Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019
The CAA, 2019 amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 to provide an expedited path to Indian citizenship for specified religious minorities from three neighbouring countries, without altering the general citizenship framework for other applicants.
- Amends: Section 2(1)(b) proviso of the Citizenship Act, 1955 — exempts specified persons from being treated as "illegal migrants"
- Eligible communities: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians
- Eligible source countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan
- Cutoff date: entry into India on or before 31 December 2014
- Naturalisation residency requirement relaxed for these applicants: from 11 years to 6 years (via amendment to the Third Schedule of the Citizenship Act, 1955)
- The CAA does not apply to areas covered under the Inner Line Permit regime (Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland) or the Sixth Schedule tribal areas
● Tracked since February 20, 2026 · last seen August 24, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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