Minor losing citizenship if one parent gives up indian citizenship

[Sachin Raja]

Dear team,

I am applying for the OCI card, and I realized that if I had to surrender my Indian passport and give up my Indian citizenship, my minor dependents would automatically lose their Indian citizenship. I was unaware of this, and I just wondered how to go about it.

My daughter and my wife hold Indian passports, and they have UK visas as my dependents for the next two to three years. However, we are unsure if it is safe to submit the surrender certificate now or wait for them to renew their passports before I can surrender my Indian passport and relinquish my citizenship. I'm unsure how to proceed and would value your opinions and suggestions.

When I looked on the Indian website for surrendering Indian citizenship, it mentioned that the minor dependents would automatically lose their Indian citizenship and their passport if I had to submit my surrender. Given this situation, I'm not very sure and am not happy to submit my surrender until I get a bit of clarity on the situation.

I have acquired British citizenship, but my family still holds Indian passports. My wife and daughter have dependent visas in the UK. I value the opinions of the board on the forum.

[Sivaquery]

The Indian govt after a very very long delay has processed Passport renewal for kids caught in this situation in July. But the validity of this passport is for 2 years only.
Don't know if they will be renewed again after that or some new issue will crop up.

I would suggest investigate a bit more and get some legal advice.

[Sachin Raja]

Thanks for getting back to me. Will delaying my surrender affect anything, or is it okay to surrender my Indian passport and relinquish Indian citizenship? I'm concerned about surrendering because, according to the rule, my child will become stateless by losing the Indian passport.

[johndough]

It is not up to you to surrender your Indian passport after you have acquired a foreign citizenship. You HAVE to do it! You haven't stated it so I am just assuming that you have already acquired foreign citizenship. In that case you have ALREADY lost your Indian citizenship and surrendering Indian passport is just a formality, except that it's MANDATED by law and an offence punishable in the very least by penalties and in worse cases by delaying or denying future visa/oci applications etc.

You should call HCI London or VFS Global (for India) immediately and ask for advice. If by any chance the govt of India comes to know you are no longer an Indian citizen but are traveling on Indian passport or haven't surrendered it, you will face problems right at Arrivals in Indian Intl Airports.

[Sachin Raja]

Many thanks! It's quite helpful! I will call the consulate to check the current rules and update them here for everyone's benefit.

[Sivaquery]

Hi,

According to below link renunciation is no longer a mandatory document for applying OCI.
https://cgibirmingham.gov.in/page/display/353

But of course it is best you call the consulate to check the current rules as applicable to you.

[Sachin Raja]

Dear all,

An update from the consular service: they replied as follows.

Dear Sir/Madam,

For renewal of a Minor Indian Passport, one parent has to be an Indian Passport holder.

Kind Regards,

Public Response Unit