Travelled to India on Indian passport after getting British citizenship

T

tkkk

New Member
Hi

I had to travel to India within a week after getting British citizenship for personal important family work. I had only got naturalisation certificate at the time and didn't have the time to apply for British passport before I travelled to India, so I travelled to India on Indian passport after technically being a citizen of UK. The immigration officer in Delhi would have entered my arrival & departure on Indian passport in the immigration deptt. database.

Will I encounter any problems when I apply for OCI card as Indian consulate will check my records in India and they may find out that I have travelled to India on Indian passport and didn't surrender my Indian passport after getting UK citizenship. I know they send the OCI application to India to search for any records related to the applicant.

What records Indian authorities search for before issuing an OCI card to applicant.

An early response will be appreciated.

Regards
Tkk
 
You were not an Indian citizen and used your Indian passport and that is an offence.

It is very likely to cause a problem when you apply for OCI.
 
Hi schandrag

Thanks for your reply.

Is there something I can do now so that I get OCI relatively hassle-free.

What do you think is the probability that I will have issues if I apply for OCI. Is it 5-10% or is it 80-90% ? I mean it all depends on what the Indian authorities check for whena person applies for OCI. The main think Indian authorities would check for is that the person hasn't been involved in any criminal activities or so. For me, yes I made a mistake in ignorance, but I will travel to India next time on British passport and it was only that I had to travel to India within a week of getting British citizenship that I could get british passport. Yes that could be an offence, but I feel there's something that can be done to avoid problems bcos of 1-time travel and that too so close of I getting british citizenship.

Will expect further response from you.

Can I ask if you are a professional related to law profession?

Many Thanks
Tarun
 
No
I am not in the legal profesion, neither are most others on this board. The advice offered by me and most others is our own non professional (mostly informed- sometimes not so)opinion .

I cannot predict the probability of your having a problem. Maybe you won't have any trouble at all, after all they do not ask for all pages of your Indian passport only those that show your personal information.
 
In US the immigration authority takes green card so you can not fly back using Indian passport and so you have to have US passport to fly back here, don't you have any such requirement to go back to Britain ?
 
After an Indian citizen naturalises in the US, the inability to use the Indian passport is due to an Indian regulation, not a US one. The UK does not strip British citizenship from its citizens who acquire another citizenship, nor does it force British citizens to enter the UK on British passports.

abact said:
In US the immigration authority takes green card so you can not fly back using Indian passport and so you have to have US passport to fly back here, don't you have any such requirement to go back to Britain ?
Click to expand...
 
Yup. The UK does not mind if British citizens enter the UK using other passports. My brother like me holds triple citizenship. Just swap my US citizenship with his UK one. He confirmed with Bitish authorities that he is free to enter the UK with his Canadian passport if he so desires.

cafeconleche said:
Really???
Click to expand...
 
The OPs problem is purely with Indian law. The citizenship act of India makes it illegal for one to use an Indian passport or claim other benefits of Indian citizenship after becoming citizen of another nation.
Of course his/her mistake was an innocent one necessiated by circumstances beyond his/her control without any ulterior motive(though illegal technically and may be a sensitive one in the current security conscious environment) and may be overlooked. It may not even be noticed. However while dealing with beauracrats one can never be sure.
 
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