343. Obtain surrender

certificate in UK

Q: Dear Mr Chand, First of all, my greatest appreciation to you for devising and running a website that is and will be of greatest help to millions of NRIs. Last Thursday (13/10/11), I went to the Indian HC, London to apply for an OCI, based on my Indian Passport which I had till February 1973. In 1973 I had acquired British Passport. The Indian HC - Nairobi had returned my cut Indian passport with a stamp of "THE HOLDER HAS SINCE ACQUIRED BRITISH NATIONALITY AND HOLDS BRITISH PASSPORT No.....DATED....ISSUED AT.... The consular officer informed me that I need to get a "SURRENDER CERTICATE" (SC) from VFS. I am rather puzzled that they require a SC for an Indian Passport that was cancelled in 1973 (38 years ago). The Indian HC in Nairobi should (if the rules existed then) have in fact issued a SC when they returned the cancelled Indian Passport. I would apprecite your advice on this subject matter. Kind regards, Ambe Acharya A. While you are right in saying that a surrender certificate should have been issued when you canceled your passport in 1973. Such rules apparently did not exist at that time, and if they did it was a well kept secret. The term 'Surrender Certificate' first came in the picture in 2010. Apparently some non-residents who acquired foreign citizenship continued to use their Indian passports to travel to India without bothering to acquire an Indian visa. I believe, in an effort to stop this misuse of Indian passports, the government came out with the 'Surrender Certificate'. A few months ago, people like you, who already had their passports canceled several years back, did not require a Surrender Certificate. However, rules were changed. According to the latest rules applicable worldwide, those who acquired foreign citizenship ten or more years ago, and have their old Indian passport, can get a surrender certificate on payment of £ 14.00 plus applicable charges including Consular Surcharge of £ 2.00. Those who have lost their last Indian passports, pay the same fee and are given a renunciation certificate. Many non-residents have been frustrated by this rule, however, none of us has a choice but to follow the rules set by the government. The Renunciation Form can be viewed HERE.