Renunciation of Citizenship
If an Indian national has acquired foreign citizenship and conceals this information to obtain an Indian passport, it is a punishable offence.
An Indian national resident in Portugal, who has acquired foreign citizenship must surrender his Indian passport to the Indian Embassy. His/her passport will be cancelled and returned to him/her after cancellation. Such a person should not apply for another Indian passport.
Surrender of Passport
Indian citizens who have acquired Portuguese (or other foreign) citizenship, and whose passports validity expired on or after 1st January 2005, should surrender their Indian passports to the Embassy for cancellation and obtain a Surrender Certificate / Renunciation Certificate from the Consular Section of the Embassy. The surrendered Indian passports are cancelled and returned to the holder for future reference.
Such passports should be surrendered for cancellation within 3 years of acquiring foreign citizenship and the person can travel on the Indian passport only within 3 months of acquiring the foreign citizenship.
Procedure
The Government of India has decided that the declarations of renunciation (Form XXII) of Indian Citizenship is to be done through online system only. The steps of the new procedure are as follows:
- The applicant would fill his/her details online and upload the relevant documents on the online portal of MHA viz. https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/. The applicant has to pay fee in the Embassy with the printout of online application as prescribed in Schedule IV of the Citizenship Rules 2009.
- The applicant would take print-out of his online application and visit the Embassy for interview, signing the declaration and to submit the printout of the application with following documents:
1.Original Indian passport along with Passport Copy (first page and last page)
2.Portuguese Passport copy
3.Portuguese Birth Certificate copy (all three pages) with endorsement stamp of date of acquisition of Portuguese Nationality.
- A person who has ceased to be Indian citizen is required to surrender the documents which he/she had acquired on the basis of his Indian Citizenship (e.g. Voter ID Card, Aadhar etc.) to be authorities concerned.
- The minimum prescribed time for the procedure of Renunciation of Citizenship and surrender of Passport, is eight weeks, after receipt of the duly completed application in the Embassy
For more information Please visit - https://www.eoilisbon.gov.in/page/passports/
Penalty
Please note that the Embassy, as per the provisions of Passport Act 1967, may ask for penalty fees considering the period of delay (after the three years period) in surrendering the passport to the Government of India, and the number of visits to India or to any other country on Indian passport three months after acquiring foreign citizenship and any other consular service obtained on the basis of referred Indian passport.
Fees
For those who acquired foreign citizenship before June 2010: €21+€2 . They will be issued a Surrender Certificate.
For those who acquired foreign citizenship after June 2010: €80+€2 . They will be issued a Renunciation Certificate
