In a late Thursday night order, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, letting it become an Act allowing Indian citizenship to six non-Muslim minority migrants facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Notification of the President's assent is said to have come at 11 pm on Thursday.

As per the gazette of India, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 of "Parliament received the assent of the President on December 12, 2019, and here by published for general information".

The Act comes into effect with its publication in the official gazette.

The contentious legislation will allow citizenship for persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before 2015. Critics say the move undermines the secular constitution.

Clearance of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill triggered widespread protests as it excludes Muslims living in the northeast.

Passage of the bill was a key election promise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, re-energising his nationalist, Hindu support base.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and by the Lok Sabha in a midnight sitting little past on Monday.

With inputs from agencies.