Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa clarifies that new citizenship bill brought to end the practice of having two citizenships

Kathmandu, Sept. 14 : Minister for Home Affairs, Ram Bahadur Thapa, has said a voice has been raised regarding maintaining uniformity in the provision contained in the policy of issuing citizenship to a foreign woman married to the citizen of the country.

Responding to the queries raised by the lawmakers during discussions on the Bill Designed to Amend the Citizenship Act, 2063 BS in the meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives yesterday he said the government respects the committee’s right to make revisions, amendments and corrections in the bill.

Home Minister Thapa said although the government’s efforts were for forging general consensus on the issue of the natural citizenship, the environment had not  been forged yet.

The meeting of the committee was postponed for Saturday after lawmaker Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav sought time to study the reports containing the topics raised in course of the discussions.

The report prepared by the Committee has proposed to provide an identity card ensuring the social, economic and social rights instead of a naturalized citizenship immediately, and to provide the citizenship only after 7 years of the marriage. However, a foreign husband of a Nepali woman shall be eligible for the citizenship only after 15 years of the marriage.