Surrender of Indian Passport & Renunciation of Citizenship of India
MAIN PROVISIONS FOR SURRENDER OF INDIAN PASSPORT / RENUNCIATION OF INDIAN CITIZENSHIP
Under Indian law, Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), who have acquired foreign citizenship, are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship.
The Surrender Certificate, once obtained, should be produced henceforth for any services from the Embassy of India, The Hague and copy of the Surrender Certificate/Declaration of Renunciation of Citizenship of India should be enclosed with any application in future.
The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, does not allow dual citizenship. Holding Indian passport/acquiring Indian passport/travelling on Indian passport after acquisition of foreign citizenship constitutes an offence under the Indian Passport Act, 1967, and attracts penalties. The Government of India has prescribed imposition of penalty on a graded scale for the violation of Passport Rules, depending on number of trips made on Indian passport after acquiring foreign nationality (with a three month grace period from the date of acquiring foreign nationality i.e. the date of Naturalisation certificate), renewal of Indian passport after acquiring foreign nationality and retention of Indian Passport for more than 3 years after acquiring of foreign nationality. The date on the Naturalisation Certificate will be treated as date of acquiring foreign nationality and hence, it is mandatory for the applicants to produce his / her Naturalisation Certificate for obtaining Surrender Certificate/Declaration of Renunciation of Citizenship of India.
Provisions on declaration of Renunciation / Surrender Certificate under different scenario:-
1. PIOs, who acquired foreign nationality on or before 31.05.2010 and produced last held Indian passport, will be issued 'Surrender Certificate' on payment of miscellaneous service fee of € 20.00 (Euros twenty only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00. Penalty for misuse of Indian passport would be imposed if the last held Indian passport expired on or after 1.1.2005 and it is retained beyond three years i.e. not surrendered or the PIO travelled on this passport beyond the grace period of three months or the validity of the last held Indian passport was renewed after acquiring foreign nationality;
2. PIOs, who acquired foreign nationality on or before 31.5.2010 but do not produce Indian passport, will not be issued Surrender Certificate;
3. However, PIOs who acquired foreign citizenship more than ten years ago and their Indian passport also expired more than ten years ago, could be issued 'Deemed Surrender Certificate'** if they furnish copy of Indian passport, or a letter from the Government of applicants present nationality mentioning the Indian passport detail at the time of acquisition of foreign nationality and also furnish proof of acquiring foreign citizenship more than ten years ago. It may please be noted that date of Registration or Naturalisation Certificate is to be counted as date of acquisition of foreign nationality and not the date of obtaining foreign passport. The fee for 'Deemed Surrender Certificate' will be € 20.00 (Euros twenty only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00;
4.PIOs, who acquired foreign nationality on or after 01.06.2010 and produced Indian passport, will be issued ‘Renunciation Declaration’on payment of Renunciation fee of € 185.00 (Euros one hundred eighty five only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00. Penalty for misuse of Indian passport would be imposed if the last held Indian passport expired on or after 1.1.2005 and it is retained beyond three years i.e. not surrendered or the PIO travelled on this passport beyond the grace period of three months or the validity of the last held Indian passport was renewed after acquiring foreign nationality;
5.PIOs, who acquired foreign nationality on or after 01.06.2010 but fail to produce Indian passport and only furnish a copy thereof, claiming to have misplaced/lost the Indian passport, will be issued 'Renunciation Declaration'*** with remark that original Indian passport was not surrendered. A fee of € 185.00 (Euros one hundred eighty five only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00 will be collected. The applicant will be additionally required to furnish a duly Notarised Affidavit in this regard and a Police report (to rule out any misuse);
6.For a child born outside India, who held Indian passport although entitled to foreign nationality but now opts for surrendering the Indian passport, the Renunciation fee will be € 185.00 (Euros one hundred eighty five only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00. Penalty for misuse of Indian passport would be imposed if the last held Indian passport expired on or after 1.1.2005 and it is retained beyond three years i.e. not surrendered or the applicant travelled on this passport beyond the grace period of three months or the validity of the last held Indian passport was renewed after acquiring foreign nationality.
**DEEMED SURRENDER CERTIFICATE:-
'Deemed Surrender Certificates' could be issued to PIOs, who are not in possession of Indian passport, if they had acquired foreign nationality more than ten years ago (from the year 2011) and their Indian passports also expired more than ten years ago (from the year 2011). 'Deemed Surrender Certificate' may be issued in such cases provided the PIO can furnish a copy of the Indian passport or a copy of a letter from Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Department mentioning details of the Indian Passport held earlier by the PIO and also furnishes conclusive evidence of having acquired foreign nationality more than ten years ago (from the year 2011). Applicants may also be required to provide additional documents for confirming their previously held Indian nationality. The fee will be € 20.00 (Euros twenty only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00.
***RENUNCIATION DECLARATION:-
For PIOs, who acquired foreign nationality on or after 01.06.2010 and their valid Indian passport has been misplaced or lost, can apply for 'Renunciation Declaration' by furnishing a copy of the Indian passport along with a duly Notarised Affidavit in this regard and a Police report (to rule out any misuse). Applicants may also be required to provide additional documents for confirming their previously held Indian nationality. The fee for Renunciation Certificate is € 185.00 (Euros one hundred eighty five only) towards Miscellaneous service charge plus ICWF fee of € 3.00.
CLARIFICATIONS
1.Surrender Certificate cannot be issued if the last held Indian passport is not physically produced;
2.Penalty if applicable cannot be waived or reduced.
3.There is no penalty in cases where the PIO opted for foreign nationality before 1.1.2005 and the last held Indian passport also expired before that date.
4.There is a grace period of three months after acquisition of foreign nationality (to be counted from the date of registration / Naturalisation Certificate and not from the date of foreign passport) for using Indian passport for travel.
5.Penalty for retention of Indian passport for more than 3 years after acquiring foreign citizenship is not imposed on applicants who could furnish proof of having obtained visa to visit India on their first foreign passport immediately after acquiring foreign nationality or if they have already obtained OCI / PIO Cards or Visa. However, if there is a gap of more than three years between acquisition of foreign nationality and obtaining OCI / PIO Cards or Visa, then applicable penalty, if any, would have to be paid.
6.PIOs who had earlier obtained OCI / PIO Cards or Visa without surrendering their Indian passports are required to surrender their last held Indian passport and obtain Surrender /Renunciation Certificate at the time of renewing their OCI / PIO Cards or for obtaining fresh visa.
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