332. Getting Citizenship of India

- Born in Kenya . . .

Q: I my self Sonalben Jitendra Patel, I was born in 1961 at Nairobi ( Kenya ).In 1969 we had left Nairobi and came to India . At that time my name was added at my mother’s passport. Now I have been living here in India for last thirty eight years. I had been married with a person who is the citizen of India .I have three children who born in India . Now I need passport, I had done the process to get the passport but Indian government did not accept that I am a civitizen of India . Do I get the passport of Kenya ? OR How can i get Indian passport? Please do needful help Thanks a lot A. To get a Indian Passport you have be a citizen and it appears that the authorities have not accepted you as a citizen. My suggest would be that you should apply for Indian citizenship as you are married to an Indian citizen. You can apply for Indian citizenship by way of Registration under section 5(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act. To qualify for this a person must be ordinarily resident in India for SEVEN YEARS before making application and throughout the period of twelve months immediately before making application and for SIX YEARS in the aggregate in the EIGHT YEARS preceding the twelve months. You probably meet the residency requirements since you have lived in India for thirty eight years. Application is made on Form-II and you can see this form by clicking HERE. When you look at the Form, it will provide information on the documents required to apply. Good Luck!