New Requirement of Surrendering Indian Citizenship - General Discussion

[nkm-oct23]

See this from CGI SF webite:

The issue of refund of any part of renunciation fee already paid by applicants till 31 May 2010, if applicable, has been taken up with the Government of India. The decision when received will be uniformly applied to those concerned and the information will be put on our website when available. Meanwhile no email/phone queries will be entertained.

[overkill]

See this from CGI SF webite:

The issue of refund of any part of renunciation fee already paid by applicants till 31 May 2010, if applicable, has been taken up with the Government of India. The decision when received will be uniformly applied to those concerned and the information will be put on our website when available. Meanwhile no email/phone queries will be entertained.

New York also has removed the sentence 'Already decided cases will, however, not be reopened' now.

[scs83]

I am an old OCI holder and do not plan on applying for the surrender certificate until I have some business with the consulate. But you are right, they can demand you apply for the surrender certificate at any time.

By the way the fees have been reduced to $20 and it is now more reasonable (unless you used the Indian passport for travel).

[overkill]

Please see the link in renouncedindian.blogspot.com regarding mass appeal for refund of $155.

Let us all send emails to ambassadoroffice@indiagov.org,gopio-intl@sbcglobal.net, cg@indiacgny.org
with content as under :

While I welcome the decision of the Indian Govt for revising the surrender certificate fee to $20, I'd like to represent that I have not been treated justly. On May xx, 2010 , as I had to obtain VISA/OCI to visit India, I was forced to submit applications for the Surrender Certificate with the Consulate General of India along with the fees of $175 each for every member of my family . I had no option then but to adhere to the rules. Also penalties applied if we didnt act quick enough.

With the amended rule, I request you to refund a sum of $155.00 . There is no justification for charging differential amounts for the same category of people (all who obtained naturalization by June 1 , 2010). CG is trying to justify that $175 was the prevaling fee between May 4 and 28. The $175 fee is an aberration and not a fee that stood for several months and hence that argument is invalid.

A special camp was held by CGNY on May 29 and they collected $175 from thousands of people who stood for several hours in lines without food and water to comply with the law, only to know that the next day the fee is brought to the new $20 level.

The differential amount is a huge sum for me. Please do not punish people like me for trying to follow the law to the fullest , correctly and quickly all the time.

[sam012007]

overkill, you are really an "overkill" :-)

I would like to get my money back too but I would wait before my OCI application is processed and I receive it in my hand and than I would take actions. This will help me getting my OCI and not having to deal with their "Process Creeping".

Also you know we are in USA, and here people do follow laws and if they don't there will be consequences, than be it any country's embassy or an individual ... I wish this was as simple as going to Europe now but hey they will not like to make it simple atleast for we Indian-Born Americans.

[bigbull99]

overkill, you are really an "overkill" :-)

I would like to get my money back too but I would wait before my OCI application is processed and I receive it in my hand and than I would take actions. This will help me getting my OCI and not having to deal with their "Process Creeping".

Also you know we are in USA, and here people do follow laws and if they don't there will be consequences, than be it any country's embassy or an individual ... I wish this was as simple as going to Europe now but hey they will not like to make it simple atleast for we Indian-Born Americans.

Hi,
On June 1 st on CG NY websit they said no fee for cancelling the indian passport if u have citizenship before junw 1 2010. only 20$ mailing charges. So i sent my Indian pass port and $20.00. but to day i saw on the same web site that it says $20.00 fee + $20 mailing fee. My question is. I already sent my passport with just $20.00. What should I do?

[Indyexcel]

You may want to check with them (email/phone), if you get lucky - you may have a response back. Most likely they will use the $20 and send the passport + form back. You should have enclosed the return envelope if not the additional $20 mailing fee.

[DenverCOMarch]

Does anyone know if a "Surrender certificate" has to be applied for minors? Is it not that the minors can hold both the Indidan and US citizenship till 18 and then decide which one to renounce?

[sanjoseaug20]

Did the minors obtain Indian passport, or Indian visa? I am sure they could not have done both.

[vichux]

I am a bit confused. My wife got her US citizenship in 1983 and her last passport (including the details ) are not available. We are not sure whether this was returned to the Indian Consulate in SFO while obtaining a visa for her US passport. Can anyone help me with:

a. Anyone recollect the procedure? Was the passport return a requirement in the 80s?
b. Is there anyway of obtaining the passport details of the last passport anywhere (from Indian consulate for a fee perhaps)?

