Centre Empowers District Collectors in 8 States, UTs to Grant Citizenship Under Section 6B

According to a PTI report, the central government notified the Citizenship (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, on Wednesday, August 20, 2026. The amendment authorises district collectors in these eight states and Union Territories to process applications seeking citizenship through registration or naturalisation.

The notified rules state that once a district magistrate is satisfied that an applicant is a qualified and suitable person for registration or naturalisation, as applicable, the officer can grant the applicant Indian citizenship.

Under the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, district magistrates in the specified areas will replace the empowered committees and designated officers that previously exercised these powers. The district magistrates have been authorised to accept, examine and dispose of such applications in accordance with the prescribed rules.

The new rules will apply to applicants seeking citizenship who ordinarily reside in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. In Assam and Tripura, tribal areas have been specifically excluded from the scope of the rules.

Under the amended framework, district magistrates have been designated as the competent authorities to receive electronic applications for registration or naturalisation. The government has also directed the empowered committees or district-level committees in the notified areas to immediately transfer all pending applications to the concerned district magistrates.

After an application for citizenship is submitted, the system will automatically issue an acknowledgement. The district magistrate will then examine all documents submitted with the application and conduct the necessary inquiries to determine the applicant’s eligibility.

The notification states that the district magistrate will examine the documents submitted with the application, conduct necessary inquiries to establish the applicant’s suitability, administer the oath of allegiance prescribed in the Second Schedule of the law and satisfy himself about the applicant’s eligibility under Section 6B.

If the district magistrate is satisfied that the applicant is a qualified and suitable person, the officer will have the authority to directly grant Indian citizenship. As part of the final process, the district magistrate must administer the oath of allegiance to the applicant in accordance with the law.

However, the new rules retain the requirement for applicants to appear personally for certain formalities. The notified rules state that if an applicant fails to appear in person to sign the application and take the oath of allegiance despite being given a reasonable opportunity to do so, the district magistrate may reject the application.

The notification therefore shifts the authority to accept, scrutinise and dispose of citizenship applications under Section 6B to district magistrates across the specified states and Union Territories, while retaining the prescribed document verification, inquiry, eligibility assessment and personal appearance requirements.