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Surrendring Indian passport

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zaidir
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Post by zaidir » Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:29 pm

GoodFun wrote:Giving up citizenship does not seem to be FREE! See the following:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ship/cost/
Nobody has an issue with charging for surrendering their citizenship. However such fees should be clearly advertised in advance of their application. Also the fees should be transparent and reasonable. In the case of British citizens, the fee has been clearly advertised for ages and giving up citizenship requires an appropriate process. In the case of HCI, they were simply cancelling Indian passports previously for free but are now charging £90 without any notification/justification and applying that retrospectively too.

Anishmani
Junior Member
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:23 am

Demonstration

Post by Anishmani » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:15 pm

Hi friends

Union of United Kindom Malayalee Associations in UK organises a demonstration outside Indian embassy in London and Birmingham to cancel these 90 pound charges. We welcome all Indians to join for the protest on 6th Nov from 8.30 to 12.30pm. It is not only a matter or keralites but all my colleague Indians..

Thanks

Anish
pro@uukma.org

sidster007
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:38 am

Post by sidster007 » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:34 pm

Hi everyone is this the form you are using to surrender your Indian passports?
http://www.hcilondon.in/applicationform.pdf

Somebody who did it recently told me that another form (not available online) was being handed out at the high commission and that only that form could be used to surrender the Indian passport.

Be great to have some clarification on this.

Regards

Sidster

msbabu
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Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:42 am

Post by msbabu » Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:53 pm

sidster007 wrote:Hi everyone is this the form you are using to surrender your Indian passports?
http://www.hcilondon.in/applicationform.pdf

Somebody who did it recently told me that another form (not available online) was being handed out at the high commission and that only that form could be used to surrender the Indian passport.

Be great to have some clarification on this.

Regards

Sidster
Hi

That's the one. Go for it.

I applied for SC by post and got it.

Cheers

RagsKasthuri
BANNED
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:14 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

How did you make the payment?

Post by RagsKasthuri » Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:05 pm

Hi

When you applied for the surrender certificate , what was the method of payment of £90.00?

Can we make the payment as British Postal Order? or Cheque or cash?

It would be helpful if you could provide me with this information.

Thanks
Rags

peejay
Newbie
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:08 pm

Re: How did you make the payment?

Post by peejay » Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:31 pm

RagsKasthuri wrote:Hi

When you applied for the surrender certificate , what was the method of payment of £90.00?

Can we make the payment as British Postal Order? or Cheque or cash?

It would be helpful if you could provide me with this information.

Thanks
Rags
postal order if applying by post.

msbabu
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Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:42 am

Re: How did you make the payment?

Post by msbabu » Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:37 am

RagsKasthuri wrote:Hi

When you applied for the surrender certificate , what was the method of payment of £90.00?

Can we make the payment as British Postal Order? or Cheque or cash?

It would be helpful if you could provide me with this information.

Thanks
Rags
Hi

In person - Postal Order(Crossed) and Cash
By post - Postal order only

Cheers

RagsKasthuri
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Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2009 5:14 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

Addressed to

Post by RagsKasthuri » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:20 am

Hi

I'm addressing the crossed postal order to

"High Comission of India, London" would this be ok?

Or

Should I include the passport section as well?

Thanks
Rags

msbabu
Newly Registered
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:42 am

Re: Addressed to

Post by msbabu » Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:45 pm

RagsKasthuri wrote:Hi

I'm addressing the crossed postal order to

"High Comission of India, London" would this be ok?

Or

Should I include the passport section as well?

Thanks
Rags

Hi

Postal order in favour of HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA, LONDON
Dont include anything else.

When i posted the application i put on the top of the envelope as "Application for Surrender Certificate" just to ensure it goes to right person/dept in the first place. And send it by secure post and put a pre-paid secure envelope for the SC. I hope it helps.

Cheers

ravik2609
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CGI Birmingham website

Post by ravik2609 » Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:22 am

Hello all,

On the CGI birmingham website there is no mention of GBP 90 for surrendering the passport.

Does anyone know if the contents on this page have been altered? (Cant remember what the notice originally stated)

http://www.cgibirmingham.org/noticeboard_alt.htm

regards,
Ravi

SidB
Junior Member
Posts: 70
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:08 pm

Surrender Certificate

Post by SidB » Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:51 am

All,

I sent a request for my surrender certificate by post on Monday last week by special delivery. It reached the embassy by Tuesday. I was expecting a two week turnaround by the embassy.

