Opposition to Retroactive Enforcement of New Rules for Surrender of Indian Passport
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Hon. Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of INDIA
New Delhi
INDIA
Subject: Opposition to Retroactive Enforcement of New Rules for Surrender of Indian Passport
Hon. Prime Minister:
I strongly object to the retroactive enforcement of new rules regarding the surrender of Indian passport upon acquisition of citizenship of other countries. The new rules impose undue and unnecessary burden on Persons of Indian Origin. In addition, I object to the prescribed fee as being unreasonably high.
The notice posted on the website of several Indian embassies and consulates stipulates that Persons of Indian Origin who have acquired citizenship of other countries are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Consulate within 90 days of their acquisition of citizenship of those other countries. I have no objection if the enforcement of the new rules takes effect from the date of issue. But retroactive enforcement and requiring people of Indian origin who got citizenship of other countries years ago, could cause unimaginable hardship in thousands of cases. The minimum service fee of $175 for the surrender certificate is also unduly very high.
There can be a few millions of people who have obtained citizenship of other countries over the last fifty years, since the passage of Indian Citizenship Act 1955 the law quoted in asking for surrender certificate. Many of the former Indian citizens have been travelling to India on passports of countries of their adoption but with Indian visas granted by the same consulates whose websites now have posting of new rules. If the law did exist in the past, Indian embassies and consulates everywhere should have asked for the surrender of Indian passports before first time granting Indian visas to Persons of Indian Origin. Requiring Persons of Indian Origin to surrender their Indian passports after the lapse of many years of acquisition of such citizenship, would cause undue hardship and delay in getting consular services. In case an applicant has lost, damaged or surrendered his/her Indian passport to a foreign Government, he/she is required to furnish certified copies of following documents, as per notice on website postings of Indian embassies and consulates:
1. Details of last held Indian passport (Passport No., Date of Issue & Place of issue). The onus of providing details rest on the applicant.
2. Official documents submitted to authorities of new country at the time of obtaining citizenship/naturalization & documents used for entry such as US Form I -130.
3. Notarized letter explaining reasons for loss.
4. Police report.
A large majority of the new citizens did not have any use for their old Indian passports and may have lost, misplaced or never kept in their possession after naturalization. The production of items 1 and 2 above, in particular, will not be easy and could take months to obtain from the immigration authorities. In the meantime, consular services will not be available to visit the mother country, even for emergency situations.
I urge the Government of India to reconsider the retroactive enforcement of the new rules as thousands of people who have acquired citizenship of other countries could suffer undue and unnecessary hardship for no fault of their own, in addition to reducing the fee to a reasonable amount of $25.
Prime Minister of INDIA
New Delhi
INDIA
Subject: Opposition to Retroactive Enforcement of New Rules for Surrender of Indian Passport
Hon. Prime Minister:
I strongly object to the retroactive enforcement of new rules regarding the surrender of Indian passport upon acquisition of citizenship of other countries. The new rules impose undue and unnecessary burden on Persons of Indian Origin. In addition, I object to the prescribed fee as being unreasonably high.
The notice posted on the website of several Indian embassies and consulates stipulates that Persons of Indian Origin who have acquired citizenship of other countries are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Consulate within 90 days of their acquisition of citizenship of those other countries. I have no objection if the enforcement of the new rules takes effect from the date of issue. But retroactive enforcement and requiring people of Indian origin who got citizenship of other countries years ago, could cause unimaginable hardship in thousands of cases. The minimum service fee of $175 for the surrender certificate is also unduly very high.
There can be a few millions of people who have obtained citizenship of other countries over the last fifty years, since the passage of Indian Citizenship Act 1955 the law quoted in asking for surrender certificate. Many of the former Indian citizens have been travelling to India on passports of countries of their adoption but with Indian visas granted by the same consulates whose websites now have posting of new rules. If the law did exist in the past, Indian embassies and consulates everywhere should have asked for the surrender of Indian passports before first time granting Indian visas to Persons of Indian Origin. Requiring Persons of Indian Origin to surrender their Indian passports after the lapse of many years of acquisition of such citizenship, would cause undue hardship and delay in getting consular services. In case an applicant has lost, damaged or surrendered his/her Indian passport to a foreign Government, he/she is required to furnish certified copies of following documents, as per notice on website postings of Indian embassies and consulates:
1. Details of last held Indian passport (Passport No., Date of Issue & Place of issue). The onus of providing details rest on the applicant.
