Nepal Citizenship Certificate (Nagarikta): Types, Eligibility and the DAO Process

Nagarikta is Nepal's citizenship certificate — the foundational proof of nationality that every other Nepali document is built upon. It is issued in printed form by the District Administration Office (DAO) of the relevant district, under the authority of the Chief District Officer (CDO), with citizenship policy administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The certificate records the holder's name, date and place of birth, parents' names, permanent address, and the basis on which citizenship was granted.

Without nagarikta a Nepali cannot obtain a passport, vote, register land or a vehicle in their name, open most bank accounts, sit many public examinations, or take up government employment. The framework for who is a citizen and how citizenship is acquired comes from Part 2 of the Constitution of Nepal 2072 (Articles 10–15, the Constitution having been promulgated on 20 September 2015), implemented through the Nepal Citizenship Act 2063 (2006) and the Nepal Citizenship Rules 2063.

The Constitution and the Citizenship Act recognise several distinct grounds on which Nepali citizenship can be acquired. Each route has its own eligibility test and its own document checklist, and the type is recorded on the certificate itself.

Citizenship by descent (vamshaja) is by far the most common route and is based on bloodline (jus sanguinis): a person whose father or mother was a Nepali citizen at the time of that person's birth is entitled to citizenship by descent, regardless of where the child was born. Citizenship by birth was a transitional, now-closed category for persons born in Nepal before the end of Chaitra 2046 BS (mid-April 1990) who had been permanently resident there; it is not open to new applicants. Naturalised citizenship is available to foreign nationals who meet statutory conditions, and citizenship by marriage allows a foreign woman married to a Nepali citizen to acquire naturalised citizenship.

A citizenship certificate is issued only to a person who has attained the age of 16 years. Children below 16 are covered instead by their birth registration certificate and their parents' citizenship; they apply for nagarikta in their own name once they reach 16, most commonly around the time they finish school.

For the descent route the essential test is the parental link: an applicant must show that the father or mother was a Nepali citizen at the time of the applicant's birth. The 2006 Act and the 2023 amendment strengthened the mother-line: a Nepali mother can transmit citizenship by descent to her child, and a child born in Nepal to a Nepali mother whose father is not identified may obtain citizenship by descent on the mother's self-declaration (with the mother liable if the declaration is false). Where the father is later established to be a foreign national, the child's status is treated as naturalised rather than by descent.

The process begins not at the DAO but at the applicant's local ward office, which issues a recommendation letter. The completed application is then submitted in person at the District Administration Office of the relevant district, where the CDO (or an authorised officer) approves and signs the certificate. For a straightforward descent application with complete documents, DAOs commonly process and hand over the certificate the same day; certificates issued on the descent route are printed on distinctive pink paper.

The exact checklist depends on the route, but every application is built around proving identity, the parental link and permanent residence. Applying outside the parents' origin district generally also requires a migration (saruwa) certificate. The lists below reflect what DAOs typically require; always confirm the current checklist with the specific DAO, as requirements are periodically revised.

Nepal does not permit dual citizenship. A Nepali who voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country loses their Nepali citizenship; conversely, naturalisation in Nepal requires evidence that the applicant is giving up their prior citizenship. This single-nationality principle runs through Part 2 of the Constitution and the Citizenship Act.

To address the global Nepali diaspora, the 2015 Constitution and the 2023 amendment created a distinct Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) citizenship for people of Nepali origin who have taken foreign citizenship. NRN citizenship confers economic, social and cultural rights — such as holding property and doing business — but expressly excludes political and administrative rights, and so is not equivalent to full nagarikta.