To my surprise, I have my surrender certificate with me already. It arrived this morning by special delivery (in my pre-paid envelope) so must have been dispatched by the embassy yesterday. They have basically turned it around in a week.

The spellings etc are all fine too.

sidster007
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:38 am

Post by sidster007 » Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:23 pm

Guys I'm going to be applying for the surrender certificate soon (as soon as I receive my British passport). What supporting documents do I need to submit along with the completed application form and fee?

Thanks for your advice in advance

sidster007

msbabu
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Posts: 27
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Post by msbabu » Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:08 pm

sidster007 wrote:Guys I'm going to be applying for the surrender certificate soon (as soon as I receive my British passport). What supporting documents do I need to submit along with the completed application form and fee?

Thanks for your advice in advance

sidster007
Hi

1. Copy of expired Indian Passport
2. Indian Passport - expired
3. Copy of current indian passport with used visa pages
4. Indian Passport - Current
5. Copy of British passport
6. Copy of naturalization certificate
7. £90=00 Crossed Postal order.


hope it helps
Cheers

zaidir
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Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:12 pm

Post by zaidir » Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:17 pm

After a lot of going round in circles trying to get an honest answer from the HCI about this new fee, I managed to meet the minister responsible for consular services at the HCI today.

He suggested that the fee of £90 (actually Rs 7000) for renunciation of Indian citizenship has been there for a long time and set by the Home Ministry in India. Its just that they have started to enforce the passport surrender and the fee strictly now because there were issues with people continuing to use Indian passports even after obtaining foreign nationality.

The fee of £90 is advertised on the Home Ministry's website at http://www.mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?ID_PK=77 (See entry at No 5.)

I had to dig it out myself as its not publicised anywhere. The minister did agree that the implementation recently has not been smooth as they did not foresee the huge impact it may cause.

In any case, I've now paid the fee myself to obtain a surrender certificate as I am satisfied that the fees is not something that is applied unilaterally by the HCI London.

I do still feel that the fee and the penalty regime (penalty of 10000 Rs for each trip made on Indian passport after obtaining foreign nationality) is a bit harsh and should have been enforced after some though thought and planning.

sidster007
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:38 am

Post by sidster007 » Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:33 pm

Hi Zaidir,

Many thanks for your post. Very useful indeed.
Completely share your thoughts on the harshness of the fees. £90 for a certificate is excessive in anyone's book considering the amount of labour and effort involved !

It would be interesting to find out if the HCI's in other countries particularly the US charge an equivalent fee. I don't think so but I could be wrong.

The problem with the fees is not just limited to the amount in question but also but their retrospective application. You can't just ask people who applied before the date the fee was implemented to start coughing up £90!!

I actually think they could do without this whole surrender certificate thing and instead just make it mandatory to surrender your Indian passport at the same time that you apply for a visa/PIO/OCI saving everyone money, additional paperwork and the headache.

I will be surrendering my Indian passport in a couple of weeks as well and hope to encounter as few problems as possible.

Cheers
Sid

zaidir
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Post by zaidir » Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:43 pm

sidster007 wrote:Hi Zaidir,

Many thanks for your post. Very useful indeed.
Completely share your thoughts on the harshness of the fees. £90 for a certificate is excessive in anyone's book considering the amount of labour and effort involved !

It would be interesting to find out if the HCI's in other countries particularly the US charge an equivalent fee. I don't think so but I could be wrong.

The problem with the fees is not just limited to the amount in question but also but their retrospective application. You can't just ask people who applied before the date the fee was implemented to start coughing up £90!!

I actually think they could do without this whole surrender certificate thing and instead just make it mandatory to surrender your Indian passport at the same time that you apply for a visa/PIO/OCI saving everyone money, additional paperwork and the headache.

I will be surrendering my Indian passport in a couple of weeks as well and hope to encounter as few problems as possible.

Cheers
Sid
I tried to contact other HCI's in US and Europe via email but no response yet. However given that the fee is set by MHA India and has been around for quite some time (It was just that the HCI's were lax about implementing it earlier and the Home ministry has asked them to be very strict about it now - possibly another one of those things which has been rushed through for obscure security reasons) there will be no advantange in knowing if other HCIs dont charge the fee yet. The only way around to pay a slightly lesser amount is if you renounce your citizenship in India in which case the fee is Rs 5000 (Its Rs 7000 or £90 outside India).