2. Official documents submitted to authorities of new country at the time of obtaining citizenship/naturalization & documents used for entry such as US Form I -130.
3. Notarized letter explaining reasons for loss.
4. Police report.
A large majority of the new citizens did not have any use for their old Indian passports and may have lost, misplaced or never kept in their possession after naturalization. The production of items 1 and 2 above, in particular, will not be easy and could take months to obtain from the immigration authorities. In the meantime, consular services will not be available to visit the mother country, even for emergency situations.
I urge the Government of India to reconsider the retroactive enforcement of the new rules as thousands of people who have acquired citizenship of other countries could suffer undue and unnecessary hardship for no fault of their own, in addition to reducing the fee to a reasonable amount of $25.
33094 Signatures
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Ashook Ramsaran
- City, Country
- Fresh Meadows, New York, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 1-917-519-5783
- Comments
- In full support of petition
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Inder Singh
- City, Country
- Los Angeles, USA
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Dr. Thomas Abraham
- City, Country
- Stamford, CT, USA
- Comments
- There should not be any charge for retroactive enforcement of the new rules, since it was the fault of the missions for not implement the rules earlier.
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Sam Kannappan
- City, Country
- Houston, USA
- Comments
- Copying certificate of naturalization is illegal in USA
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Harmohan Singh Walia
- City, Country
- Sydney
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 61-402842375
- Comments
- New Rules for surrender of Indian Passport not acceptable
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Councilman Rajiv Prasad
- City, Country
- Franklin Township, Somerset NJ, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 973-615-9369
- Comments
- This is adding insult to injury and should be repealed. We should insist on full Dual Citizenship
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Surender Bhatia
- City, Country
- Los Angeles, CA - USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 323-304-0642
- Comments
- There should be no fee at all
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Professor Prabhu Guptara
- City, Country
- Ermatingen, Switzerland
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KULJEET CHADHA
- City, Country
- SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
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Tajinder Chadha
- City, Country
- Sydney, Australia
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Ram Ganeshan
- City, Country
- sugar land Tx, USA
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Maruthi Gannavaram
- City, Country
- Naugatuck, USA
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Amarinder
- City, Country
- Sydney, Australia
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Chandrakant Patel
- City, Country
- Houston, USA
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Jaswant B. Mody
- City, Country
- Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 732-236-7084
- Comments
- It is not fair to pay to surrender our Indian Passport. We paid to receive our Indian Passport, We NRI are doing more than enough for India. Indian Politicians and for India's progress and see what we are receiving from Indian Goverment?
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C. Alex Alexander,M.D.
- City, Country
- Glen Burnie, MD, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- В
- Comments
- Opposed to new rules reg. production of old passports and the exorbitant fee. But, I am strongly against dual citizenships. That is a different issue, I did surrender my passport when I became a US citizen and the Indian Embassy canceled it and sent it back to me.
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Vatsala Bhasakran
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, USA
- Comments
- I oppose the retroactive enforcement. I totally agree with the petition.
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R.Girish
- City, Country
- Houston
- Comments
- I had no choice but to add another $700 to my budget to get the renunciation certificate which is a pre-requisite to getting the VISA to travel to India.
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illa soni
- City, Country
- 64-38, 181 St, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 1 718 461 6471
- Comments
- Not fair practice. Hope you will reconsider the enforcement. What's the purpose for such thing?
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Arun K Jolly,R.Ph.MBA.
- City, Country
- Marlboro,NJ 07746
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 732 792 6479
- Comments
- I totally endorse this petition.It is unconscionable of the Govt. of India to retroactively enforce this 55 year old law.If the applicant has moved in the last several decades,it's impossible to obtain a police report for a lost expired passport.This enforcement now will cause undue hardship to senior citizens of Indian origin and cause less or no visits to India when the Govt. of India should be using this group of loyal Indians as ambassadors of India to promote travels to India.
