Consulate General of India Vancouver,BC,CanadaOfficial Website of Consulate General of India,Vancouver

Persons of Indian Origin to obtain Surrender Certificate on Renunciation of Indian Citizenship

General information

The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, does not allow dual 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.

Under Indian law, Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), who have acquired foreign citizenship are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship.

How to apply?

Applicant should first fill online surrender application on https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in. This will generate the Application Reference Number (ARN) and a PDF file.

Where to submit Surrender applications:

The print-out of the saved PDF file of online surrender application with supporting documents are to be submitted at the BLS. Please note that Postal applications may take longer to process at BLS due to the rejection of incomplete applications. Therefore, for faster processing, it is preferable to submit Surrender applications at BLS centres as walk-ins or by appointment. The Consulate has not appointed or authorized any other agency or individual agent to render any passport service on behalf of Consulate other than M/S BLS International. Link for BLS website - https://www.blsindia-canada.com/vancouver-jurisdiction/index.php

Checklist and Information booklet for Surrender application – Click here.

Fees Schedule

• Indian citizens who acquired foreign citizenship on or before 31 May, 2010 - C$ 34.00 + $3 (Consular Surcharge) + BLS charges

• Indian citizens acquiring any foreign citizenship on or after 1 June, 2010 - C$ 113.00 + $3 (Consular Surcharge) + BLS charges.

BLS charges - https://cgivancouver.gov.in/pages/Nzcz

Note:

• Fees once paid are not refundable.

• Fee structure is subject to change without notice

Processing Time

Where the applications are complete in all respects, the process time would be 4-6 weeks from the date of receipt of such applications at the Consulate.

Track the status of your Surrender Application:

https://www.blsindia-canada.com/vancouver-jurisdiction/track-application.php

Status Enquiry

We are unable to respond to telephonic/fax/e-mail queries regarding status of applications before the time limit indicated for processing the application. Processing time of applications is calculated from the date of receipt of completed applications in the Consulate. Thereafter, queries may be made by email to surrender.vancouver@mea.gov.in. Status may also be checked at https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in .

How to collect the Surrender certificate and the surrendered Indian Passport

Surrender Certificate is issued by the Consulate and dispatched through BLS along with the Original cancelled Indian Passport. If courier charges (optional) are paid, it would be dispatched by BLS directly to applicant’s address. In other cases, applicants may contact BLS office between 3-4pm for its collection.

We encourage you to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) by clicking here.