Indian citizenship must be formally renounced after acquiring foreign citizenship.

It is a punishable offence under the Indian Passport Act, 1967 to apply for an Indian passport, continue to hold an Indian passport, get an Indian passport re-issued or travel on an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship. Extant rules prescribe stringent penalties for holding Indian passports by foreign nationals. This is also applicable to those Indian citizens who acquired foreign citizenship.

Persons of Indian origin applying for an Indian visa, OCI/PIO Card or miscellaneous consular services are required to produce a Surrender Certificate on renunciation of Indian citizenship. This Certificate would be issued to them on payment of a one-time Renunciation of Indian Citizenship Fee. The fee for renunciation of Indian citizenship would be charged only in cases of renunciation of citizenship taking place from 1 June, 2010.

[Kindly Note: Surrender Certificates are not required in cases where the Indian passport has already been cancelled/ surrendered on acquisition of foreign nationality.]

With effect from 1 November, 2010, this service will be provided by M/S VF Services-Canada (VFS) at VFS Centres located at 40 Gillingham Drive, Brampton and 939 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto. Henceforth no applications will be accepted at the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
VFS central helpline number is 1-877-599-8071 and their website is http://in.vfsglobal.ca
VFS will charge their service fees of C$ 21.75 in addition to the various fees prescribed for Renunciation/Surrender Certificates, Penalties and miscellaneous services.

The salient features of the scheme are listed below:

 Indian citizens acquiring any foreign citizenship on or after 1 June, 2010 must formally renounce Indian citizenship. This can be done by surrendering Indian passports for cancellation and obtaining a “Surrender Certificate” endorsement on the cancelled passport.  Applicants would be required to pay a one time Renunciation Fee of Canadian $ 168 while surrendering their Indian passports. The Indian passports would be cancelled and returned to the passport holder along with “Surrender Certificate” endorsement for future reference.

Production of Surrender Certificate endorsement is essential while applying for Indian visa, PIO/OCI card or any other miscellaneous consular services, in case Canadian citizenship was acquired on or after 1 June, 2010.

In case the Indian passport held at the time of acquiring Canadian citizenship is not available, a statement explaining the circumstances of the loss/damage, detailed police report of lost passport, the passport number & date of issue/expiry must be provided, along with proof in support of the claim.

The applicant would need to submit the following
1.       Original Indian passport with one copy.
2.       Copy of the Canadian Citizenship certificate.
3.       Copy of Canadian passport, if held.
4.       Fees C$ 168 payable by cash/credit/debit cards or Money order/Bank draft payable to “VF Services Canada Inc”.
5 Applications/Indian passport sent by mail, must include a post paid envelope and prescribed fees plus VFS charges of C$ 21.75 by Money Order/Bank Draft payable to “VF Services Canada inc”

Those who acquired foreign citizenship on 31 May, 2010 or earlier need not pay the Renunciation Fee. They must however get their Indian Passport, whether already expired or not, duly cancelled. With effect from November 1, 2010, Indian passports can be submitted to the VFS Centres for onward transmission to the High Commission of India (Mission) or the Consulate General of India (Consulate) in Toronto or Vancouver, as applicable. Necessary entries in the records would be made by the Mission/Consulate, Indian passports cancelled and returned to the applicant through VFS Centres. A miscellaneous service fee of C$ 20 is charged in such cases, in addition to the VFS charges of C$ 21.75. Payments may be made by cash/credit/debit cards or Money order/Bank draft payable to “VF Services Canada Inc”.

It is essential to keep the Surrender Certificate/ endorsement very carefully as that will be required while approaching the Indian Mission/Consulate for consular services in the future.

The Mission/Consulate would levy penalty if the Indian passport has not been cancelled for more than 3 years, or if it was utilized to visit India or any other consular service was obtained after acquiring foreign nationality. The penalty would be in addition to the Renunciation Fee. Contact your nearest Mission/Consulate or VFS Centres to find out the exact amount of penalty. Following are the provisions relating to penalty:

(A) Penalty for retention of Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship for a period in excess of three years from the date of acquiring Canadian citizenship
(a) if your Passport expired on or before 31 Dec, 2004 – no penalty
(b) if your Passport expired on or after 1 Jan, 2005 – C$ 240

[Kindly Note: Retention Penalty (C$240) is different from Renunciation Fee (C$ 168). The latter needs to be paid by those who acquire foreign nationality on or after 1 June, 2010.]

(B) Penalty for traveling on Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 240 for each time, subject to a maximum of C$ 1,200

(C) Penalty for getting Indian Passport Renewed or Reissued after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 600 for each such renewal or reissue.

(D) Penalty for obtaining any miscellaneous passport service (name change/correction etc.) on Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 240 for each such service.