OCI - New York Tracker

New announcement on New York Website

Renunciation of Indian Citizenship and Obtaining Surrender Certificate

Under Indian law, Persons of Indian Origin, who have acquired foreign citizenship, are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship and should obtain a Surrender Certificate.

2. 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, depending on number of trips made on Indian passport after acquiring foreign nationality, for the violation of Passport Rules and retention of Indian Passport for more than 3 years after acquiring of foreign nationality. The fee structure as given below:-

Service Fee & Penalty Charge:

Indian passport must be surrendered within 90 days of US naturalization even if the US passport is obtained later. It is illegal to travel on Indian passport after obtaining US naturalization. Penalties apply. Please see below:

These charges are additional to the normal charges for consular services being sought.

Service Penalty Total
Fee for Renunciation of Indian citizenship $ 175 - $ 175
Passport lost/damaged or surrendered to foreign government $ 175 - $ 175
Indian passport retained without cancellation beyond 3 years subsequent to acquiring foreign nationality $ 175 $ 250 $ 425
Indian passport retained beyond January 1, 2005 & Passport got re-issued $ 175 $ 625 $ 800
Indian passport retained & used for travel subsequent to acquiring foreign nationality $ 175 $ 1250 $ 1425
Indian passport retained, reissued & used for travel subsequent to acquiring foreign nationality $ 175 $ 1875 $ 2050
Indian passport retained & if any miscellaneous service availed thereon subsequent to acquiring foreign nationality $ 175 $ 250 each time

* In case the applicants do not have the Indian passports in their possession for any reason (loss/misplacement/submission to foreign government long time back, etc.), they are required to furnish duly notarized affidavit in this regard. Certified copies of official documents submitted to US authority at the time of obtaining US citizenship/naturalization should be submitted. If the Indian passport is still valid but has been misplaced/lost, then Police report should be submitted additionally

How to apply:



Applicants are required to submit the following documents by mail to the Consular Section, Consulate General of India, 3 East 64 Street, NYC-10065:

Form*

*
Original Indian Passport
*
Copy of first 5 and last 2 pages of Indian passport
*
Copy of US naturalization certificate*
*
Applicable fee and penalty charges (by money order or certified check in the name of Consulate General of India, New York)- for details, see Service Fee and Penalty Charges
*
Additional $20 for mailing charges


*Documents should be notarized.

The above documents should be mailed to the Consulate in an envelope superscribed as ‘Renunciation/Surrender Certificate’.

Processing time

For applications complete in all respect, a processing time of 2 weeks is required once the documents have been received at the Consulate. In certain cases (especially where passports have been reported lost/misplaced), it may take longer to process the application.

Queries

Applicants may direct their queries regarding Surrender Certificate to cpv@indiacgny.org/ passport@indiacgny.org

New form on the NY website:

DECLARATION OF RENUNCIATION OF CITIZENSHIP UNDER SECTION 8 OF THE CITIZENSHIP ACT 1955 MADE BY A CITIZEN OF INDIA WHO HAS ACQUIRED FOREIGN NATIONALITY

1. I, _____________________________________________________ (here insert name and current address of declarant) was born at (with Tehsil, District, State and Country) ______________________ on __________________.


2. I have acquired US/Foreign nationality on _______________ and consequently have obtained US/Foreign passport no. ______________ dated ________________.

3. I hereby renounce my citizenship of India and surrender my Indian Passport details of which are given below:
Passport No: _________________
Date of Issue: _________________
Place of Issue: _________________
Validity:__________________


4. Other particulars are:

Profession or occupation_______________________________________
Current nationality__________________________________________________
Marital Status_____________________________________________________
Name and nationality of Mother_________________________________________
Name and nationality of Father__________________________________________
Name and nationality of Spouse______________________________________________________
Contact details Email:__________________________________
Telephone number(s):_______________________________________
Names, Date of Birth and nationality of children less than 18 years of age (if any)______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

6. I have retained a copy of my Indian passport.


Made and subscribed this on____________ (DD/MM/YYYY)

Signature (of the Declarant:

Name (of the Declarant):


7. I, ____________________________________________ do solemnly and sincerely declare that the foregoing particulars stated in this declaration are true and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true.

