Getting Irish passport and surrendering Indian passport

[mCGIW]

Thanks for replying..

I have my visa valid till June so i think i will be fine by then.

I am just not very clear about the next steps here..Below is what I am thinking is going to happen but please correct me.

1) Citizenship ceremony
2) based on certificate Irish Passport - How long does it take to get an Irish passport
3) How do i can cancel my Indian Passport (for how long will it be valid after I got Irish Passport )
4) PIO Card - When should I apply for it.
If in future I want to work in India and want to open a company in India , will i still be able to do this with PIO ?

Any help here will be really appreciable.

Thanks

I have started a new topic as the thread you used was not for seeking the above details. The link to the thread where you have posted your query is here
http://www.immigrationboards.com/post12 ... l#p1296565

You have correctly mentioned the sequence of events but there is a small correction. Now, PIO is terminated. You have to take only OCI card.

Getting OCI card is after surrendering your Indian citizenship. You can surrender/renuciate your Indian Citizenship (1 or 2 days process I think) by filling appropriate application form that is available on Indian Embassy website; it is after you get Naturalisation Certificate. You can surrender it during application for OCI card itself (both surrendering and OCI application together). Be aware that OCI card process takes nearly 2-3 months.

With this in view, I advice you to take the Naturalisation certificate first. If you are planning to visit India within next three months of obtaining Naturalisation certificate and if your Irish Visa on your Indian passport is valid during your planned visit to India, you better don't surrender your Indian passport. You finish your Indian travel with Indian Passport. Subsequent to your return from India, you apply for Irish passport. Later surrender Indian citizenship and apply for OCI card together.

Taking Irish passport after getting Naturalisation certificate takes you 10-12 days. If you plan to visit India after taking Irish passport, you need two things. Firstly, you should first surrender Indian citizenship (passport) as mentioned above. Secondly, you should have either OCI card (that takes 2-3 months), or Indian Visa on your Irish passport if you can't wait for 3 months for OCI card. Indian Visa takes 3 days (if it's urgent; costs more I think) or 1 week normally; Indian visa irrespective of weather you get it urgently or normally, you have to pay for it.

Regarding your planned business or work in India with OCI card, you are legally eligible to do so. No issues at all. You are also eligible to purchase residential/commercial properties as well. Only restrictions are you can't buy agricultural land; can't undertake government employment, can't vote/contest in elections.

[mCGIW]

Hi uberneo.

Could you clarify some of my doubts which I think you can? I can see from your previous posts that you had some problems with residency calculations. You have mentioned that you had got the GNIB (Garda) card renewed at one date and the renewal date entered on your passport was later to the date entered in the renewed GNIB (Garda) card. You have also mentioned that if you entered the renewal dates as on passport, your residency calculation didn't consider you eligible for citizenship application and you were to wait for another year or so for one year continuous residency. You have also mentioned that you were about to visit NCP Cork for clarifying that.

Could you please inform here about that issue as to how it was sorted?

Thanks.

[uberneo]

Hi mCGIW,

Thanks for such a detailed and helpful reply.

Yes the only problem which i had was that on my passport i didn't had the continuous 5 years of stamp. The reason is that I am in Cork and it around 2 weeks to get the Garda card here, so I had applied before my expiry of card but i got it back after 2 weeks which was after expiry and the lady at Garda office put the stamp of the date on which i had received my Card.

However the best option is to write the INIS in Dublin office provide your residency history ( took around 2 weeks) which has all the dates clearly mentioned , the date on which you had first visited the Garda office not the one on which you have received it back.

So in residency calculator i put the dates from the above letter and put a cover letter with the above explanation and that worked ( no questions asked anywhere) . NCP cork had given the above idea ( big thanks to them).

------------------------------

You have mentioned that i can travel on my Naturalisation certificate , till the visa on my Indian Passport is valid. Does anybody have done it , any official confirmation?

Also can i keep my Indian passport till the time my Irish visa is valid even though i have received my Naturalisation certificate , is there any boundation on applying for Irish passport within a certain time period after i have received the Naturalisation certificate.

Also what right will i get in ireland just based on "Naturalisation certificate" before applying for Irish passport.

I believe you already have got your citizenship , any experiences in personal / professional life after leaving Indian citizenship and accepting irish citizenship. I know its a big move so just wondering if you or anybody can share their experiences.

Cheers
Uberneo

[mCGIW]

Hi mCGIW,
However the best option is to write the INIS in Dublin office provide your residency history ( took around 2 weeks) which has all the dates clearly mentioned , the date on which you had first visited the Garda office not the one on which you have received it back.

So in residency calculator i put the dates from the above letter and put a cover letter with the above explanation and that worked ( no questions asked anywhere) . NCP cork had given the above idea ( big thanks to them).

That's a great info you have shared. I wanted to know about this as this problem is currently being faced by all applicants subsequent to the introduction of the new GNIB card. My GNIB card I held was the old format and didn't have the problem of waiting for 1/2 week unlike the new one. I was wondering about the problem what you have experienced but I didn't know a person who actually faced this problem until I got to know about you.

