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I have recently acquired French citizenship and currently possess an Indian passport, which I am required to surrender. The necessary document for surrendering my Indian passport, the French nationality certificate, has a processing time of six months. However, I have a trip to India scheduled in three months. I am seeking guidance on how to manage this situation.

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  • You might want to review this earlier question, comments, and answer.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Commented Feb 26 at 21:09
  • Thank you, DavidRecallsMonica, for your reference. While I have reviewed the response you mentioned, it doesn't fully address my situation as it involves a person without a French passport, whereas I possess one.
    – Jerof
    Commented Feb 27 at 8:52
  • Yes, that's why I didn't refer to the earlier question as a duplicate, but instead mentioned it for reference.
    – DavidRecallsMonica
    Commented Feb 27 at 15:55

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The necessary document for surrendering my Indian passport, the French nationality certificate, has a processing time of six months.

This sounds like a catch22 situation.

I am seeking guidance on how to manage this situation.

Based on the 2017 comment of @user102008, having a french passport is conclusive proof of his having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of that country so that presenting the French nationality certificate may not be the only way to apply for a Surrender Certificate.

Since the Visa Services states that you must disclose all passports '(current/old) held by them', you must inform them of the Indian passport one way or the other.

So apply for a Surrender Certificate, stating that you have not yet received the nationality certificate but require the Surrender Certificate for the visa application to avoid the application being denied.

Should they refuse, ask that the refusal be given in writing so that you submit that together with the visa application.

This will also show that you are acting in good faith to avoid using your Indian passport after becoming a french citizen.

Getting an OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card might also be a better option.

Citizenship Rules, Schedule III, #3:
The fact that a citizen of India has obtained on any date a passport from the Government of any other country shall be conclusive proof of his having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of that country before that date.

5) Passport Surrender and Renunciation:

  • 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.

Visa Services
VISA

Important points to note before you apply

  • When applying for an Indian visa, applicants are requested to disclose details of all passports (current/old) held by them. Failure to do so may result in rejection of their applications.

Sources:

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  • (+1) Good catch. One question is how the OP acquired French citizenship. I am not up to date on all the procedures, it used to be that you would sometimes receive a national ID card as a matter of course but I think you might now need to apply for it separately after learning of the decision (i.e. the publication of the décret de naturalisation) or attending the ceremony. They will also need a passport and that can take some time too.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Feb 27 at 7:22
  • Thank you, Mark Johnson, for your detailed response. You addressed traveling to India with my French passport. I'm interested in knowing if there are scenarios where traveling to India with an Indian passport is possible, assuming any required monetary penalties are paid.
    – Jerof
    Commented Feb 27 at 8:51
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    @Jerof That is not the question you asked. Any answer to the question in your comment would be purely speculative. Getting a OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card might be a better option.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Feb 27 at 10:34
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    @Jerof as I understand it (which is not very thoroughly) you are no longer an Indian citizen because you have acquired French citizenship. If that is correct then your use of the Indian passport is fraudulent because it amounts to a false claim that you are an Indian citizen. How likely you are to get into actual trouble for doing this is a separate question, but I reckon that the country you'd be most likely to get into trouble with would be India.
    – phoog
    Commented Feb 27 at 13:02

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