Pakistani nationality law
Encyclopedia
The Pakistani nationality law governs citizenship
of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
. The principal legislation determining nationality, the Pakistan Citizenship Act was passed by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
on 13 April, 1951.
in the British Commonwealth; it included modern-day Bangladesh
, which was known as East Bengal
and East Pakistan
and became independent from Pakistan in 1971. Upon independence from British colonial rule
, several millions of Muslims emigrated to Pakistan from India, and several millions of Hindus and Sikhs who had been residing in what became Pakistan emigrated to India, raising a number of citizenship issues.
The main sections of concern for gaining citizenship are
Sections concerning denied or renouncing citizenship are
The Amendment that was focused on the Kashmir conflict is Section 14B. In this section it is stated that if someone from the State of Jammu and Kashmir decided to migrate to Pakistan and live there till the conflict is over then the person can receive Pakistani citizenship. The amendment that is focused on the Bangladesh and Pakistan issue is Section 16A; this amendment is a part of the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 1978. This amendment states anyone who on December 16, 1971 was not in West Pakistan has lost their citizenship, even if they were not in East Pakistan either that day.
The Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 (II of 1951) has been undergoing amendments more recently as well. One of the amendment attempts is by Bushra Gohar, to attempt to change the wordings of Section 10 in the Act (Married Women). The proposal is to change the heading to Married Persons and make it so that the section applies to more than just women. Another amendment that has been made is to Section 16B, regarding the Bangladesh separation. Shahnaz Saleem has suggested that the part of the section regarding people that were outside the Pakistan and Bangladesh border on December 16, 1971 should be removed. She states that there were many people escaping the war and trying to flee to West Pakistan but had to travel outside of the borders to reach there. She proposes that these people get the opportunity to naturalize again.
Pakistani communities in the Middle East, Europe and North America has led to several changes in Pakistani nationality law. Although holding dual citizenship was not permitted under the 1951 law, the Government of Pakistan now recognizes and allows its citizens to also hold the citizenships of 16 countries:
, which has been the subject of numerous wars
between the two countries. The Pakistani Citizenship Act of 1951 allowed persons who were subjects of the state of Jammu and Kashmir
to travel under a Pakistani passport
and be considered a citizen of Pakistan without prejudice.
The independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971 led to the abandonment in the Bengali
-majority state of around half a million "Stranded Pakistanis
", who traced their ethno-linguistic heritage to the Bihar
region. Despite official promises, Bangladesh has not accepted them nor does it recognise them as citizens.
As a fallout of the Afghan civil war, more than ten million Afghans, mainly Pashtuns
, became refugees in Pakistan who are not given Pakistani nationality.
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The principal legislation determining nationality, the Pakistan Citizenship Act was passed by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was formed to write Pakistan's constitution, and serve as its first parliament. It first convened on 11 August 1947, before the end of British rule on August 15, 1947. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the first President of this Assembly until his death on...
on 13 April, 1951.
Citizenship
Before the creation of Pakistan, its territories were part of the British Indian Empire (which included modern-day India, Bangladesh and Burma) and its people were British subjects. Pakistan was created on 14th August, 1947 as a state for Muslims and held the status of a DominionDominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
in the British Commonwealth; it included modern-day Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, which was known as East Bengal
East Bengal
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....
and East Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
and became independent from Pakistan in 1971. Upon independence from British colonial rule
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, several millions of Muslims emigrated to Pakistan from India, and several millions of Hindus and Sikhs who had been residing in what became Pakistan emigrated to India, raising a number of citizenship issues.
Pakistani Citizenship Act 1951
The Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 (also known as “Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 (II of 1951)) was enacted on the 13th of April, 1951; stating the purpose of it is "to make provision for citizenship of Pakistan" . The Act has since then been amended (1952, 1972, 1973, 2000)and there are still some more amendments that are trying to be added. This Act referred to ways in which a person could gain Pakistani citizenship and how a person could lose or be denied their citizenship. The Act is divided into 23 sections each one outlining a different provision of citizenship.The main sections of concern for gaining citizenship are
- Section 3 - Citizenship at the date of commencement of this Act : At the commencement of this Act every person shall be deemed to be a citizen of Pakistan:
- People whose parents or grandparents were born in what is now considered Pakistan (after August 14, 1947).
- People whose parents or grandparents were born in the territory know as India on March 31, 1973
- OR
- People who were naturalized as a British subject in Pakistan
- People who migrated to the territory of Pakistan before this Act
- Section 4 - Citizenship by birth : Anyone born in Pakistan after this Act is a Pakistani Citizen
- Except if the father is considered an enemy of the state or the father has immunity from legal process
- Section 5 – Citizenship by descent: If one parent has Pakistani Citizenship then a person born to that parent may also get citizenship.
- Section 6- Citizenship by Migration: If a person migrates from an Indo-Pakistan sub-continent with the intention of permanently residing then they may receive citizenship
- If it is a man, his wife and children may get it as well.
