CAA Cut-Off Extended: Migrants Entering India Till December 31, 2024 Eligible For Citizenship

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the cut-off date for entry into India under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) to December 31, 2024. The Act, passed in December 2019, provides Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who fled due to religious persecution. The earlier cut-off date had been set at December 2014.

Announcing the decision on Wednesday, the MHA said that individuals belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities from the three neighboring countries, who entered India on or before December 31, 2024, will be eligible to apply under the CAA even if they do not possess valid passports or travel documents, or if such documents have since expired.

The notification stated: "A person belonging to a minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians - who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution and entered the country on or before December 31, 2024, without valid documents, or with documents that have expired, will be exempted from the requirement of a valid passport and visa."

Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar shared the MHA notification dated September 1, confirming the extension.

The CAA was passed by Parliament in December 2019 and signed into law by then-President Ramnath Kovind. It was formally implemented on March 11 last year after the rules were notified, nearly four years after the Act was passed.

The extension comes after repeated appeals from refugee associations, including a body representing displaced minorities from Bangladesh, which had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the cut-off date to reflect the continued influx of persecuted communities crossing into India.