DECEMBER 28
With the implementation of the National Identity Card, the problem of not surrendering the citizenship card will come to an end as it will update the record
It will be interesting to see how the case regarding not revoking Nepali citizenship and attaining Nepali passport with American citizenship intact by Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), unfolds as he has recently been sworn-in as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs. Earlier, the hype over his celebrity status, which was glorified due to the landslide victory in the November 20 election to the House of Representatives from Chtiwan-2, added fuel to the fire. Now the case has been taken over by the Nepal Police as the Election Commission refused to carry out further investigation on the matter.
Section 10 (1 and 2) of the Citizenship Act 2006 clearly mentions that any Nepali acquiring foreign citizenship shall automatically lose the citizenship of Nepal. The one relinquishing the citizenship should inform about the process with the original copy of citizenship to the Embassy of Nepal or the Consulate General of Nepal in their respective countries. After receiving the documents, the diplomatic authorities should write to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) within seven days, which should immediately start the process of annulling the citizenship.
The designated authority shall then register the notice submitted by the one obtaining foreign citizenship.
The termination comes into effect from the date of registration.
The question is how many people surrender their citizenship. After talking to various Nepalis who have obtained foreign citizenship, most of them said that they are unaware of the formalities, though some Nepali embassies have uploaded the portable document file and embedded the link of the citizenship act in their web domains.
The benefit of the doubt can be given to the ones who are not aware of this act. However, some intellectuals, despite being aware of the act and procedures, take advantage of the loopholes that have been left wide open due to the orthodox and manual record keeping of citizenship.
The only physical record of citizenship can be traced from the respective District Administration Office (DAO) of the citizenship bearer through a pile of record files. Despite having a defunct copy of citizenship, foreign nationals of Nepali origin can enjoy all the rights of a Nepali citizen.
They can even walk away with voting rights and also get away with taxes imposed on property rights, which eventually promotes money laundering.
Airfare is expensive in Nepal for foreign passport holders, so using the citizenship card can save them considerable travel expenses.
When comparison is made over unjust privileges, it easily takes over ethical values. As a result, foreign nationals of Nepali origin show their reluctance to surrender their citizenship.
Any document that is traceable electronically can help in the cause. For this reason, the government has introduced the National Identity Card as it carries all the relevant data of the users on a chip. These cards will replace the citizenship card and serve as one-in-all for delivery of public services in the country.
With its implementation, the problem of not surrendering the citizenship card will come to an end as it will update the record of voided citizenship in the system as it holds the data of e-passports, which get cancelled as soon as they obtain the passport of a foreign country.
With the introduction of the Machine-Readable Passport in 2010 and upgradation to the e-passport in 2021, it has helped in tracking the citizens. After its implementation, it has not been possible to avoid the visa fee while entering the country as the visitor has to use the passport of the country of residence.
Reinstating citizenship of the country of origin is just as easy as surrendering.
Nepal Citizenship Act 2006, section 11 describes the process of surrendering foreign citizenship to reinstate Nepali citizenship. It state that if any Nepali citizen who after receiving citizenship of a foreign country again wants to reinstate their Nepali citizenship after moving to Nepal, then if he/she must submit evidence of renunciation of foreign citizenship.
Moving to Lamichhane's case, preliminary investigation and his own remarks have clarified that he has failed to reinstate Nepali citizenship though he has completed all the required procedures to surrender his American citizenship.
Later, proof of renunciation was submitted to the Immigration Department, which he revealed in a video recorded five years ago.
In the video, he has clearly mentioned that he was more than happy to get his old citizenship back, which he had acquired in 1993. He has been claiming that he had no problem, henceforth while tackling a court case or while registering for the candidacy with his old citizenship.
Since he has already renounced American citizenship and his old Nepali citizenship has been nullified, it makes him a stateless person! The court, therefore, will look into various aspects before the verdict as he has also clarified that there won't be any objection regarding the proceedings with the case when in power.
Nevertheless, the case is likely to invite two consequences, where he can be given the benefit of the doubt, citing he has used his old citizenship to get a clean chit from a court case and to file the candidacy and not having subsequent information/ misleading information led to the consequences.
Or the court could revoke his candidacy, which will lead to the ethical obligation to put in his papers for further court proceedings.
Whatever happens, one aspect is clear now – people will be more aware about the existing scenario and show ethics to surrender their citizenship though it is deemed just as a sheet of card without any tracking opportunities. The government should speed up the process of distributing the National Identity Card so that such cases won't exist in the days to come.
Joshi hold a Masters in Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of Findlay, Ohio, USA
A version of this article appears in the print on December 29, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.