<span style="color: #222222;">Home Ministry has issued a clarification to Assam government on the citizenship status of members of the Gorkha Community living in the state as per the Foreigners Act, 1946. This followed a representation from the All Assam Gorkha Students' Union to Home Minister Rajnath Singh recently as some cases of members of Gorkha community living in Assam were referred to the Foreigners Tribunals. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">An official release said in a communication to the state government, the Home Ministry has listed various provisions to obviate the difficulties faced by Gorkhas in the matter of Indian citizenship. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The letter stated that the members of the Gorkha community who were Indian citizens at the time of commencement of the Constitution, or those who are Indian citizens by birth, or those who have acquired Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization are not "foreigners". It said, therefore, such cases will not be referred to the Foreigners Tribunals.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Home Minister further emphasized that any member of the Gorkha community holding Nepalese nationality and who has arrived in India by land or air over the Nepal border even without a passport or visa and staying in India for any length of time shall not be treated as an illegal migrant if they are in possession of  relevant identity documents. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">These documents include Nepalese Passport, Nepalese Citizenship Certificate, voter Identification card issued by the Election Commission of Nepal, limited validity photo-identity certificate issued by Nepalese Mission in India. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">For children between age group of 10-18 years, photo ID issued by the principal of the school will suffice if accompanied by parents having valid travel documents.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> No such document is required for children below the age group of 10 years.</span><br />''