GoodFun
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Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:29 pm

Post by GoodFun » Thu Nov 12, 2009 7:38 pm

I am more concerned about them not returning the passport after surrendering. Certainly a cancelled passport would not be of much use for travelling so why not simply return it to the holder.

Someone should raise this with the concerned Ministry in India.

sidster007
Member
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:38 am

Post by sidster007 » Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:07 pm

Hi MS Babu,

Thanks very much for answering my question.

When you say that I need to provide copies of my expired Indian passport do you mean a photocopy of all the pages or just the first two front and last 2 back pages or all pages with visa stamps on them? please clarify

Also for the British passport I assume all they need is the copy of the first two and last page?

Regards

Sid
msbabu wrote:
sidster007 wrote:Guys I'm going to be applying for the surrender certificate soon (as soon as I receive my British passport). What supporting documents do I need to submit along with the completed application form and fee?

Thanks for your advice in advance

sidster007
Hi

1. Copy of expired Indian Passport
2. Indian Passport - expired
3. Copy of current indian passport with used visa pages
4. Indian Passport - Current
5. Copy of British passport
6. Copy of naturalization certificate
7. £90=00 Crossed Postal order.


hope it helps
Cheers

sac
Junior Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:12 am
Location: London, UK

Post by sac » Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:44 am

i agree GoodFun, it makes absolutely no sense for them to keep the cancelled passport. we should certainly demand it back - whether for legal matters or processing any paperwork in india, as evidence of previous travel or simply for nostalgia value, it can only be of more use to us than to them.

msbabu
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Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:42 am

Post by msbabu » Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:06 am

sidster007 wrote:Hi MS Babu,

Thanks very much for answering my question.

When you say that I need to provide copies of my expired Indian passport do you mean a photocopy of all the pages or just the first two front and last 2 back pages or all pages with visa stamps on them? please clarify

Also for the British passport I assume all they need is the copy of the first two and last page?

Regards

Sid
msbabu wrote:
sidster007 wrote:Guys I'm going to be applying for the surrender certificate soon (as soon as I receive my British passport). What supporting documents do I need to submit along with the completed application form and fee?

Thanks for your advice in advance

sidster007
Hi Sid
To avoid any delay, i have photocopied all the used visa pages with the photo page and back pages of cancelled and active passport.
For british passport its only one page where any info is there, the 2nd last page. once you get your BP you will know you have to photocopy only 1 page.
Cheers

jas
Newbie
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:10 pm

Post by jas » Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:12 pm

Hello,

I will be soon surrendering my Indian passport and have a query. Can I surrender it at Birmingham Consulate or I need to post it to London High Commission? I couldn't find much detail on Birmingham CGI website. And as am based in Midlands, do I really need to go for Birmingham?

Any advise will be appreciated.

Thanks.

SidB
Junior Member
Posts: 70
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:08 pm

Post by SidB » Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:31 pm

Hi,

Can anyone confirm for OCI what photo size to use:

The hcilondon site says: Two photographs (35mm X 35mm) should be pasted at the place provided on the application and two additional photographs must be attached in small envelope separately. Photographs should be of light colour background (not white) with front pose, both shoulders and both ears visible.

whilst the pdf guidance on http://passport.nic.in/oci/Photo-Spec-FINAL.pdf says 2inch by 2inch. Can someone please advise?

Gaj
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Location: London

Post by Gaj » Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:53 am

:evil: I am also concerned about them keeping the old passports. They should be returned as they may be needed in one's lifetime for any number fo reasons or nostalgia. I am still holding indian citizenship so I am going to the court over the issue . Let them give the passports back to us. Could people help by posting valid reasons to ask for the passports to be given back , in the appeal to the Courts ?

GAJ

GoodFun
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Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:29 pm

Post by GoodFun » Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:46 pm

Technically speaking the Indian passport is the property of the Government of India so they can keep it.

On the other hand the passport has an individual's travel history and might be required at any point of time. Say here in the UK, even after obtaining British Citizenship, the ILR can still be requested at any time to prove when one "settled" in the UK.

sachin_4646
Newbie
Posts: 42
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:30 pm

Post by sachin_4646 » Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:32 pm

I and my wife need to surrender our passports.

1. Can we both send the applications in a single envelope? or We need to send 2 separate envelopes for the return.
2. Where do you get the postal order? Post office/Bank? What are the charges for the issuance of these postal orders?
3. If it's possible to apply together, can a single postal order (£180) be sent instead of 2 separate ones?

I'd appreciate if anybody here could answer.

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