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Permanent Resident Certificate

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What Is Permanent Resident Certificate?

Permanent residency is the legal status of a person who acquired the residential rights to stay in a country or a territory where the person is not an actual city but has been allowed by the government of that particular region to reside on a permanent basis. This is issued by the government for a person till a permanent period and thus the resident is known as a permanent resident of that place. In the United States, such residence is commonly referred to as green card holders but more officially they are known as Lawful Permanent Residence. In India, the government had passed an amendment in parliament to issue such PRC certificates primarily for the students to fetch admission in the Educational institution.


PRC certificate full form is a Permanent Residency Certificate that is issued by the deputy commissioner of a district that falls under the concerned state government or the government of Union territory. Thus a permanent residency assures the freedom of a person that is controlled by the immigration of a particular country. But if any residence is not granted the right to abode, then the resident with permanent residency will automatically fall under immigration control. The right to abode in many western countries not only gives the permission of permanent residency but also provides a work permit along with it. 


Thus Permanent residency certificate in India too is issued to the people belonging to a particular ward, district, village, town or city of India to identify them as the residence of that particular area. This in addition to the residency in India is also linked to the domicile quota in order to avail the government jobs, admission to educational institutions, eligible for ration cards, etc. This is a certificate that identifies and assures a person’s residency in a particular place within the country.  Thus this entire topic deals with “what is permanent resident certificate” and “what residence certificate means”. 


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Significance And Benefits of PRC

Due to the introduction of the PCR by the government, there has been a huge turmoil arisen in the north-eastern states of India. The states like Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh have been demonstrating against the government’s decision to issue PRC to some of the people of the states. With certain drawbacks of PRC, there are many significant benefits of PRC if introduced in the county. These are the following significance of PRC as mentioned below:

  1. While domicile and PRC are on the same note but they are slightly different from one another as PRC is much more precise in nature. While domicile is the national level residency proof for all Indians, PRC certificates are authorized by the concerned officials of the state government or the government of union territories. 

  2. PRC certificates are required in many educational institutions while taking admissions of students in a particular institution. It is required for job reservations in a particular quota especially for the state and central government jobs. It also helps in identifying the local residences and thus provides some local preferences during recruitment.

  3. It also enables you to enjoy the benefits of a ration card.

  4. The domicile certificate referred to as PRC which is issued to the applicant will be valid for the lifetime. 

  5. Nowadays it is considered as one of the important documents in certain states where the government has implied PRC in order to cast the vote. 

  6. The PRC certificate has become a major document for claiming the scholarship of the states and this also helps in availing the benefits that are regularized by the state under various schemes.

  7. The main purpose of the PRC certificate is to indicate that a particular citizen is actually residing in a particular state. Thus this acts as a legal document for the residential proof that needs to be shown wherever residential proof is needed. 

States Issuing PRC

There are some of the states where the state government is regularizing the PRC certificate to the residence of that particular state. The states are as follows.

  1. Arunachal Pradesh

  2. Assam

  3. Mizoram

  4. Meghalaya

  5. Tripura 

  6. Manipur Jammu and Kashmir

Eligibility Criteria for PRC

The people who are not staying in another state and not within the particular state of where they are permanent residents but are sure of the residency can also apply for the PRC certificate. Other than this, the state government is also issuing temporary residency certificates to those who are not a permanent resident of the state and has been migrated to the state for work, education or other purposes. Thus, in order to have a better picture of what is PRC in India lets have a look into a few of such eligibility criteria to be issued a Permanent Residency Certificate is as follows:

  1. Any person who is residing in a particular village or district of any of the mentioned states is eligible to apply for a PRC certificate.

  2. The applicant for the PRC must produce a copy of the right to owning a residential plot that is either self-owned or owned by parents or ancestors of the individual that is still under his/her possession. 

  3. The women who are not permanent residents of the states mentioned above but are married to men who are the holder of permanent residences in the respective states are also eligible to become PRC holders.

  4. People who do not belong to a particular state but have been assigned a job or are being transferred to another state, especially, in the case of government job employees are eligible to apply for a PRC certificate in that particular state. 

How to Apply for PRC?

