Relief to Indian-American community as passport rules are changed

Relief to Indian-American community as passport rules are changed

New York: Taking into consideration the protests from Indian community in the US, the Indian government has changed the new citizenship rules, much to the relief of many. As per the changes, persons who became citizens of the US till May 31, 2010, are not required to pay $175 to renounce their Indian citizenship and to get a surrender certificate.

But they will have to return the passports and get a surrender certificate. A miscellaneous fee of $ 20 will be charged from them. No penalty will be charged for the delay in renouncing the citizenship. There is no time frame stipulated for this, though it is better to do it as soon as possible, Prabhu Dayal, India's consul General in New York said announcing the new rules.  Those who currently hold an Overseas Citizen of India card or a Person of Indian Origin card are not required to undertake these procedures.

But those who take up US citizenship from June 1, 2010, are required to renounce the Indian citizenship and get a surrender certificate within three months paying $175. This is bad news is that those who already took their surrender certificate paying $175 as these fees will not get a refund.

Some of the Indian passports were cancelled when people took up the US citizenship, but it is not enough and a surrender certificate is necessary, Dayal said. People should bring those passports and the consulate will affix a suitable stamp as evidence of renunciation of the Indian citizenship. 

Dayal said the Indian immigration authorities are not asking for surrender certificates and those who have valid visa or OCI/PIO Cards can freely travel to India and will not be turned back.

Those who lost the old passports are required to give an affidavit and also other evidences such as a copy of the US Naturalization Certificate. US law prohibits copying of it illegally. But it is possible to get a copy of it legally from the US authorities, he noted. "We do not want to flout the local laws," he said.

The US passport is not enough in this case as it does not mention the date when one became a US citizen. The new rules were enacted in 2009 and the accusation that it was imposed suddenly was not correct, Dayal said.

He said the Entry Visa was introduced after the new rule that those who are holding tourist visas cannot return to India within two months of the last visit. Many Indians with foreign citizenship found it very inconvenient. The government introduced the entry visa to overcome this and the holders of it can visit India freely.

When Nirav Mehta, president of the Federation of Indian Associations pointed out that the visa is only allowed for five years, and people have to pay more compared to a ten year visa, Dayal agreed to convey the concerns of the people to the government.

But community leaders, Ramesh Patel, Aniyan George, Mahesh Shah and others said they are not satisfied with the requirement of paying $175 for the surrender certificate for those who take up the citizenship in future.

Mehta and Nimesh Dave, vice president of FIA, said they are withholding the proposed protest against the rules in front of the consulate on June 4. They said though they are not fully satisfied with the changes they are canceling the protest for now and approach the authorities for the redressal of other grievances.

Rediff.com took note of the concerns of the community and written about them extensively in the last three weeks after the rule was enforced. Dayal said he will hold a meeting of the community leaders and the media every month to address the concerns of the community. The government came with the new rules because of the security concerns after the misuse of passports by many, he said. There were instances when valid passports were sold for a price, he noted.