223. Driving license record from

India & Passport surrender

penalty

Q: Respected sir My name is Bharat Patel . I have found this email ID from the website. Could you please answer my 2 query. first i would like to know about how can i get Indian driving history as i have got Auto Car driving licence since 2000 and left India in 2006 and right now i m in Canada. Also i have another query regarding Cancellation of my Indian passport as i have got Australian Citizenship on 26 November. When i received Australian passport i went down to High comission of India in Australia for Cancellation for my Passport, Then i came to know that i can cancel my Indian passport within 3 years of time. so I did not cancel at that time because i had booked air ticket to fly to Canada. I flew with my Australian Passport and took my indian passport with me and thought that i would cancel it in Canada as i have been told i can cacel it anywhere. When i came to Canada , i shown my indian passport at the Border because the PR stamp was on my Indian passport. After few days in Canada, i have visited VFS office to get cancel my Indian passport but they said that i need do pay panelty because i have used Indian passport to enter in to Canada. I have explained them that i have not departed by using Indian passport but the PR stamp was on my Indian passport i had to show it to the Canadian Immigration at port of entry. But they were not convinced. I have gone through the Indian passport ACT1967 but i could not get any information related to my issue. Could you please guide me to shor out this issue. Also , i could not under stand the charges they are taking for Cancellation are too much. No other country charges for Cancellation of passport Thanks Regards Bharat A. The only place that I am aware of in India that issues driving record history is Chandigarh. They actually have a form that one needs to fill in and send it to them along with a self stamped return envelope and they mail you back your driving record. Driving history record for the period starting 1997 onwards are available. The request can be made by post or in person to the ‘Office of the Superintendent of Police (Traffic), U.T. Police HQ, Sector 9-D, Chandigarh’. The request has to be made on the prescribed form and has to be accompanied by a registered post self-addressed stamped envelope. You can view the form required to be filled in by clicking HERE I am not aware of any other state in India that provides this facility. If any of the readers have obtained driving history from India please post your experience in the comment area below so that others can also benefit from your experience.

Cancellation of Indian Passport -

Penalty Fee

While you mention that you got your Australian citizenship in November you do not mention the year so I am assuming you got your Australian citizenship in November 2010. Since you acquired Australian citizenship after June 1, 2010 you are required to get your Indian passport canceled and get a 'Surrender Certificate' the fee payable for this procedure in Canada is currently Canadian $168. The three year cancellation time period I believe is for those who acquired foreign citizenship before the new rules requiring surrender of passport were announced. Those who acquired foreign citizenship after June 1, 2010 have only three months to surrender their passports. If you got your Australian citizenship in November 2010 then the three year period would not apply to you. Whether you traveled to Canada from Australia by using your Indian passport or Australian passport can probably be ascertained by checking which passport has exit/arrival stamped on it. I find that there MAY be a grace period allowing use of Indian passport and if this is the case it might help you. Read about grace period below. Speak to the consulate personnel in a diplomatic and courteous manner. The final decision to charge you a penalty would be that of the Canadian consulate officials. Grace period to use Indian Passport after acquiring foreign citizenship? Surprisingly I find that some Indian consulate websites show that there is a grace period of three months. Here is what the Indian consulate Hong Kong website has posted on its page http://www.indianconsulate.org.hk/ "A grace period of three months is allowed from the date of acquisition of foreign citizenship, for the purpose of travel on Indian passport. Therefore, no penalty will be leviable for travel on Indian passport within three months of acquisition of foreign passport." (click image to enlarge) Currently listed penalties: Penalty for retention of Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship for a period in excess of three years from the date of acquiring Canadian citizenship (a) if your Passport expired on or before 31 Dec, 2004 – no penalty (b) if your Passport expired on or after 1 Jan, 2005 – US$ 240 Penalty for traveling on Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 240 for each time, subject to a maximum of C$ 1,200 Penalty for getting Indian Passport Renewed or Reissued after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 600 for each such renewal or reissue. Penalty for obtaining any miscellaneous passport service (name change/correction etc.) on Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 240 for each such service. (source:www.cgitoronto.ca/Misc/surrcert.html) Update: If your Passport expired on or after 1 Jan, 2005 now in USA is US$ 250. Feb 12, 2012: Website url provided for Hong Kong website has now been changed to http://www.cgihk.gov.in/