The Citizenship Act of 1935 prescribes five ways of acquiring citizenship, “viz, birth, descent, registration, naturalisation and incorporation of territory. According to the Citizenship Act, 1955, the citizenship could be acquired through any of the following methods.
(i) By Birth: All persons bom in India on or after 26 January, 1950 are treated as citizens by birth.
(ii) By Descent: A person bom outside India on or after 26 January, 1950 shall be a citizen of India by descent. If his father is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.
(iii) By Registration: A person can acquire citizenship of India by registration with appropriate authority.
(iv) By Naturalisation: A foreigner can acquire Indian Citizenship on application for naturalization to the Government of India.
(v) By Incorporation of Territory: In the event of a certain territory being added to the “territory of India, the Government of India shall specify the persons of that territory who shall be citizen of India.