Sections concerning denied or renouncing citizenship are
- Section 14 – Dual Citizenship or nationality not permitted: if you hold a citizenship outside of Pakistan the Pakistani citizenship is terminated
- Unless one decides to renounce the other
- Unless one has citizenship in Britain or it’s colonies
- Unless one is a female married to a man who is not a Pakistani Citizen
- Section 14A – Renunciation of citizenship: If a person pledges allegiance or becomes a citizen of another country they have forfeited their Pakistani citizenship
- The exception is if a child (under the age of 21) who does not have his pakistani citizenship and would like to resume it after turning 21 is allowed to do so.
- Section 16 – Deprivation of Citizenship: One may be deprived or stripped of citizenship if:
- Citizenship was obtained by false information
- The person in question has acted disloyal to the country
- One has been engaging with the enemy during times of war
- Section 16A – Certain Persons to lose and others to retain citizenship: regarding the times before and after December 16, 1971and people residing in what was previously East Pakistan
- One is no longer a citizen if he/she is voluntarily residing in or migrated to the area now known as Bangladesh on December 16,1971
- One is still a citizen if he/she voluntarily stayed or moved to West Pakistan on December 16, 1971
Amendments to the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951
The Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 rapidly underwent amendments since it was in acted on April 13, 1951. Some of these amendments were due to the fact that the original Act seemed somewhat incomplete, so the Pakistan Citizenship Rules 1952 were introduced. But also in 1971 Pakistan and Bangladesh separated and citizenship needed to be readdressed for that time, and Kashmir has also been an ongoing conflict and that needed to be addressed in the Act as well.The Amendment that was focused on the Kashmir conflict is Section 14B. In this section it is stated that if someone from the State of Jammu and Kashmir decided to migrate to Pakistan and live there till the conflict is over then the person can receive Pakistani citizenship. The amendment that is focused on the Bangladesh and Pakistan issue is Section 16A; this amendment is a part of the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 1978. This amendment states anyone who on December 16, 1971 was not in West Pakistan has lost their citizenship, even if they were not in East Pakistan either that day.
The Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 (II of 1951) has been undergoing amendments more recently as well. One of the amendment attempts is by Bushra Gohar, to attempt to change the wordings of Section 10 in the Act (Married Women). The proposal is to change the heading to Married Persons and make it so that the section applies to more than just women. Another amendment that has been made is to Section 16B, regarding the Bangladesh separation. Shahnaz Saleem has suggested that the part of the section regarding people that were outside the Pakistan and Bangladesh border on December 16, 1971 should be removed. She states that there were many people escaping the war and trying to flee to West Pakistan but had to travel outside of the borders to reach there. She proposes that these people get the opportunity to naturalize again.
Dual nationality agreements
Since independence, the growth of expatriateExpatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
Pakistani communities in the Middle East, Europe and North America has led to several changes in Pakistani nationality law. Although holding dual citizenship was not permitted under the 1951 law, the Government of Pakistan now recognizes and allows its citizens to also hold the citizenships of 16 countries:
- United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
- SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
- NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
- SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
- CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
- JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
- SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
Controversial issues
Both Pakistan and India lay claim to the disputed region of KashmirKashmir conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region, the northwesternmost region of South Asia....
, which has been the subject of numerous wars
Indo-Pakistani Wars
Since the partition of British India in 1947 and creation of India and Pakistan, the two South Asian countries have been involved in four wars, including one undeclared war, as well as many border skirmishes and military stand-offs...
between the two countries. The Pakistani Citizenship Act of 1951 allowed persons who were subjects of the state of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
to travel under a Pakistani passport
Pakistani passport
Pakistani passports are issued to the citizens of Pakistan for the purpose of international travel. Directorate General Immigration and Passports of Ministry of Interior is responsible for issuing the passport...
and be considered a citizen of Pakistan without prejudice.
The independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971 led to the abandonment in the Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
-majority state of around half a million "Stranded Pakistanis
Stranded Pakistanis
Stranded Pakistanis, also known as Biharis, describes the people mainly of the Bihari ethnic group currently residing in Bangladesh who immigrated to East Pakistan with the hopes of joining Pakistan but after the East Pakistan seceded and became Bangladesh were unable to re-immigrate in 1971 and...
", who traced their ethno-linguistic heritage to the Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
region. Despite official promises, Bangladesh has not accepted them nor does it recognise them as citizens.
As a fallout of the Afghan civil war, more than ten million Afghans, mainly Pashtuns
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
, became refugees in Pakistan who are not given Pakistani nationality.
See also
- Pakistani passportPakistani passportPakistani passports are issued to the citizens of Pakistan for the purpose of international travel. Directorate General Immigration and Passports of Ministry of Interior is responsible for issuing the passport...
- Indian nationality lawIndian nationality lawThe Indian citizenship and nationality law and the Constitution of India provides single citizenship for the entire country. The provisions relating to citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution are contained in Articles 5 to 11 in Part II of the Constitution of India...
- British nationality lawBritish nationality lawBritish nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
- Bangladeshi nationality lawBangladeshi nationality lawThe nationality law of Bangladesh, entitled the Bangladesh Citizenship Order, governs the issues of citizenship and nationality of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.-History:...