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Travel after Oath

Maverick2k4

Full Member
May 28, 2008
33
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Hi All,

I've got oath for citizenship scheduled for Nov 03.

I'm planning to travel to India on Nov 20.

Do you guys think, I've enough time to get the passport done, renounce the Indian citizenship and apply for e-visa to India before the travel on Nov 20?

Thanks so much!
 

cedarjet

Star Member
Mar 13, 2015
133
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you can apply for passport 2 days after ur oath, and you can pay extra to have it processed quickly. The rest, i don't know :)
 

Maverick2k4

Full Member
May 28, 2008
33
0
cedarjet said:
you can apply for passport 2 days after ur oath, and you can pay extra to have it processed quickly. The rest, i don't know :)
Thank you!

Hope someone can tell me if I can surrender Indian citizenship after I receive the citizenship certificate or do I need to wait for Canadian Passport.

As per this link (http://www.blsindia-canada.com/renunciation_ppt.php) I don't need to have Canadian Passport to surrender Indian citizenship.

Can someone confirms?
 

chikloo

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Feb 6, 2014
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Maverick2k4 said:
Hi All,

I've got oath for citizenship scheduled for Nov 03.

I'm planning to travel to India on Nov 20.

Do you guys think, I've enough time to get the passport done, renounce the Indian citizenship and apply for e-visa to India before the travel on Nov 20?

Thanks so much!
Hi,

The thing it is doable depending on how fast you act. Nov 3rd is your Oath. Once your Oath is over talk to the clerk in charge for Oath ceremony. They are responsible for entering your name into CIC database. If they do it then passport Canada can check your name on their system. Only thing is let the clerk know after your ceremony ends if not they will ask you not to take Oath. Mostly they will say wait 48 hours but you can try your luck with passport Canada the next day. My Oath was on 26th afternoon, I applied on 28th early morning and got my passport at 12 Noon the same day. So I did not wait 48 hours. Only thing is when you apply for emergency processing take a copy of your flight ticket, reason for the trip (even it is not emergency) explain that it will cost in 1000s to reschedule or cancel. In emergency passport they need additional 2 references from the ones in the standard processing. They will call all of them your guarantor and all your references ask them to be ready. In my case I submitted it around 8.10 AM and they called everyone within 8.40 AM. If you have really close friends (guarantor and 4 references with valid ID - extreme step) who can accompany with you for reference on the day of your application the process will be smooth.

Now coming to Indian visa. You can get a visit visa within your travel time. If it is emergency I think you cannot apply at BLS you have to directly go to the consulate at 365 Bloor St East 7th floor.(Close to Sherbourne Station)
 

Maverick2k4

Full Member
May 28, 2008
33
0
chikloo said:
Hi,

The thing it is doable depending on how fast you act. Nov 3rd is your Oath. Once your Oath is over talk to the clerk in charge for Oath ceremony. They are responsible for entering your name into CIC database. If they do it then passport Canada can check your name on their system. Only thing is let the clerk know after your ceremony ends if not they will ask you not to take Oath. Mostly they will say wait 48 hours but you can try your luck with passport Canada the next day. My Oath was on 26th afternoon, I applied on 28th early morning and got my passport at 12 Noon the same day. So I did not wait 48 hours. Only thing is when you apply for emergency processing take a copy of your flight ticket, reason for the trip (even it is not emergency) explain that it will cost in 1000s to reschedule or cancel. In emergency passport they need additional 2 references from the ones in the standard processing. They will call all of them your guarantor and all your references ask them to be ready. In my case I submitted it around 8.10 AM and they called everyone within 8.40 AM. If you have really close friends (guarantor and 4 references with valid ID - extreme step) who can accompany with you for reference on the day of your application the process will be smooth.

Now coming to Indian visa. You can get a visit visa within your travel time. If it is emergency I think you cannot apply at BLS you have to directly go to the consulate at 365 Bloor St East 7th floor.(Close to Sherbourne Station)
chikloo said:
Hi,

The thing it is doable depending on how fast you act. Nov 3rd is your Oath. Once your Oath is over talk to the clerk in charge for Oath ceremony. They are responsible for entering your name into CIC database. If they do it then passport Canada can check your name on their system. Only thing is let the clerk know after your ceremony ends if not they will ask you not to take Oath. Mostly they will say wait 48 hours but you can try your luck with passport Canada the next day. My Oath was on 26th afternoon, I applied on 28th early morning and got my passport at 12 Noon the same day. So I did not wait 48 hours. Only thing is when you apply for emergency processing take a copy of your flight ticket, reason for the trip (even it is not emergency) explain that it will cost in 1000s to reschedule or cancel. In emergency passport they need additional 2 references from the ones in the standard processing. They will call all of them your guarantor and all your references ask them to be ready. In my case I submitted it around 8.10 AM and they called everyone within 8.40 AM. If you have really close friends (guarantor and 4 references with valid ID - extreme step) who can accompany with you for reference on the day of your application the process will be smooth.

