The provisions relating to grant of citizenship of India to a person by way of registration on ground of marriage to an Indian citizen, are laid down in Section 5 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The relevant extracts of Section 5 (for grant of citizenship on ground of marriage to an Indian citizen) are as under:
“5. Citizenship by registration.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and such other conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Central Government may, on an application made in this behalf, register as a citizen of India any person not being an illegal migrant who is not already such citizen by virtue of the Constitution or of any other provision of this Act if he belongs to any of the following categories, namely:—
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(c) a person who is married to a citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration;
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Explanation 1.—For the purposes of clauses (a) and (c), an applicant shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in India if—
(i) he has resided in India throughout the period of twelve months immediately before making an application for registration; and
(ii) he has resided in India during the eight years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months for a period of not less than six years.
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(6) If the Central Government is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to grant exemption from the residential requirement under clause (c) of sub-section (1) to any person or a class of persons, it may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, grant such exemption.”
From the above provisions, it can be seen that for a person desirous of obtaining Indian citizenship on grounds of marriage to an Indian citizen, following conditions are required to be satisifed:
- Such person should have been ordinarily resident in India for a period of 7 years before making an application for citizenship.
- If conditions mentioned in Explanation 1 above are satisfied, then also such person shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in India.
- As per clause (6), the Central Government has the power to grant exemption from the residential requirement in the case of such person (seeking citizenship on grounds of marriage to an Indian citizen) as per the conditions mentioned there.
So, the answer to your question is “yes” and your wife (who is a foreign national) can apply for Indian citizenship subject to the conditions mentioned above.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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