Ciudadanía por nacimiento: ciudadano monoparental (1987–2004)

Eligibility requires: (1) birth in India (s3(1) chapeau, with s2(2) ship/aircraft deeming); (2) date of birth on or after 1 July 1987 and before the commencement of Act 6 of 2004 — i.e. before 3 December 2004; and (3) at least one parent ('either of whose parents') being a citizen of India at the time of the birth. Unlike the s3(1)(a) cohort, parent status is now a load-bearing element: a child born in India in this window to two non-citizen parents is NOT a citizen by birth, however long the parents resided in India. The 'at the time of his birth' timing is strict — a parent who naturalised as an Indian citizen only after the child's birth does not retro-confer citizenship on the child under s3(1)(b). The s3(2) exclusions (diplomat-immune parent not an Indian citizen; enemy-alien parent in occupied territory) further disqualify even where the one-parent-citizen condition is met. The s2(3) posthumous rule can fix a deceased father's status as at his death. Present retention remains subject to s9(1) no-dual loss.

Like all s3 birth routes, IN-BTH-02 vests citizenship by operation of law at birth; there is no constitutive application. The evidentiary burden is to establish (a) birth in India within 1 July 1987 to before 3 December 2004 and (b) the Indian citizenship of at least one parent at the time of birth. In practice this is proved by the child's birth certificate (Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969) plus documentary proof of a parent's Indian citizenship as at the birth date (parent's passport, birth/citizenship records). Where doubt exists, s13 permits the Central Government to certify citizenship, that certificate being conclusive on its date absent fraud. There is no consular registration step for a birth occurring in India (that machinery attaches to s4 descent births abroad). Downstream, an Indian passport is issued on proof of citizenship. A later voluntary acquisition of foreign citizenship triggers automatic loss under s9(1) and the surrender regime (IN-LOSS-02).

IN-BTH-02 rests on section 3(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act 1955: a person 'born in India.. (b) on or after the 1st day of July, 1987, but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 (6 of 2004) and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth.. shall be a citizen of India by birth.' This is the FIRST restriction of India's jus soli — the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986 (Act 51 of 1986, w.e.f. 1-7-1987) converted the formerly unconditional territorial rule into a modified one requiring at least one Indian-citizen parent at the time of the child's birth. The clause is territorially anchored by the s3(1) chapeau 'every person born in India' and is subject to the s3(2) exclusions. As with the whole of the current s3, the operative wording is the text substituted by Act 6 of 2004 s.3 (w.e.f. 3-12-2004); the clause reproduces the 1987-2004 rule within the 2004-consolidated section. The route is active and, as of 2026-07, governs every birth in India in its window.

Primary authority: Citizenship Act 1955 s3(1)(b) (IN-PRIMARY-02), inserted by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986 (Act 51 of 1986, w.e.f. 1-7-1987) and carried into the 2004-consolidated section 3. The Constitution (Arts 10-11, IN-PRIMARY-01) supplies Parliament's plenary power over citizenship. The Supreme Court of India is the apex interpretive authority; no supranational layer exists over Indian nationality. POSITIVE DISCONFIRMATION: the Evidence Table records no reported apex determination directly construing the s3(1)(b) one-parent-citizen rule; the principal citizenship jurisprudence concerns §6A (Assam) and §9 (loss), not the s3 birth cohorts. No directly-on-point precedent is asserted; the rule is applied on its settled statutory text. The amendment provenance (Act 51/1986) is corroborated by the CommonLII reproduction of the substitution footnote.