She has not traveled with an Indian passport after her citizenship. Will a notarzied declaration or an affidavit , or a ceremonial declaration to a consular authority work?

She has a visa till 2013 and we would like to apply for the OCI.

appreciatively,

vichu

[DenverCOMarch]

sanjoseaug20, my daughter (now 6 yrs) was born in India nad thus has the Indian passport. But, she acquired US citizenship as a result of both my wife and I becoming US citizens.

[hijoshua]

Mates what we need is a limited citizenship not a Visa.

we have invested heavily in India and also our relatives/parents/brothers/sisters are in India. We need a right to return as a visa can be cancelled any time.

Current OCI is a visa and offers no security as one does not have right to return to motherland.

The process should also be simple "Give full citizenship/passport & take limited citizenship passport ie OCI.

Thus OCI should be considered a limited citizenship & not as Visa.

If the govt changes laws as per its wish atleast one can go to court but with a visa you are not a citizen and cannot appeal in court.

Hence more than the $$ being charged what is important to me is for the govt to say that OCI is limited citizenship & not VISA.

Please petition GOI to consider OCI as limited citizenship & not VISA.

Please start a petition or tell me where/whom to address the petition so that atleast by end of year govt announces same in pravasi bhartiya divas.

Even countries like Iran, Ethopia, Somalia, Pakistan, Bangaldesh and around 90 countries allow dual citizenship and have modeifed their constitution in last 10 years so why India cant

Regards,

Joshua

[sanjoseaug20]

sanjoseaug20, my daughter (now 6 yrs) was born in India nad thus has the Indian passport. But, she acquired US citizenship as a result of both my wife and I becoming US citizens.

OK, I am not an expert, but here's my reading.
You do not have the right to retain both US and India passports, due to the India laws.
It is true you can go ask the US government for a US passport before you turn 18, but that does not imply you can keep both. The moment you ask US, you should not carry Indian passport. The moment you ask India, you should not carry US passport.
However, you can still to ask the US government or Indian government ... I am not yet 18, please give me passport. And they will.
And knowing the way paperwork works, it will be easier to ask the US government than Indian government.
But again, I do not think India will allow minors to carry 2 passports.
[Edit]Actually strike these. I was partially thinking about kids who carry US birth certificate, and hence considering the process of going to US govt and asking for passport. But these kids will have Indian birth certificate ... I do not see how this will work either way.

This thread focusses on surrender certificate. Maybe you should open a separate thread so that other people notice it.

[pardhaR]

folks, I recently applied for US passport which is still in progress. can I apply for SC with just a copy of my naturalization certificate? don't have original, as it was submitted as part of passport application. just trying to save some time. thanks in advance.

[GCGolMal]

Hi,
On June 1 st on CG NY websit they said no fee for cancelling the indian passport if u have citizenship before junw 1 2010. only 20$ mailing charges. So i sent my Indian pass port and $20.00. but to day i saw on the same web site that it says $20.00 fee + $20 mailing fee. My question is. I already sent my passport with just $20.00. What should I do?

BigBull99,

Did you get any response from the consulate? I am in the same boat as you. The website is not clear about the $20 mailing fee.
Thanks,

GCGM

[overkill]

Refund of Surrender certficate - $155 - Please send emails to
eam@mea.gov.in;
mospk@mea.gov.in;
diream@mea.gov.in;
dirmospk@mea.gov.in;
dirfs@mea.gov.in
psfs@mea.gov.in;
jsskc@mea.gov.in;
jsams@mea.gov.in;
jscpv@mea.gov.in;
jscons@mea.gov.in;
pankaj.saran@pmo.nic.in;
jaideep.sarkar@pmo.nic.in;
jsds@moia.nic.in;
jscpg-mha@nic.in;
dirpg-mha@nic.in;
hm@nic.in;
vayalar@sansad.nic.in;
asfah@nic.in;
rpnath@nic.in;j
sbm@nic.in;
cg@indiacgny.org;
dcg@indiacgny.org;
gopio-intl@sbcglobal.net;
ambassadoroffice@indiagov.org;
info@fianynjct.org;
niravmehta@fianynjct.org;
spmart2004@yahoo.com;
nimeshdave@fianynjct.org;
manmohan@sansad.nic.in;
soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in;
chavanprithviraj@sansad.nic.in;
dcmoff@indiagov.org

