Dual citizenship offer extended
C R JAYACHANDRAN/TIMESOFINDIA.COM
[ MONDAY, NOVEMBER 03, 2003 05:26:01 PM ]
NEW DELHI : The Vajpayee government will grant dual citizenship to Indians in 16 countries and the Bill to this effect is likely to be considered by Parliament during the Winter Session, beginning this month.
As New Delhi gears up for the second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in January next, the government plans to extend dual citizenship to expatriates in eight more countries- Israel , Greece , Switzerland , Cyprus , France , Sweden , Portugal and New Zealand .
"We have included eight more countries keeping in mind the demand from expatriates all over the world," J C Sharma, secretary, Ministry of External Affairs told timesofindia.com.
"I am optimistic that the Bill will be considered by Parliament during the next session," Sharma added.
Dual citizenship, the main concern of the Diaspora in developed countries, had been a long standing demand. It took an event like Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to bring it to fruition, he said.
During the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, government had proposed granting dual citizenship to Indians in the United States , United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , Finland , Ireland , the Netherlands and Italy . The decision was later accepted by the Union Cabinet and a Bill to this effect was introduced on May 8, 2003 in the Rajya Sabha
Indians living in these countries will have to apply for dual citizenship and the government could grant it after due verification.
However, expatriate Indians would not have the privilege of voting rights and would not be allowed to hold constitutional offices or jobs in three defence services.
The Union Cabinet in last March had approved certain amendments to the Citizenship Act 1955, to incorporate new provisions, streamline and remove certain provisions that have become redundant in order to increase the efficacy of the Act.
The amendments would also introduce overseas citizenship for persons of Indian origin belonging to specified countries and facilitate introduction of the scheme of issue of national identity cards to all Indian citizens.
The Citizenship Act was among 109 central acts, which had been identified for a review by the Commission on Review of Administrative Laws constituted by the Central government under the chairmanship of P C Jain in 1988.
The broad issues addressed during the review undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs included how to make acquisition of Indian citizenship by registration or naturalisation more difficult and how to prevent refugees and illegal immigrants from becoming eligible for Indian citizenship.
Can anyone enlighten me on the benefits of having dual citizenship in India compared to having say Canadian citizenship with the Permanent Card given for I think US$ 500??
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Posted on: 05-11-03 12:24:58
I think that there is no difference. The idea of PR seems to have flopped as only handful from all over the world got this expensive card.
As an alternative to attract NRI from America and England, Indian govt. is coming up with this dual citizenship.
Does this mean that Canadian PR's doesn't need to surrender their Indian Passport when they become Citizen?
Or they have to apply for another passport?
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A Proud Indian Canadian
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Posted on: 05-11-03 12:56:27
When you become canadian citizen, canadian immigration DOES NOT ask for your foreign passport. It is solely upto the foreign country to allow dual citizenship or not. In US, you have to surrender.
As for India, If the Dual Citizenship is approved, canadian citizens should be able to apply for a new indian passport or renew their existing one.
Chandresh
There is quite a bit of difference between POI card and dual citizenship.
The former is more like an extended visitor visa with more privledges whereas Dual citizenship means full fledged citizenship with just two or three rights not at par with rest of Indians.
There can also be serious consequences of having dual citizenship as you are considered to be an Indian while in India if you have dual citizenship.
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DIE HARD !
and if may add further you have to surrender your indian passport as soon as you get citizenship of another country. If you don't, you are doing something illegal by Indian laws so be prepared for .....
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DIE HARD !