Now coming to Indian visa. You can get a visit visa within your travel time. If it is emergency I think you cannot apply at BLS you have to directly go to the consulate at 365 Bloor St East 7th floor.(Close to Sherbourne Station)
Thanks a lot for your reply!

India now supports eVisa so getting visa is much quicker than what it used to be.

Only thing I'm not clear is how long it takes to surrender the Indian citizenship and can it be done with Canadian citizenship certificate or it needs Canadian Passport as well?
 

chikloo

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Feb 6, 2014
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Maverick2k4 said:
Thanks a lot for your reply!

India now supports eVisa so getting visa is much quicker than what it used to be.

Only thing I'm not clear is how long it takes to surrender the Indian citizenship and can it be done with Canadian citizenship certificate or it needs Canadian Passport as well?
As soon as you take Oath, you are no longer Indian citizen. The surrender certificate is only for your passport (Just a travel document). You can apply for surrender certificate the same day (BLS accepts application from 8 AM to 2 PM. So if you have your Oath in the morning you can do it on the same day. They give you a receipt which you can attach to your tourist visa application if required.
 

mehtapr

Star Member
Jul 2, 2014
86
4
You dont need Canadian passport to surrender indian passport (just citz certificate and couple of documents. surrender process is simple and just follow the instructions on BLS site .

whatever you do, DO NOT travel to india with indian passport (they mention some 3 month grace period after new citizenship but if you use it to goto india, u will get stuck there till you complete all these formalities there, happened to a friend)
 

OhCanada2015

Newbie
Jan 30, 2015
6
0
mehtapr said:
You dont need Canadian passport to surrender indian passport (just citz certificate and couple of documents. surrender process is simple and just follow the instructions on BLS site .

whatever you do, DO NOT travel to india with indian passport (they mention some 3 month grace period after new citizenship but if you use it to goto india, u will get stuck there till you complete all these formalities there, happened to a friend)
That's unfortunate. When you travel to India or home country if you don't mention the Canadian citizenship (assuming you don't get asked), how will they know until you return back to Canada and surrender within the 3 month grace period?
 

chikloo

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Feb 6, 2014
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OhCanada2015 said:
That's unfortunate. When you travel to India or home country if you don't mention the Canadian citizenship (assuming you don't get asked), how will they know until you return back to Canada and surrender within the 3 month grace period?
If you use Indian passport after Oath, there is a penalty for each time you travel using it. I think first time it is to the amount approx $320 and a max of approx $950 (3 times travel). They check this when you apply for surrender /OCI looking at your citizenship certificate.
 

ifeedly

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Oct 23, 2015
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No Penalty during grace period of 3 months, however it means they dont catch you doing it.
for all practical and hypothetical reasons you are not Indian citizen after oath so dont travel on the Indian passport.
but make arrangements with the consulate so you can have your paperwork in order before you go.
CGIVANCOUVER seems pretty nice for humanitarian and compassionate cases.
2 nov to 20th nov is 18 days and in an emergency the government system moves pretty fast.
However the difference in fare is not emergency but missing a wedding is a H&C case.
 

Maverick2k4

Full Member
May 28, 2008
33
0
Thank you all.

I contacted BLS to find the processing time for surrender certificate and they said it would take 3-4 weeks to get it.

But the CSR at BLS also said that I can apply for visitor visa without applying for surrender certificate. :eek:

not sure if that's true or not.
 

ifeedly

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Oct 23, 2015
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BLS people deal with it every day.
Is there a reason not to trust them?
 

Maverick2k4

Full Member
May 28, 2008
33
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ifeedly said:
BLS people deal with it every day.
Is there a reason not to trust them?
From the link http://www.blsindia-canada.com/renunciation_ppt.php

it says "Production of Surrender Certificate endorsement is essential while applying for Indian visa, PIO/OCI card or any other miscellaneous consular services, in case Canadian citizenship was acquired on or after 1 June, 2010."

I'll call them again to double check.
 

chikloo

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Feb 6, 2014
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Maverick2k4 said:
From the link http://www.blsindia-canada.com/renunciation_ppt.php

it says "Production of Surrender Certificate endorsement is essential while applying for Indian visa, PIO/OCI card or any other miscellaneous consular services, in case Canadian citizenship was acquired on or after 1 June, 2010."

I'll call them again to double check.
They give you a receipt for surrender application which you can attach to your tourist visa application.