Kathmandu, November 23:

The parliamentary State Affairs Committee (SAC) today unanimously endorsed the Citizenship Integration and Amendment Bill 2006 with several provisions and the same will be tabled before the House of Representatives on Sunday for its approval.

SAC chairman Hridaya Ram Thani said after the Bill is passed by the House a person can get citizenship certificate in father or mother’s name.

The panel has fixed April 13, 1990, as the cut off date for providing citizenship. The committee adopted another provision to provide naturalisation citizenship for the foreigners living in the country after fulfilling the criteria.

Any foreigner living in Nepal for the past 15 years, who knows to speak and write Nepali or other languages spoken in Nepal, can have naturalisation citizenship certificate, provided he or she gives up the citizenship of the other country and is mentally healthy.

He or she will have to take the oath of Nepali citizen. A citizenship holder father’s son or daughter will be eligible for acquiring citizenship by descent.

A person born in Nepal, living here permanently, having land ownership certificate or certificate of tenant, can be eligible for getting certificate by birth on recommendation of the concerned municipality or VDC.