Indian Passport Surrender Question

[manindersinghgill]

Guys,

Hoping someone would be able to help me. I applied for my passport today and have a trip planned to India last week of November. I will forsure get my Canadian passport by then and I was thinking to apply for online e toursit visa since I will be there for 2 weeks only.

I wanted to ask if its okay to come back and surrender my Indian passport late December or in January? BLS website states there is a 3 month grace period. But I thought I should still check to see if anyone else was in same boat.

Thanks

 

[ramkris]

Guys,

Hoping someone would be able to help me. I applied for my passport today and have a trip planned to India last week of November. I will forsure get my Canadian passport by then and I was thinking to apply for online e toursit visa since I will be there for 2 weeks only.

I wanted to ask if its okay to come back and surrender my Indian passport late December or in January? BLS website states there is a 3 month grace period. But I thought I should still check to see if anyone else was in same boat.

Thanks

3 months grace period is for using indian passport to travel and come back to canada which technically not possible.coz it sats from the date you got citizenship. then u need to get your canadian pasport . if you have canadian passport you will get your visa immediately. I'm not sure about e-visa but bls people said if you are applying for 1 year visa they wont be asking any thing. You dont need to surrender your passport with in 3 months there is no rule like that. I surrendered in nov i got my citizenship in may. there was no fine for doing that.

 

[manindersinghgill]

3 months grace period is for using indian passport to travel and come back to canada which technically not possible.coz it sats from the date you got citizenship. then u need to get your canadian pasport . if you have canadian passport you will get your visa immediately. I'm not sure about e-visa but bls people said if you are applying for 1 year visa they wont be asking any thing. You dont need to surrender your passport with in 3 months there is no rule like that. I surrendered in nov i got my citizenship in may. there was no fine for doing that.

Thanks

 

[qorax]

You have three years to renounce your Indian citizenship (aka passport surrender). And you can continue to use your Indian passport to travel for three months from the day of becoming a Canadian citizen.

 

[DVA]

Hi,

Just wanted some info on which Visa you applied to travel to India.

I am going for about 2 months and just got my Canadian passport.

I'm not sure if I go for the tourist Visa or the entry Visa.

Could you please advise?
Thanks.

Guys,

Hoping someone would be able to help me. I applied for my passport today and have a trip planned to India last week of November. I will forsure get my Canadian passport by then and I was thinking to apply for online e toursit visa since I will be there for 2 weeks only.

I wanted to ask if its okay to come back and surrender my Indian passport late December or in January? BLS website states there is a 3 month grace period. But I thought I should still check to see if anyone else was in same boat.

Thanks

 

[manindersinghgill]

Hi,

Just wanted some info on which Visa you applied to travel to India.

I am going for about 2 months and just got my Canadian passport.

I'm not sure if I go for the tourist Visa or the entry Visa.

Could you please advise?
Thanks.

Hey,
I think you could get the evisa if you are going for less than 60 days?

I am not a pro here but I can tell you from my personal experience. My uncle travels to India every year and he usually gets the tourist visa.

I also have a friend who flew to India last week and he applied for entry visa. He said if you were born in India, you should apply for entry visa.

But, I havent heard any issues from any of the family members or friends in regards to the visa type.

But just to be certain, give BLS international a call and see what they have to say.

 

[KRP]

You have three years to renounce your Indian citizenship (aka passport surrender). And you can continue to use your Indian passport to travel for three months from the day of becoming a Canadian citizen.

The bolded text matter is not clear to me. How can one travel in the first place on Indian passport after becoming a Canadian citizen. My understanding is one uses a Indian passport + PR card to enter India. When the PR card is taken away during Oath ceremony the person is now left with just the Indian passport. In this scenario how can he go to India since the Indian immigration staff will ask for PR card?
Any one can answer this since I feel Qorax is not visiting the forum nowadays.

 

[CICApplicant]

The bolded text matter is not clear to me. How can one travel in the first place on Indian passport after becoming a Canadian citizen. My understanding is one uses a Indian passport + PR card to enter India. When the PR card is taken away during Oath ceremony the person is now left with just the Indian passport. In this scenario how can he go to India since the Indian immigration staff will ask for PR card?
Any one can answer this since I feel Qorax is not visiting the forum nowadays.

Not a lawyer but my 2 cents..
Why would Indian Immigration ask for PR Card? In any case if asked , may be you can show them Canadian Passport and tell them that you will surrender Indian passport once you are back in Canada.

