HC allows Pakistani woman to file fresh citizenship application, sets deadline | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: The high court has directed the ministry of external affairs, the ministry of home affairs and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to consider a fresh application to be filed by Pakistani national Nighat Yasmeen seeking Indian citizenship and to pass appropriate orders before the expiry of her long-term visa on April 6, 2026.Justice Suraj Govindaraj partly allowed Yasmeen’s petition, permitting her to withdraw her earlier citizenship applications and submit a single consolidated application. The court also directed the Bengaluru police and the state govt authorities to process and forward the fresh application.Yasmeen, who married Indian citizen Mohammed Younus in April 2009, has two children who are Indian citizens. She had approached the high court contending that her earlier citizenship applications had not been considered and sought favourable consideration in view of her family ties.The court was informed that following the Indo-Pak conflict, the ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory on April 24, 2025, cancelling existing visas, prompting Yasmeen’s apprehension of deportation if her citizenship plea remained pending. Representing the Centre, deputy solicitor general H Shanthi Bhushan submitted that citizenship applications could be examined only after being processed and forwarded by the state govt. He added that Yasmeen’s long-term visa had already been recommended for extension from April 7, 2024, to April 6, 2026.After examining the records, Justice Govindaraj noted the Centre’s order issued after the Pahalgam attack did not apply to long-term, diplomatic or official visas. He further referred to a clarification issued on April 28, 2025, which required Pakistani nationals without Indian citizenship to apply afresh for long-term visas through the e-FRRO portal by July 10, 2025. Yasmeen had complied with this requirement on May 16, 2025.Observing that only the formal issuance of the extended visa remained and that her visa was valid until April 6, 2026, the court held that she could not be deported or subjected to coercive action. It, therefore, directed the authorities to consider and decide her citizenship application before the expiry of her long-term visa.