Signature (of the Declarant:

Name (of the Declarant):



My question is do i have to sing both the places or single ?
 
I thought so like that.. but would they not ask the particulars of you before you sign some thing...signature should the last of any doument saying the above mentioned facts are true..in this form.. first our signature ..then the consulate officer signature ...then comes the particulars and then the indian citizen signature..

i am sure some idiot read the citizens rules 2009 and prepared this form XXII and added it to the website.

point 3: i hereby renounce the citizenship of india.

point 4: i hereby renounce the citizenship of india. and surrrender my indian pp number : ********

why do they need 2 points ?

Well the good news is that they have updated the form yet again and have removed all this nonsense of the voucher signing for you and so no more confusion about that particulars. Note that the form still needs to be notarized which is probably (but not sure) what item 7's signature is all about. Also note that the buffoon who created this new document does not know how to count because he/she went from item 4 to item 6 on the form!
 
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My question is do i have to sing both the places or single ?

bhavannpg, note that they ask that the form be notarized and so item 7 (really should item number 6 because of bad numbering on this form) has a signature that probably should be for the notary. I'm not so sure now.
 
still so many question unanswered.

1) Still not a clear picture for ppl who have already mailed their us & indian passport
2) is it not illegal to copy a US citizenship certificate
3) even if we do that how will a Notary sign it?

any one ?
 
bhavannpg, note that they ask that the form be notarized and so item 7 (really should item number 6 because of bad numbering on this form) has a signature that probably should be for the notary. I'm not so sure now.

I don't think the form XXII needs to be notarized, the only thing that needs to be notarized is the copy of naturalization certificate, but not sure if a public notary would write "this is a true copy of an original" and sign it when the original certificate clearly says don't make copies. If we make enough noise we can get this removed. Please send e-mails, call them to let them know, I will do the same.
 
Notarized copy of Naturalization certificate

It is illegal to copy the naturalization certificate. Who will notarize it?
 
I think they should just have a process that if you pay 175 you need to do a bunch of forms. and if you pay 200 you dont have to do any forms since it is clearly about making more money. The whole process is a farce. the fact that the form keeps changing on a daily basis shows that this has no basis in law.
 
The same confusion exists even at the visa office. Everyone there is completely surprised by the new rules which keep changing on a daily basis. I applied for a visa on Tuesday afternoon, hoping to get it back on Wednesday. Instead I get a call about this extra $175 fee. I show up this morning with the fee and now they have an additional requirement -- they need a copy of the naturalization certificate. Of course, I didn't have it with me, so I had to have my wife fax it to them. After they recd the fax, they gave me another version of the surrender certificate to fill out (the one from the consulate website). I just left the part which is supposed to be filled by an Indian citizen blank. Since the procedures have changed, they now have no idea how long it will take to get the visa. I was supposed to fly on Sunday -- may have to cancel the trip.
Please update us if you get the Visa. You also paid $175 for the surrender certificate also. Let us know if you get the surrender certificate when you get your passport with Visa stamp. It will help others who may have to get Visa.
 
Am I subject to Renunciation of Indian Citizenship and Obtaining Surrender Certificate?

I've already obtained my OCI card from CGNY office. A cancellation stamp has been placed in my Indian passport. Am I required to follow the renunciation procedure too?
 
I will let you know if I go there personally. I might not get off from work until Wednesday, next week. So earliest would be Wendesday Hopefully we would get somemore info by then.

Is there any rule that they cannot keep my passport (US) for longer then so many days? I am thinking if there is a way to file a complaint with US authorities about CGI holding my U.S passport for so long and without any communication.
They can’t keep your US passport as It belongs to Department of state and you can call DOS and can send the complaint.
 
I don't think the form XXII needs to be notarized, the only thing that needs to be notarized is the copy of naturalization certificate, but not sure if a public notary would write "this is a true copy of an original" and sign it when the original certificate clearly says don't make copies. If we make enough noise we can get this removed. Please send e-mails, call them to let them know, I will do the same.

