Renunciation of Citizenship
The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 does not allow dual citizenship. Holding an Indian passport/ acquiring an Indian passport / travelling on an Indian passport after acquisition of foreign citizenship constitutes an offence under the Indian Passport Act, 1967, and attracts penalties. Indian nationals, who have already obtained citizenship of another countries must renounce/ surrender their Indian
passport immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship.
All the persons of India origin, who have acquired foreign nationality on or before 31.05.2010 must surrender their Indian passport. They will be issued 'Surrender Certificate' and cancelled Indian Passport.
All the persons of Indian origin, who have acquired foreign nationality on or after 01.06.2010, must surrender their Indian Passport and Renounce Indian citizenship. They need to apply for a Surrender Certificate and Renunciation of Indian nationality. Applicant should also submit self-declaration as per Annexure I, along with their renunciation application.
All the persons of Indian origin, who are unable to produce Indian passport should apply for a sworn affidavit stating the reasons for not being able to produce the Indian Passport. Along with Sworn affidavit they should also apply for renunciation of Indian nationality. Applicant should also submit self-declaration as per Annexure I along with their renunciation application. Sworn affidavit, signed declaration and Renunciation certificate will be given back to the applicant.
Please note that date on the Naturalisation Certificate will be treated as date of acquiring foreign nationality and not from the date the Portuguese/foreign passport was issued. The date of publication must therefore be mentioned on the
Naturalisation Certificate.
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.
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.
Please note - Indian citizens desiring to renounce the citizenship of India may please note that if any person(either FATHER OR MOTHER) ceases to be a citizen of India under sub - section (1) of Section 8 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, every minor child of that person shall cease to be a citizen of India under sub - section(2) of Section 8 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. However, such child may, within one year after attaining full age, make a declaration in the prescribed form and manner that he/she wishes to resume Indian Citizenship.
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.
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/docs/CONS-SERVICES-DETAILS-UPDATED-ON-27.05.25.pdf
