Background
Indian Citizens who had acquired Citizenship of another country were required to cancel their passport. There was a recent requirement to surrender the passport within 90 days of acquiring the Citizenship of another country. There was a fee of US$ 175 applicable for this and further if one had acquired the Citizenship earlier and had not surrendered the Indian Passport, there was a penalty.
No surrender fee if Indian Citizen acquired foreign Citizenship prior to May 31, 2010
The website of The Indian Embassy in Washington D.C., and Consulate General of India, New York, U.S.A. have notified that Indian Citizens who have acquired foreign Citizenship prior to May 31, 2010 are not required to pay the fee of US$ 175 and there will be no penalty even if they had not surrendered their Indian Passport.
Miscellaneous fee of US$ 20 (per person) will apply for persons who acquired foreign Citizenship prior to May 31, 2010 but surrendering the passport now along with a mailing fee of US$ 20 per family.
No Refunds for Persons who have already paid the Renunciation Fees
The Notification on the website of Indian Embassy, New York clarifies that if a person of Indian Origin has already surrendered the passport by paying the fee of US$ 175 – there will be no refund.
Renunciation Fees will apply to persons who acquired foreign Citizenship after May 31, 2010
Indian Citizens who acquired foreign citizenship on or after June 1, 2010 will have to submit a declaration form and pay a prescribed surrender fee of US $ 175 per person along with mailing charge of US $ 20. Consulate will impose penalties for passports that are not surrendered within 90 days of acquiring foreign citizenship.
Procedure for lost / misplaced passports
If the Indian passport was stolen, then the applicant should submit the police report for the loss of the passport along with their application for renunciation of Indian Citizenship. If the passport was misplaced then an affidavit explaining the circumstances under which it was misplaced along with a copy of the passport may be acceptable.
Documents required for persons who have already renounced their Indian Citizenship
If an Indian Citizen has renounced his citizenship, then s/he will need either a certificate of renunciation issued by the Indian Embassy or an Indian passport with the cancellation stamp.
More information on this is available at the following web links.
http://www.indiacgny.org/php/showHighLightDet.php?h_id=145&key
http://www.indianembassy.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=175
http://chicago.indianconsulate.com/5OtherConsularServices/1aCitizenshipRenunciationFAQ.html
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