The form does need to be notarized because in the list on the website it has an asterisk (*) against it (just like the Nat Cert) and the corresponding footnote says that this item needs to be notarized.
 
I've already obtained my OCI card from CGNY office. A cancellation stamp has been placed in my Indian passport. Am I required to follow the renunciation procedure too?
--- if you ask them then they will say"YES" but you have your passport with cancellation stamp and should not care.Tell me why one will use Indian passport after one gets US citizenship to enter India? you are not alone from 2005 many have OCI and the Indian passports with cancellation stamp. are they going to Pay or Check the site of NYC?
 
--- if you ask them then they will say"YES" but you have your passport with cancellation stamp and should not care.Tell me why one will use Indian passport after one gets US citizenship to enter India? you are not alone from 2005 many have OCI and the Indian passports with cancellation stamp. are they going to Pay or Check the site of NYC?

Thanks for having answered my question. Your comments make sense. I'm quite surprised by this recent development though. I went to CGNY office just few weeks ago, and there was no mention of renunciation procedure. Perhaps the deluge of OCI applications may have prompted consulate to leverage a clause in the India Citizenship Act.
 
Many who got OCI approved and reached NYC they have to get” surrender certificate” by sending the form. They say surrender certificate will take 15 days. On form they also ask that send the copy of Naturalization certificate Notarized and Notary is not going to Sign the Copy of Naturalization certificate. To get Copy Naturalization certificate one need to make Infopass with local USCIS office and it will take 15 days for the infopass.
So just to get Copy Signed with USCIS officer will take 15 or 20 days and then you are going to mail the documents to NYC then they say that they will take 15 days to send the Surrender certificate and then again you mail for the collection of OCI documents. This system is going to take more than 1 month just to collect the OCI who have OCI with NYC.
On Part B that was submitted with OCI application that clearly asked when you got your Naturalization or US citizenship and person wrote the date on it and have signed that form and then only OCI was approved. Do they mean that the information on part B that person provided is wrong and they GRANTED OCI by mistake? If they just want to know the date one became US citizen then self attested copy of Naturalization certificate should be enough as it has date and year on it one gets US passport on the base of Naturalization certificate, one can Sign the Copy of Naturalization and US passport has your signature and Indian passport also has signature and form also has same signature. In past they send emails that are posted in this thread that NYC had backlog of OCI. Who created that backlog? Who is responsible for that backlog?
Now again they are going to create the backlog of OCI as they have about 8000 OCI reached NYC that are printed by Delhi. One will not be able to collect the OCI in 2-3 months even if approved. What a mess they created in past and creating more everyday.
Please pick up the info posted add your concerns, edit it and Email/ Fax tomorrow to all including Prabhu Dayal, Mr Bajaj Anuj Kumar, Pushpa Kumar or any email you have of NYC consulate. Make your points clear and let all the officials know about it.
 
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What is the general consensus, should I send the form with my OCI collection letter over mail or go over tomorrow. I would not like to send over my passport for longer than a few days since I travel unexpectedly all the time and need my passport with me.
Go with all your documents, dont send by mail and also take the copy of naturalization certificate (take the Original and show them if they want to see. Inform them that Notary will not sign the copy of naturalization certificate as it is illegal.
Please go to them and inform them the problems faced by others:
DECLARATION OF RENUNCIATION OF CITIZENSHIP UNDER SECTION 8 OF THE CITIZENSHIP ACT 1955
http://indiacgny.org/php/showForms.p...id=96&sub=sub2
Inform them that above form after ITEM 4 has item 6 and it should be 5 after 4 and then after 5 should be 6. Teach them Mathematics free.

Also inform them that to make Copy of Naturalization certificate is illegal and no Noary will sign that. If they want to know when person got Naturalized then the Certificate copy has date on it and one can Sign “True Copy” and can sign and they can match the signature on Copy of Naturalization certificate, on US passport and Indian passport and on the form.
update us after your visit.




Good luck!!
 
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Got My Surrender certificate today, after lot of pain though

Please post your full information how did you got the surrender certificate. All are waiting for your detailed answer. Also post if you applied OCI and OCI reached NYC or going to apply OCI. The detailed information will help all who are visiting this thread
 
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