The House of Representatives on Friday endorses a bill to amend the Citizenship Act, 2006 through a majority vote amid reservations from the main opposition CPN-UML.
The bill, once it gets through the National Assembly, will open the door for thousands of children of the parents who got citizenship by birth to acquire citizenship by descent. All eligible Nepalis born before September 20, 2015, the day when the Constitution of Nepal was promulgated, were granted naturalised citizenship. However, their children haven’t got citizenship in the absence of a law as the constitution said the provision to grant them citizenship would be guided by a federal law. The federal law hasn’t been prepared even seven years after the promulgation of the statue. Some 190,000 persons had acquired naturalised citizenship by birth.
Once the amendment gets through the upper house, one born to a Nepali woman in Nepal and whose father is unidentified would get citizenship by descent. However, the applicant’s mother must make a self-declaration that the father is not identified. She will be liable for action if it is found that her claim that the father of her issue is not identified turns out to be wrong.
The bill also paves the way for Non-Resident Nepalis to acquire citizenship. However, they will not be eligible to enjoy the political and administrative rights.
