More about citizenship, passports, and voting rights for Tibetans in India .:. Exile Tibetans

Information and articles about citizenship, and exile Tibetan citizenship, voting rights, and passport for exile Tibetans in India

The process for an exile Tibetan to get a passport in India is in the “Citizenship” section of the main India page of this website.

Citizenship for Tibetans in India

undated Who are Indian citizens and who can acquire Indian citizenship?
Acquisition of Indian Citizenship: the text of the law View the article at IndianCitizenshipOnline.nic.in Archive.org
22 December 2010 Namgyal Dolkar – The first Tibetan to acquire Indian citizenship – the court order View the article at IndianKoon.org Archive.org
28 December 2010 Court grants citizenship to woman of Tibetan parentage View the article at HindustanTimes.com Archive.org

Below is a summary of the legal history of getting passport for Tibetans in India.

17 September 2018 MEA streamlines RC/IC surrender process for applying for passport View/download the ruling as PDF at PassportIndia.gov on this website
14 September 2018 Delhi High Court order to cease obstruction of RC/IC surrender process View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
7 November 2017 The Delhi High Court quashed a Government of India rule asking Tibetans to leave settlements after obtaining Indian citizenship. View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
17 March 2017 The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a letter dated 17 March 2017, ordered all Indian passport issuing authorities in India and Indian missions abroad to issue passports to eligible Tibetans. View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
21 February 2017 Delhi High Court judgment on the contempt petition against MEA, by Justice Manmohan. View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
14 February 2017 Delhi High Court – Contempt petition against MEA View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
22 September 2016 Delhi High Court judgment orders government to issue passport to Tibetans View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
10 May 2016 Delhi High Court – Petition asking for issuance of passport for qualified Tibetans filed against the Government of India. View/download the ruling as PDF on this website

Background and more information:

22 April 2019 An election in exile: Making the Tibetan vote count View article at LiveMint.com at Archive.org
15 May 2019 To be or not to be: Voting rights for Tibetans in India decoded View article at IndianExpress.com at Archive.org

Why did the Election Commission of India order local ECs to issue election cards to Tibetans?: The Election Commission of India wrote on 7 February 2014 to all states to enroll Tibetans born in India between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987 as voters.; The Delhi and Bangalore High Court ruling that Tibetans born in India before July 1987, and their children, are citizens under India’s citizenship law and are entitled to passports, was followed by the Election Commission of India making provision for them to register as voters.; The government of India still considered all Tibetans born in India and their children as foreigners, whose stay in India is temporary, and allowed on humanitarian grounds.
Situation of exile Tibetans in India: Sixty years after fleeing Tibet, refugees in India get passports, not property
By Abhishek Madhukar and Rina Chandran
Reuters.com, 22 June 2017
Do Tibetans who get Indian passport have to leave their settlement?: As of 7 November 2017, the Delhi High Court quashed a Government of India rule asking Tibetans to leave settlements after obtaining Indian citizenship.; View/download the ruling as PDF on this website
Problems in IC application process: A letter to the editor at TibetSun.com [10 October 2018]