Renunciation of Indian Citizenship and 'Surrender Certificate'

for

Visa, OCI/PIO Card & Miscellaneous Consular Services

It is a punishable offence to obtain or hold an Indian Passport suppressing information about his/her nationality or hold Indian Passport or travel document after aquiring US (foreign) citizenship. The violator shall be punishable by imprisonment up to 5 years and with fine up to US$ 1250/- under Passports Act 1967. The Penalty for each such travel to India on Indian Passport after acquiring foreign nationality is US$ 250/-. Please see the provisions in the Passports Act 1967.

Passports Act 1967
Indian citizens acquiring US (or other foreign) citizenship and renouncing Indian citizenship are required to surrender their Indian passports for cancellation and obtain a "Surrender Certificate" which is issued by the Consulate. They can obtain this Certificate after payment of fees of US$ 175/-, while surrendering their passports to the Consulate. These passports are cancelled and returned to the passport holder for the future reference

Penalties will be charged from those passport holders who do not surrender their passports within 3 months of their acquiring foreign citizenships

Renunciation of Citizenship of India & Surrender Certificate:
Detailed procedure for application of "Surrender Certificate" is given below....

 (i) The Declaration of Renunciation of Citizenship of India shall be made in the form as given in the link below. Then, this form should be submitted to the Consulate while applying for the first time for Indian visa/PIO card or OCI card or any miscellaneous services.The applicants should also state clearly the circumstances in which they have acquired US (foreign) Citizenships.

Renunciation of Indian Citizenship and Surrender Certificate Form

(ii) On receipt of the Declaration of Renunciation of Citizenship of India, a Surrender Certificate, in the prescribed form, will be issued by the Consulate. The Declaration of Renunciation will be registered with the Government of India.

(iii) The applicants may kindly send the above mentioned form, along with their

1.Original Indian passport with one copy of first three and last two pages accompanied by fees of US$ 175/- in the form of Cashier cheque/Postal Order or Money order addressed to the “Consulate General of India, Chicago”
2.Copy of the naturalization certificate.
3.Copy of the first two and last two pages of the American passport.
4.If you are seeking surrender certificate by mail then US$ 20/- towards mailing fees.
You can give one cashier cheque or money order or postal order towards (1) & (4) above.

The fees can be given in cash while submitting application at the counter. However OCI applicants should pay only in the form of Cashier cheque/Postal Order or Money order addressed to the ‘Consulate General of India, Chicago’. The fees towards surrender certificate should be paid separately by the OCI applicants. We do not accept the Credit or debit cards.

(iv) The “Surrender Certificate” will be issued before issuing the visa/OCI card or PIO card or providing any miscellaneous services for the first time. This is essential for processing of your visa/OCI/PIO application as well as any miscellaneous services.

(v) In case, the Indian passport at the time of acquiring of US (foreign) Citizenship is not available with the applicant now, an affidavit/proof explaining the circumstances of the loss/damage, detailed police report of lost passport along with the passport number & date of issue/expiry is to be provided.

However the Consulate as per the provisions of Passport Act 1967 may ask for more penalty fees considering the period of not surrendering the passport to the Government of India and number of visits to India on Indian passport after acquiring foreign nationality and any other consular service obtained on the basis of referred Indian passport.

Please carefully keep a copy of Surrender Certificate or Renunciation Form duely attested by the Consulate with you for future reference

 Please note that if you have acquired US (foreign) Citizenship on or before 31 May 2010 and if you have "Cancelled" stamp on your Indian passport, then there is a no requirement of acquiring "Surrender Certificate". If you do not have a cancelled stamp on Indian passport then you need to get the "Surrender Certificate". However fees for that is US$ 20 only.

However US (foreign) citizens of Indian origin who naturalized on or after 1 June 2010, they have to follow the above-mentioned procedure with requisite fees of US$ 175/- for "Renunciation and Surrender Certificate".

Download Surrender Certificate Application Fillable Form
Download Affidavit Loss of Indian Passport Form