You have mentioned that i can travel on my Naturalisation certificate , till the visa on my Indian Passport is valid. Does anybody have done it , any official confirmation?

My own friend has done it twice. The emigration officials in India while you are leaving India for Ireland, only check if your Indian Passport has valid visa. If you have the said visa, you are through. They may ask you few questions about your work, etc., just for formalities. And, once you are in Ireland you can show your naturalisation certificate and clear the Irish Immigration Officials. Here they may ask you as to why you are not traveling with Irish passport (depends on Immigration Official). You can tell you didn't have time to get the OCI card before your planned visit to India; you can tell you didn't get time to clear all the formalities of surrendering the Indian citizenship; you can just assure them that you would do it at the earliest.

Also can i keep my Indian passport till the time my Irish visa is valid even though i have received my Naturalisation certificate , is there any boundation on applying for Irish passport within a certain time period after i have received the Naturalisation certificate.

You can apply the Irish passport whenever you want. But it's expected from you to travel on Irish passport at the earliest. Having said that it doesn't mean you cannot use Indian passport to travel to India at all but traveling many times with Indian passport would certainly raise a doubt about you.

Also what right will i get in ireland just based on "Naturalisation certificate" before applying for Irish passport.

Irish passport is just a travel document. Your Naturalisation certificate is the proof for your Irish citizenship. With Naturalisation Certificate, you get all the rights of being an Irish citizen.

I believe you already have got your citizenship , any experiences in personal / professional life after leaving Indian citizenship and accepting irish citizenship. I know its a big move so just wondering if you or anybody can share their experiences.

No difference except that you may be not eligible for competitive exams in India (getting medical, engineering seats etc reserved for Indian citizens; u can still get NRI seats but for higher fees), government service, voting/contesting in elections, buying agricultural land. Otherwise no issues at all.

[uberneo]

Hi mCGIW,

Thanks for your response.

I have posted an another question regarding the Marriage but got no response yet , http://www.immigrationboards.com/irelan ... 01894.html

It would be really helpful if you or somebody else please provide some insights on this.

Thanks

[wasay999]

Hi mCGIW,
However the best option is to write the INIS in Dublin office provide your residency history ( took around 2 weeks) which has all the dates clearly mentioned , the date on which you had first visited the Garda office not the one on which you have received it back.

So in residency calculator i put the dates from the above letter and put a cover letter with the above explanation and that worked ( no questions asked anywhere) . NCP cork had given the above idea ( big thanks to them).

That's a great info you have shared. I wanted to know about this as this problem is currently being faced by all applicants subsequent to the introduction of the new GNIB card. My GNIB card I held was the old format and didn't have the problem of waiting for 1/2 week unlike the new one. I was wondering about the problem what you have experienced but I didn't know a person who actually faced this problem until I got to know about you.

You have mentioned that i can travel on my Naturalisation certificate , till the visa on my Indian Passport is valid. Does anybody have done it , any official confirmation?

My own friend has done it twice. The emigration officials in India while you are leaving India for Ireland, only check if your Indian Passport has valid visa. If you have the said visa, you are through. They may ask you few questions about your work, etc., just for formalities. And, once you are in Ireland you can show your naturalisation certificate and clear the Irish Immigration Officials. Here they may ask you as to why you are not traveling with Irish passport (depends on Immigration Official). You can tell you didn't have time to get the OCI card before your planned visit to India; you can tell you didn't get time to clear all the formalities of surrendering the Indian citizenship; you can just assure them that you would do it at the earliest.

Also can i keep my Indian passport till the time my Irish visa is valid even though i have received my Naturalisation certificate , is there any boundation on applying for Irish passport within a certain time period after i have received the Naturalisation certificate.

You can apply the Irish passport whenever you want. But it's expected from you to travel on Irish passport at the earliest. Having said that it doesn't mean you cannot use Indian passport to travel to India at all but traveling many times with Indian passport would certainly raise a doubt about you.

Also what right will i get in ireland just based on "Naturalisation certificate" before applying for Irish passport.

Irish passport is just a travel document. Your Naturalisation certificate is the proof for your Irish citizenship. With Naturalisation Certificate, you get all the rights of being an Irish citizen.

I believe you already have got your citizenship , any experiences in personal / professional life after leaving Indian citizenship and accepting irish citizenship. I know its a big move so just wondering if you or anybody can share their experiences.

No difference except that you may be not eligible for competitive exams in India (getting medical, engineering seats etc reserved for Indian citizens; u can still get NRI seats but for higher fees), government service, voting/contesting in elections, buying agricultural land. Otherwise no issues at all.

As far as I know that once you get the naturalisation certificate you're an Irish citizen, you can use your Indian passport to travel to India but they'll find out when you'll be applying for oci card that you travelled on Indian passport after getting Irish citizenship. And I believe you'll be penalised for the misuse of the Indian passport as you're no longer citizen of India, I'm not sure how much they fine you.
It's better to get Irish passport and travel on it with tourist visa instead of waiting for oci.