 

[arunmanian]

Just had a phone conversation with a vice consul in Toronto. According to him, under no circumstances one can use both Indian passport and Canada passport at any time. If you use Indian passport to goto India after acquiring Canadian Citizenship its deemed that you will exit India with the same Indian passport or valid Indian passport. Which means you will need either the PR card or valid Canadian Visa stamped on the Indian passport. This illustrates that Indian Passport cannot be used for travel to India and that the grace period of 3 months cannot be availed if you are returning to Canada. I spinned him out various scenarious that were discussed here in various threads. All leading to the same answer as above. If anyone has a different view or experience please bring it out here so that i can discuss with him again on this. Thank you!

 

[stimitak]

Just had a phone conversation with a vice consul in Toronto. According to him, under no circumstances one can use both Indian passport and Canada passport at any time. If you use Indian passport to goto India after acquiring Canadian Citizenship its deemed that you will exit India with the same Indian passport or valid Indian passport. Which means you will need either the PR card or valid Canadian Visa stamped on the Indian passport. This illustrates that Indian Passport cannot be used for travel to India and that the grace period of 3 months cannot be availed if you are returning to Canada. I spinned him out various scenarious that were discussed here in various threads. All leading to the same answer as above. If anyone has a different view or experience please bring it out here so that i can discuss with him again on this. Thank you!

Hi, I wanted to clarify the recent travel I had under these circumstances:
Booked ticket to India: June-2018
Canadian citizenship received: 22-Oct-2018
Canadian passport: 09-Nov-2018
Travel to India: 16-Dec-2018, using Indian passport, stamp received, zero questions asked
Travel back to Canada - 16-Jan-2019, took the foreign passport line, officer was confused and didnt know the rules. Had take the printout showing 3 months grace period. He went to his boss, came back and said, I can only let you out of the country with your Indian passport and please surrender once you return. No issues at all.
There was a moment of anxiety, but all as well. Please be patient and request the officer to ask his boss.

Additional check: Before immigration office, Air-Canada counter was also equally confused, asked us to step aside and the guy took all the passports and went to immigration to verify. He came back saying all is good.

 

[stimitak]

The bolded text matter is not clear to me. How can one travel in the first place on Indian passport after becoming a Canadian citizen. My understanding is one uses a Indian passport + PR card to enter India. When the PR card is taken away during Oath ceremony the person is now left with just the Indian passport. In this scenario how can he go to India since the Indian immigration staff will ask for PR card?
Any one can answer this since I feel Qorax is not visiting the forum nowadays.

No they dont. Things have been extremely simplified now. Literally not even a single work is spoken. Just show your indian passport and walk out.

 

[arunmanian]

Please give a thorough read.
http://www.cgitoronto.gov.in/eoi.php?id=surrender_certificate

 

[optimus]

Hi, I wanted to clarify the recent travel I had under these circumstances:
Booked ticket to India: June-2018
Canadian citizenship received: 22-Oct-2018
Canadian passport: 09-Nov-2018
Travel to India: 16-Dec-2018, using Indian passport, stamp received, zero questions asked
Travel back to Canada - 16-Jan-2019, took the foreign passport line, officer was confused and didnt know the rules. Had take the printout showing 3 months grace period. He went to his boss, came back and said, I can only let you out of the country with your Indian passport and please surrender once you return. No issues at all.
There was a moment of anxiety, but all as well. Please be patient and request the officer to ask his boss.

Additional check: Before immigration office, Air-Canada counter was also equally confused, asked us to step aside and the guy took all the passports and went to immigration to verify. He came back saying all is good.

You just got lucky on that day. The immigration officer/his boss just let you go. But do not suggest this to anyone. They could have easily asked you to go back and get a Canadian visa or clearance from canadian embassy in India, which happened for few others.

 

[optimus]

No they dont. Things have been extremely simplified now. Literally not even a single work is spoken. Just show your indian passport and walk out.

No no Its not that simple, Any one travelling with your family do not try this. In any country where its required to clear immigration @ entry and exit, use the same valid travel docs & passport.

 

[arunmanian]

I second optimus's comment. Do not get carried away by the statement of 3 months use of Indian passport for travel without penalty. The same CGIToronto website says.
"Even after acquiring the Canadian citizenship, the Indian passport can be used to travel for 3 months from the day of getting the Canadian citizenship. The grace period is only for such cases where foreign citizenship has been acquired but a foreign passport is not available to the person. It is also mentioned that it is illegal to travel on an Indian passport, where a person has obtained a foreign passport."