The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2019. This act amends the Citizenship Act of 1955, which defines who can be considered an Indian citizen and the procedure for acquiring Indian citizenship.

• The key provision of the CAA is to provide a path to Indian citizenship for persecuted minority refugees (excepting those who are Muslim) from neighboring countries, who seek to become Indian citizens. 
• The CAA thus grants Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who entered India before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these countries. 
• However, CAA does not automatically give these refugees citizenship — it just makes them eligible to apply for it.