To obtain the PRC the applicant must visit their nearest common service center (PFC/CSC) in CO/DC/SDO(C) with all the documents relevant and required. There is a nominal fee charged for the application work that includes service charges which is INR 30, printing charges that are not required for senior citizens is INR 10 and scanning charges that are not required for senior citizens is INR 5. There is a list of documents that are essential for the application for PRC. These are listed below:-

  1. Record of all the immovable property that is either owned by self or has been owned by parents and ancestors.

  2. Two copies of passport size photographs.

  3. Certificate copy of NCR 1971 or the photocopy of Indian passport.

  4. Copy of voter list in order to verify the linkage.

  5. The copy of the PRC issued to any family members with referring to the relation they share with the applicant if any.

  6. The birth certificate of the applicant has been issued by a verified authority under the state or Union territory government.

  7. Copy off the High Secondary Clearance certificate or admit card for the same.

  8. Employee certificate or the joining letter that has been issued by the organization the individual is currently working with the present posting place if any.

  9. The documents for verification of the ancestors or the forefathers of the individual who resided in the particular state for 50 years or more.

  10. Documents that is verifying the stay of the parents or guardians of the applicants who have resided in Assam for more than 20 years. 

Uproar in Arunachal Pradesh

There have been two major reasons that created unrest in Arunachal Pradesh because of the implementation of the PRC and these are listed below:-

  1. The government has issued PRC to the scheduled tribes as the government wanted to acknowledge them as the permanent residence of Arunachal Pradesh. This has provided some extra benefits that they are enjoying including certain schemes of the government. Now the people who do not fall under the ST category are also demanding the same benefits of the government schemes that are introduced for the former group. This is now being opposed by the Schedule Tribes of the states.

  2. There is a major population of the scheduled tribes that are residing away from Arunachal Pradesh in Assam. Though they have been given the domicile status and are considered as the permanent residence of Assam they are also now demanding the same status of ST in Arunachal Pradesh. 

Permanent residency is the legal status of a person who acquired the residential rights to stay in a country or a territory where the person is not an actual city but has been allowed by the government of that particular region to reside on a permanent basis. This is issued by the government for a person till a permanent period and thus the resident is known as a permanent resident of that place. In the United States, such residence is commonly referred to as green card holders but more officially they are known as Lawful Permanent Residence. In India, the government had passed an amendment in parliament to issue such PRC certificates primarily for the students to fetch admission in the Educational institution.


PRC certificate full form is a Permanent Residency Certificate that is issued by the deputy commissioner of a district that falls under the concerned state government or the government of Union territory. Thus a permanent residency assures the freedom of a person that is controlled by the immigration of a particular country. But if any residence is not granted the right to abode, then the resident with permanent residency will automatically fall under immigration control. The right to abode in many western countries not only gives the permission of permanent residency but also provides a work permit along with it. 


Thus Permanent residency certificate in India too is issued to the people belonging to a particular ward, district, village, town or city of India to identify them as the residence of that particular area. This in addition to the residency in India is also linked to the domicile quota in order to avail the government jobs, admission to educational institutions, eligible for ration cards, etc. This is a certificate that identifies and assures a person’s residency in a particular place within the country.  Thus this entire topic deals with “what is permanent resident certificate” and “what residence certificate means”. 


(Image will be uploaded soon)   


Significance And Benefits of PRC

Due to the introduction of the PCR by the government, there has been a huge turmoil arisen in the north-eastern states of India. The states like Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh have been demonstrating against the government’s decision to issue PRC to some of the people of the states. With certain drawbacks of PRC, there are many significant benefits of PRC if introduced in the county. These are the following significance of PRC as mentioned below:

  1. While domicile and PRC are on the same note but they are slightly different from one another as PRC is much more precise in nature. While domicile is the national level residency proof for all Indians, PRC certificates are authorized by the concerned officials of the state government or the government of union territories. 

  2. PRC certificates are required in many educational institutions while taking admissions of students in a particular institution. It is required for job reservations in a particular quota especially for the state and central government jobs. It also helps in identifying the local residences and thus provides some local preferences during recruitment.

  3. It also enables you to enjoy the benefits of a ration card.

  4. The domicile certificate referred to as PRC which is issued to the applicant will be valid for the lifetime. 

  5. Nowadays it is considered as one of the important documents in certain states where the government has implied PRC in order to cast the vote. 