Some of the emails to these people bounce when sent from public sites like yahoo. So you may have to try from different domains.
In specific, i added the following email addresses :
eam@mea.gov.in - SM Krishna
mospk@mea.gov.in - Praneet Kaur
diream@mea.gov.in - Dir of Min of Ext Affars
dirmospk@mea.gov.in - Dir of Min of State for ext Aff
dirfs@mea.gov.in - Dir of Foreign Sec
psfs@mea.gov.in - off of Foreign Sec
jsskc@mea.gov.in - Addl Sec
jsams@mea.gov.in - Joint Sec (America)
jscpv@mea.gov.in - Joint Sec (Passport and Visa)
jscons@mea.gov.in - Joint Sec (Consulate)
pankaj.saran@pmo.nic.in - Joint Sec - Prime Min office
jaideep.sarkar@pmo.nic.in - Ps to PM
jsds@moia.nic.in - Min of Overseas Indian Affairs
jscpg-mha@nic.in - Min of Home Affairs - Complaint Cell
dirpg-mha@nic.in- Dir of Min of Home Affairs - Complaint Cell
hm@nic.in - Home ministry
vayalar@sansad.nic.in - NRI Affairs Minister
Right to Know Act email address
asfah@nic.in - Addl Sec
rpnath@nic.in - Joint Sec (Admin)
jsbm@nic.in - Joint Sec (BM)

Content of Email Could be on the following lines :

Revision of surrender fee from $175 to $20 - Refund of Amount paid

While I welcome the decision of the Indian Govt for revising the surrender certificate fee from $175 to $20 for all those who were Indian citizens prior to June 1, 2010, I'd like to represent that I have not been treated justly. In May , 2010 , I was forced to submit applications for the Surrender Certificate with the Consulate General of India along with the fees of $175 each for every member of my family . I had no option then but to adhere to the rules as penalties applied if we didnt act quick enough.

With the amended rule, I request you to refund the excess charge of $155.00 . There is no justification for charging differential amounts for the same category of people (all who obtained naturalization by June 1 , 2010). CG is trying to justify that $175 was the prevaling fee between May 4 and 30. The $175 fee is an aberration and not a fee that stood for several months and hence that argument is invalid.

A special camp was held by CGNY on May 29 and they collected $175 from thousands of people who stood for several hours in lines without food and water to comply with the law, only to know that the next day the fee is brought to the new $20 level.

The differential amount is a huge sum for me. Please do not punish people like me for trying to follow the law to the fullest , correctly and quickly all the time. Not giving the refund would amount to Indian government encouraging procrastinators and people who do not follow the law and punish those who respect and abide law at all times.

I sincerely hope that the government will act on this immediately.

[STLPillai]

They just can't get rid of that old habit of filing in triplicates and tetraplicates, and keeping everything since Gandhi returned to India, in dusty files in moldy rooms.

This is friggin insane. And on top of that 175 hard earned dollars for them to stamp cancel??? Talk about fleecing.

[ashtekardeepak]

Dear Friends,

Please support the petition opposing renunciation of Indian citizenship at

http://www.petitiononline.com/OCIpeti/petition.html

with the subject: Opposition to mandatory renunciation of Indian Citizenship and request to consider OCI as a "standalone" document and make it a success by posting atleast 50000 signatures by July 15 2010.

Please circulate this url to all your friends by email.

Regards,

Deepak

[overkill]

Cases of renunciation / surrender of passport, completed up to 31 May, 2010 will not be re-opened and the amount of US$ 175/- will not be refunded.

[Indyexcel]

It is so sad that I given an extra $310 to CGI for no reason.
I wouldn't have felt so pathetic even if I would have lost this money on the road.

CGI-SF will follow CGI-NY.

[Superho]

Of what value is this so called "surrender certificate"? I became a USC in 2006 and my Indian passport was cancelled at the same time. Is there any point in dealing with this issue now?

