Q.1160 Question regarding

renunciation of Indian

citizenship

Question: Dear Sir/ Madam, I am an Indian citizen by birth (I was born in 1984 in India), and have only held Indian passports. However, I now realize that I have an automatic claim to the citizenship of a foreign country (the U.K.) because my father was born in the U.K.. Should I wish to follow through with this claim and obtain a U.K. passport, I would be doing so through a process that is neither naturalization nor registration - the U.K. basically considered my a U.K. citizen since birth (be descent), though I have never held a UK passport before, nor even been to the UK ever in my life. In this situation, how do I renounce my Indian passport? I understand that producing a naturalization certificate is critical in renunciation, and I will have no such certificate. Would I still be eligible for an OCI card? Thank you, Answer: Indian citizenship must be renounced after acquiring foreign citizenship. Penalties are levied for not renouncing Indian citizenship on a timely manner. Late renunciation penalties are levied based on the time lapse between a person acquiring foreign citizenship and renunciation. The requirement to provide naturalization document gives the authorities the exact date the applicant acquired foreign citizenship. You cannot provide a document that you did not get due to your unique situation. Perhaps an affidavit explaining your citizenship claim circumstances may suffice. To apply for OCI, you first need a foreign passport. Once you have UK passport you can go through the OCI & Renunciation procedure at the same time. Getting advice from a immigration lawyer may be an option you may want to consider as your situation is different.