Citizenship Act: Naturalisation Residency Requirement in India

The question asks for the period a person must ordinarily reside in India to be eligible for citizenship by naturalisation under the general conditions of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Provisions under the Citizenship Act, 1955

Under Section 6 read with the Third Schedule of the Citizenship Act, 1955, an applicant for citizenship by naturalisation under the general conditions must satisfy two residency requirements:

• The applicant must have resided in India (or been in service of the Government of India) for the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the application.
• During the 14 years preceding those 12 months, the applicant must have resided in India (or been in service of the Government of India) for an aggregate of at least 11 years.

Adding the 12-month period and the 11 years gives an aggregate ordinary residence of 12 years.

Conclusion

Under the general conditions of the Citizenship Act, the qualifying period of ordinary residence required for naturalisation is 12 years.

(Note: Under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, this 11-year requirement is reduced to 5 years for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014.)