[sam012007]

Of what value is this so called "surrender certificate"? I became a USC in 2006 and my Indian passport was cancelled at the same time. Is there any point in dealing with this issue now?

Nope, you are all set.

[rchigurupati]

DenverCOMarch,
I have the same situation as yours.
Can someone please advise? My 12 year old son is becoming US citizen after I naturalize in few days. Do we need to apply for his surrender certificate as well?

[DenverCOMarch]

rchigurupati, After reasearch and then asking CGI, SF directly - we do need to apply for SC for minors also (if minors help an Indian passport) and have now become USC as a result of parents becoming USC.

Our US passports came in yesterday and I had the "Renunciation Application" ready - send them in today. Hopefully will get the SC in a few days so that we can apply for either visa or PIO card (based upon when the SC comes in) for out planned visit to India in July.

[rchigurupati]

DenverCOMarch,
Thanks for sharing the info. My son also needs to go to India in July. My oath is on 7/9, hoping to get our US passports on 7/12 (same day expedited at reg. passport office).
Please keep me posted your timelines, I'll post as well. Thanks.

[OCIIndia]

At USCIS.gov , via freedom of information act, you can get whatever information they have on your Alien File. We're trying to get Indian passport information from them... Looks like from status check, it's going to take 4 or 5 months for them to send any information they have.. particularly copy of Indian Passport.

I am a bit confused. My wife got her US citizenship in 1983 and her last passport (including the details ) are not available. We are not sure whether this was returned to the Indian Consulate in SFO while obtaining a visa for her US passport. Can anyone help me with:

a. Anyone recollect the procedure? Was the passport return a requirement in the 80s?
b. Is there anyway of obtaining the passport details of the last passport anywhere (from Indian consulate for a fee perhaps)?

She has not traveled with an Indian passport after her citizenship. Will a notarzied declaration or an affidavit , or a ceremonial declaration to a consular authority work?

She has a visa till 2013 and we would like to apply for the OCI.

appreciatively,

vichu

[777us]

This is bad news for all Indians any one who become foreign citizen.....Why did they create this thing, its a prblem ? They are making more complecated. The new law said if you do not renounce your citizenship and get certifivcate , and if travel to india with USA passport and you will be fine with $250. What an Indian brain is this? can we call this claverness or wise? I call this very stupid law. They should look into a second thought.
Indian always create problems for its previous citizens.and potential becoming other nationality..very un-helpful. Why are they not learning from other nations who love their people...Indian learn only how to take money, and how to give a hard time to its people. Very bad service to its citizens abroad interm of issuing documents and very difficult to communicate with them. they are not good to either OCI and Citizens of Indian abroad.

[bigbull99]

BigBull99,

Did you get any response from the consulate? I am in the same boat as you. The website is not clear about the $20 mailing fee.
Thanks,

GCGM

Hi,
I got my passport back in the regular mail. They cancelled my Indian passport and signed the surender certificate, I was surprised. I was expexting that they would send my passport back and ask me to send more money.

[Gonecase]

http://indiacgny.org/php/showHighLig...p?h_id=147&key

[sanil]

I am a bit confused. My wife got her US citizenship in 1983 and her last passport (including the details ) are not available. We are not sure whether this was returned to the Indian Consulate in SFO while obtaining a visa for her US passport. Can anyone help me with:

a. Anyone recollect the procedure? Was the passport return a requirement in the 80s?
b. Is there anyway of obtaining the passport details of the last passport anywhere (from Indian consulate for a fee perhaps)?

She has not traveled with an Indian passport after her citizenship. Will a notarzied declaration or an affidavit , or a ceremonial declaration to a consular authority work?

She has a visa till 2013 and we would like to apply for the OCI.

appreciatively,

vichu

I am in a somewhat similar situation to yours. I got PIO in 2005 (before OCI was implemented), sent my passport for cancellation but it was not returned with my PIO card. I am planning to convert my PIO to OCI, but don't have a surrender certificate. I have several old Indian passports (expired/cancelled) except the one I submitted with my PIO application. Will it be sufficient if I submit the OCI application with my PIO card and a copy of my surrendered passport (luckily I made a copy before I sent to CGI Houston) and my cancelled passports, or do I need to get an affidavit? The passport was valid until 2012, so do I need a police report as well? Or do I just do nothing and wait until my PIO expires in 2020?