The government has put in place a new system to fasten and facilitate submission of online applications for grant of Indian citizenship with the development of a new software.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has developed a software to facilitate submission of online applications for grant of Indian citizenship. The applicants can make application online for quick processing of the same by the concerned agencies and the central government," Minister of State for Home M Ramachandran told Lok Sabha in a written reply today.

The new system has been introduced with objectives like, "faster and uniform processing of applications for grant of Indian citizenship, easy monitoring and tracking of applications, generation of accurate MIS reports and creation and maintenance of centralised database of citizenship granted to the foreigners," he said.

"Each application form is meant for one person only.

Once the online application form is submitted by the applicant, an internet file number will be generated automatically and the applicant may preserve this number for status tracking.

"Applicant is required to submit the duly signed/self-attested hard copy of the computer generated print of the application form and supporting documents to the concerned collector/DC/DM office. Thereafter, the collector/DC/DM concerned, as the case may be, shall process the application as per procedure laid down in the Citizenship Act,1995 and rules made thereunder," he said.

A foreigner can apply online from the Home Ministry's website, he added.