The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has urged the parliamentarians to address some of the issues mentioned in the proposed bill to amend the Citizenship Act-2006 table in the parliament. 

The government has tabled the bill to amend the Citizenship Act-2006 with a provision of citizenship to non-resident Nepali in line with the spirit of Nepal’s Constitution 2072.

Welcoming the bill that proposes granting Non-Resident Nepali citizenship to the Nepali diaspora with economic, social and cultural rights, NRNA has thanked all the concerned stakeholders for the positive step.

The NRNA has recommended suggestions to clarify some of the provisions in the proposed bill for obtaining non-resident Nepali citizenship. The NRNA has advised that there should be a clear provision for granting non-resident citizenship to the third-generation Nepali whose parents have non-resident citizenship as it is necessary to connect them with Nepal. They have also suggested there the act should include the provision for granting non-resident citizenship to the children of non-resident Nepali mother, married to a foreign citizen, who have acquired non-resident Nepali citizenship.

The NRNA has also advised that there should be a provision to file application for non-resident citizenship at concerned diplomatic offices of Nepal as it would be difficult for the descendent of non-resident Nepali citizen living in a foreign country.

Likewise, the NRNA has also urged the parliament to include the provision for granting the opportunity to non-resident Nepali to acquire Nepali citizenship in case they give up their foreign citizenship.

“We met political leaders and parliamentarians including Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to express our concerns regarding non-resident Nepali citizenship,” said NRNA- US Chapter vice president Jedu Pokharel.