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Ashvin Patel
- City, Country
- Voorhees,New Jersey
- Comments
- Penalty for keeping the Indian passport in possession for more than 3 years after giving away Indian Citizenship also requires application fee with penalty. This will have serious effects on tourism due to financial hardship. Please reconsider the surrendering Indian Passport at no cost to the applicant except the mailing fee.
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Srinivasa Madhavan
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, TX, USA
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Alamelu Lakshmanan
- City, Country
- Salem, IL
- Comments
- Retroactive enforcement is very unreasonable.I completely agree with the petition
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ROHITAS BATTA
- City, Country
- AUSTRALIA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- +61411478103
- Comments
- I AGREE
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DIVYAKANT AND PRTIMA PARIKH
- City, Country
- VOORHEES, NJ, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 856-745-9676
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Gita Ganeshan
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, Tx, USA
- Comments
- It should not be retroactive
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THIRUPATHY NATHAN
- City, Country
- GLENVIEW, IL , USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 8475620110
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SALA NATHAN
- City, Country
- glenview, il -usa
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K.SARANATHAN
- City, Country
- HOUSTON,TX,USA
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Vaithianathan K. Dorai
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, Texas, USA
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Suvasini K. Dorai
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, TX, USA
- Comments
- We took our Indian passports to the Indian Consulate in Houston in 2000 when we applied for Indian visa. The Consulate returned the Indian passports to us. Why did they return it if the passports were supposed to be surrendered?
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K.Balasubramanian
- City, Country
- houston, texas, usa
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Murugan Selvan
- City, Country
- Houston, Texas
- Comments
- Please do not make it difficult for us. We will always support India in ways govt. cannot measure.
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Snehal Shah
- City, Country
- Somerset, NJ USA
- Comments
- Outrageous fee for no reason... If they want to put a stamp on passport fine, why $175/-. When we applied for OCI, they didn't inform us about surrendering passport nor about renouncing citizenship. The contract did not say anything. Now They are now holding back our OCI applications which are already approved and for which they already collected $250 per person. They don't want to give OCI CARD without renouncing citizenship and paying them $175.. Plus they are asking that we have to only send by mail our US passport and all the other paperwork.. People have sent additional money by checks, which are cashed but no response... Applications are lost, no records on website, no one answers phone... Unreal abuse of power... Please take action...
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Vish Bhaskaran
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 7132564517
- Comments
- I am against this new rules for surrender of Indian passport
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Snehal Shah
- City, Country
- Somerset, NJ USA
- Comments
- Outrageous fee for no reason... If they want to put a stamp on passport fine, why $175/-. When we applied for OCI, they didn't inform us about surrendering passport nor about renouncing citizenship. The contract did not say anything. Now They are now holding back our OCI applications which are already approved and for which they already collected $250 per person. They don't want to give OCI CARD without renouncing citizenship and paying them $175.. Plus they are asking that we have to only send by mail our US passport and all the other paperwork.. People have sent additional money by checks, which are cashed but no response... Applications are lost, no records on website, no one answers phone... Unreal abuse of power... Please take action...
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D V Satyanarayana Gupta
- City, Country
- The Woolands, Texas, USA
- Tel/Mobile Number
- 281-292-9668
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AP Raghuthaman
- City, Country
- Houston,Texas
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Bhupen Patel
- City, Country
- Colts Neck
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Shailen Bellare
- City, Country
- New York, NY USA
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Srikanth Venugopalan
- City, Country
- Sugar Land, TX, USA
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Manickam Shanmugam
- City, Country
- Lisle, IL
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S.G. Appan
- City, Country
- League City, Texas USA
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Manickam Shanmugam
- City, Country
- Lisle, IL
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Manickam Shanmugam
- City, Country
- Lisle, IL
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sunder
- City, Country
- boxford.usa
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kusum zaveri
- City, Country
- boxford, mass,usa
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Ramana
- City, Country
- Blue Bell, PA USA
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Deepak Vasishtha
- City, Country
- New York, America
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sasi Pillai
- City, Country
- houston, texas
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33094
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