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Hi

My wife who is an Indian national has been granted ilr , she has her Indian passport which is valid till 2017 , she is allowed to apply for citizenship in August of this year .

When she get neutralised and gets her British passport , does that automatically mean she would need to surrender her Indian passport as she has now gained British citizenship? It would be awesome if she could retain her Indian passport too so she doesn't need to get a visa when wishing to travel to India,

How does it all work , please can someone clearly explain .

Thanks

luke79 wrote:Hi

My wife who is an Indian national has been granted ilr , she has her Indian passport which is valid till 2017 , she is allowed to apply for citizenship in August of this year .

When she get neutralised and gets her British passport , does that automatically mean she would need to surrender her Indian passport as she has now gained British citizenship? It would be awesome if she could retain her Indian passport too so she doesn't need to get a visa when wishing to travel to India,

How does it all work , please can someone clearly explain .

Thanks

I hope she wont be "Neutralised"! I assume you meant "Naturalised"!!

Dual Nationality is not allowed by Indian govt. There are penalties if someone retains the Indian passport after obtaining a different nationality. Here is the link

http://hcilondon.in/renunciation.php

Yes, and just to also cover the 'Visa for India' aspect of the question, in case your wife chooses to get the British Passport, OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) is her best bet. I found this piece of text quite useful in this document.

3. Persons registered as OCI have not been given any voting rights, election to Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/Legislative Assembly/Council, holding Constitutional posts such as President, Vice President, Judge of Supreme Court/High Court etc. Registered OCIs shall be entitled to following benefits:
(i) Multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to visit India;
(ii) Exemption from reporting to Police authorities for any length of stay in India; and
(iii) Parity with NRIs in financial, economic and educational fields except in the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.

All in IMHO, hope this helps.