the removal of references to Adolf Hitler and Nazi ideology. These changes follow a Supreme Court intervention regarding controversial content on the judiciary.
