SRINAGAR: Deputy Commissioners in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been empowered to process and grant citizenship to eligible applicants under a new set of rules notified by the Union Home Ministry.
The move follows the notification of the Citizenship (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, which transfers the power to decide applications for citizenship by registration or naturalisation from existing Empowered Committees and District-Level Committees to the jurisdictional district authority.
The amended rules cover applicants ordinarily residing in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, besides Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, with tribal areas of Assam and Tripura excluded.
Under the revised mechanism, applications under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955, will be submitted electronically to the competent district authority. The authority will scrutinise the documents, conduct inquiries where required and determine whether the applicant meets the prescribed eligibility conditions.
The rules use the term “Collector” for the empowered district authority. In Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, this function will correspond to the respective Deputy Commissioner, who heads the district administration.
The amended rules empower the authority to grant citizenship if the applicant is found to be a “fit and proper person” and fulfils the requirements prescribed under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act.
All applications pending before the Empowered Committee and District-Level Committee in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are to be transferred to the concerned district authority under the new arrangement.
The authority will also be responsible for verifying documents, carrying out necessary inquiries and administering the prescribed oath of allegiance before taking a final decision on an application.
The new procedure retains the requirement of personal appearance. An applicant who fails to appear to subscribe to the application and take the oath of allegiance despite being given reasonable opportunities may have the application rejected.
The Centre’s move effectively places the final district-level processing of eligible citizenship applications in the hands of the jurisdictional district authority, replacing the earlier committee-based mechanism in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
