Why Do I Need to Surrender My Indian Passport?

You need to surrender your Indian passport after acquiring citizenship of another country. According to the Indian Passport Act, 1967, it is a punishable offense to continue to hold an Indian passport, renew it, or travel on it after obtaining foreign citizenship. Doing so is a violation of Indian law and may result in penalties and legal issues.

Indian passport holders who obtain citizenship of another country are obligated to surrender their Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship. Failure to surrender your Indian passport after the completion of the three-month grace period or using the Indian passport for travel after obtaining foreign citizenship can lead to penalties and legal troubles under Indian law.

You need to surrender your Indian passport, as Indian citizens are not allowed to hold two valid passports simultaneously, including one from India and another from a foreign country whose citizenship you have recently acquired. The Indian Constitution does not permit dual citizenship. If a citizen of India acquires foreign citizenship, he/she need to surrender his/her Indian passport within three months.

There are two reasons to surrender your Indian passport. First, if you acquire citizenship of another country under Indian law, it is prohibited to hold dual citizenship, so you must surrender your Indian passport. Secondly, surrendering the Indian passport after obtaining foreign citizenship also facilitates the application for an OCI card, which provides lifetime visa-free travel to India with the option of indefinite stays.

The Indian Constitution does not permit holding both Indian citizenship and citizenship of a foreign country simultaneously. Based on this, after obtaining foreign citizenship, an Indian citizen must surrender their passport to the Indian immigration authorities to travel freely in India and avoid any legal troubles and penalties.