Kathmandu, August 18
After President Bidhya Devi Bhandari sent the Citizenship Bill with 15 suggestions for review, preparations for endorsing the same are underway on Thursday.
The amendment to the Citizenship Act, 2006 was endorsed by the HoR on 22nd July, 2022. It was subsequently endorsed by the National Assembly on 28th July, 2022 and sent to the President for authentication. The amendment was expected to be a law after the signature of President Bhandari, however, Bhandari sent back the amendment with a 15 point review.
In a meeting of the HoR representatives, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand will inform the members of the President’s recommendations, following which the House has two options: to reconsider in the House, or to reconsider by sending it to the parliamentary committee. HoR has decided to go with the first option.
When a President returns a bill with comments, both houses of the parliament can either reconsider the points or endorse the bill as is. It will then be resent to the President for authentication. During such situations, a President has 15 days to authenticate the bill. The constitution does not allow a President to resend the bill with recommendations a second time.
The government on 8th July, 2022, registered a new Citizenship Bill at the Parliament Secretariat’s office, doing away with the June 23, 2020 recommendation proposing a seven year wait for a foreigner woman to avail naturalised citizenship upon marriage to a Nepali national. After the passage of the bill, a foreigner woman marrying a Nepali man can immediately apply for citizenship after she starts the process to renounce her citizenship of the country of her origin.
Meanwhile, for a foreigner man marrying a Nepali woman, the process is still discriminatory – the husband will have to have lived in Nepal continuously for 15 years before being allowed to apply for citizenship, show proof of initiation of renouncing their citizenship of their country of origin and demonstrate an ability to speak Nepali language (or any other spoken language in Nepal).
The bill had remained stalled at the Parliament for several years as the parties argued on the seven year clause, affecting several others – for example the thousands who are waiting for a Citizenship by Descent. The newly registered bill has paved way for their eligibility to receive a citizenship of Nepal.
The newly registered bill also allows citizenships to NRNs who will be allowed to enjoy economic, social and cultural rights. NRNs will not be allowed to exercise political rights in Nepal.