  6. The PRC certificate has become a major document for claiming the scholarship of the states and this also helps in availing the benefits that are regularized by the state under various schemes.

  7. The main purpose of the PRC certificate is to indicate that a particular citizen is actually residing in a particular state. Thus this acts as a legal document for the residential proof that needs to be shown wherever residential proof is needed. 

States Issuing PRC

There are some of the states where the state government is regularizing the PRC certificate to the residence of that particular state. The states are as follows.

  1. Arunachal Pradesh

  2. Assam

  3. Mizoram

  4. Meghalaya

  5. Tripura 

  6. Manipur Jammu and Kashmir

Eligibility Criteria for PRC

The people who are not staying in another state and not within the particular state of where they are permanent residents but are sure of the residency can also apply for the PRC certificate. Other than this, the state government is also issuing temporary residency certificates to those who are not a permanent resident of the state and has been migrated to the state for work, education or other purposes. Thus, in order to have a better picture of what is PRC in India lets have a look into a few of such eligibility criteria to be issued a Permanent Residency Certificate is as follows:

  1. Any person who is residing in a particular village or district of any of the mentioned states is eligible to apply for a PRC certificate.

  2. The applicant for the PRC must produce a copy of the right to owning a residential plot that is either self-owned or owned by parents or ancestors of the individual that is still under his/her possession. 

  3. The women who are not permanent residents of the states mentioned above but are married to men who are the holder of permanent residences in the respective states are also eligible to become PRC holders.

  4. People who do not belong to a particular state but have been assigned a job or are being transferred to another state, especially, in the case of government job employees are eligible to apply for a PRC certificate in that particular state. 

How to Apply for PRC?

To obtain the PRC the applicant must visit their nearest common service center (PFC/CSC) in CO/DC/SDO(C) with all the documents relevant and required. There is a nominal fee charged for the application work that includes service charges which is INR 30, printing charges that are not required for senior citizens is INR 10 and scanning charges that are not required for senior citizens is INR 5. There is a list of documents that are essential for the application for PRC. These are listed below:-

  1. Record of all the immovable property that is either owned by self or has been owned by parents and ancestors.

  2. Two copies of passport size photographs.

  3. Certificate copy of NCR 1971 or the photocopy of Indian passport.

  4. Copy of voter list in order to verify the linkage.

  5. The copy of the PRC issued to any family members with referring to the relation they share with the applicant if any.

  6. The birth certificate of the applicant has been issued by a verified authority under the state or Union territory government.

  7. Copy off the High Secondary Clearance certificate or admit card for the same.

  8. Employee certificate or the joining letter that has been issued by the organization the individual is currently working with the present posting place if any.

  9. The documents for verification of the ancestors or the forefathers of the individual who resided in the particular state for 50 years or more.

  10. Documents that is verifying the stay of the parents or guardians of the applicants who have resided in Assam for more than 20 years. 

Uproar in Arunachal Pradesh

There have been two major reasons that created unrest in Arunachal Pradesh because of the implementation of the PRC and these are listed below:-

  1. The government has issued PRC to the scheduled tribes as the government wanted to acknowledge them as the permanent residence of Arunachal Pradesh. This has provided some extra benefits that they are enjoying including certain schemes of the government. Now the people who do not fall under the ST category are also demanding the same benefits of the government schemes that are introduced for the former group. This is now being opposed by the Schedule Tribes of the states.

  2. There is a major population of the scheduled tribes that are residing away from Arunachal Pradesh in Assam. Though they have been given the domicile status and are considered as the permanent residence of Assam they are also now demanding the same status of ST in Arunachal Pradesh. 

FAQs on Permanent Resident Certificate

1. What is a residence certificate or PRC in India?

Residence certificate means PRC certificate, which is a Permanent Residency Certificate issued by the deputy commissioner of a district that falls under the concerned state government or the government of Union territory.

2. Who will be eligible for both the domicile status as well as for SC/ST residency certificate?

only the students who belong from the enlisted SC or ST groups under the state government will be acknowledged by the state government for both PRC as well as SC/ST certificate and the rest of the students who fall in the general category will only be issued domicile or PRC certificates. This has created a major uproar in both Arunachal Pradesh as well as the SC/ST residing in Assam.