Kathmandu, November 15
The Nepal Citizenship Regulations have been amended for the fifth time. The Ministry of Home Affairs said the fifth amendment has simplified procedures for citizenship distribution, obtaining duplicate certificates, record management and verification of citizenship details.
The latest amendment, made by the government under Section 23 of the Nepal Citizenship Act, 2006, introduces a new Rule 16B, clarifying the circumstances under which duplicate copies of Nepali citizenship certificates and non-resident Nepali citizenship certificates can be obtained.
A duplicate certificate can now be obtained if the original has been destroyed by fire or water, torn and rendered unusable, lost, damaged due to relocation, or if a new format is required.
Even if neither the original citizenship certificate nor a copy is available, the process can be initiated on the basis of any one of the following documents: a national identity card, passport or land ownership certificate.
Under the new Rule 16C, if an individual possesses the original citizenship certificate but the relevant government office does not have its record, the same procedures followed when issuing a new citizenship certificate must be completed.
Similarly, if neither the original certificate nor the office record is available, a duplicate can still be issued after completing the entire procedure required for issuing a new citizenship certificate.
If an old record does not contain a photograph or the photograph is unclear, verification can be carried out using a photo identity document issued by a government agency and the citizenship certificate number.
The government believes this provision will be particularly important for citizens whose old records have been lost or were not properly maintained.
As part of administrative reforms, additional provisions have also been introduced, including requirements to maintain citizenship details in a digital system.
The new Rule 13 introduces changes to citizenship record management.
The office issuing a citizenship certificate must maintain records of the issued certificates in a prescribed format. Details and documents submitted by applicants to obtain citizenship must also be uploaded to the Citizenship Information Management System.
The rules also require monthly reports on citizenship certificate distribution to be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Citizenship numbers will be organised based on district codes, office codes, the year of issuance and serial numbers.
The ministry said the objective is to integrate and systematically manage citizenship records across the country.
The amended regulations have also clarified the structure of citizenship certificate numbers.
Under the new system, each citizenship number will consist of four components: the district code, the office code, the last two digits of the year of issuance and a five-digit serial number.
This system will make it easier to identify the district and office that issued a citizenship certificate, as well as the year of its issuance.
