IMPORTANT NOTICE

Under Indian legal provisions, Persons of Indian origin (PIO) who have acquired Foreign citizenship on or after 01-06-2010 are required to submit declaration of renunciation of Indian citizenship and surrender their Indian Passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship. Those PIOs who became foreign nationals before 01-06-2010 are required only to surrender their Indian Passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post and obtain a surrender certificate.  Those PIOs who became foreign nationals before 01-06-2010 are not required to apply for renunciation of Indian citizenship.  The Indian Citizenship Act does not allow dual citizenship. Holding Indian passport/acquiring Indian passport/traveling on Indian passport after acquisition of foreign citizenship constitutes an offence under the Passport Act and attracts penalties. The schedule of penalties can be seen at this link  and the frequently asked questions on imposition of penalties can be seen at this link. The prescribed form for declaration of renunciation is attached below.

In view of this legal provision all concerned foreign nationals of Indian origin applying for Indian visa, OCI/PIO card or other consular services are required to immediately surrender their Indian passports (valid/Expired) to the Embassy of India, The Hague. They would be issued an acknowledgement/surrender certificate in lieu of depositing their Indian passports.

A fee of Euro 185 is charged from applicants for applying renunciation of Indian citizenship and issue of renunciation certificate. The required service fee for surrender certificate is Euro 12 and the certificate will be issued in 5 working days. Penalty cases would take more time.

Applicants are requested to keep in tact the renunciation/surrender certificate issued by the Embassy in their personal custody as a copy of the same has to be produced every time for availing any kind of visa/consular service.

The full details of the above can be seen at the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, at the URL: http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/Citi_Rule-2009.pdf    

The form for renunciation of the Indian nationality can be downloaded from here.

The form for surrender of Indian Passport can be downloaded from here.

 

The list of persons whose passports, OCI Cards and PIO Cards are ready for collection can now be checked online. Please click here to see if your document is ready for collection.

In accordance with the guidelines of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) this Mission has started issuing machine readable printed passports. In accordance with the same guidelines most countries will not allow entry of persons with handwritten passports except when they possess emergency documents after 2014. Issuances of these passports takes two-three weeks of processing time. Members of the Indian Community are advised to apply well in advance for new passport to give the Embassy necessary processing time. All Indian passport holders are also advised to convert their passports to machine readable passports before the due date of 2014.

The Consular Section of the Embassy is open from Monday to Friday except public holidays in the morning from 1000 hrs to 1200 hrs. The address details of the Consular Section are given below:

Consular Wing

Embassy of India

Buitenrustweg 2

2517 KD The Hague

The Netherlands

Telephone: 070- 3469771 Extension: 208/213

Fax: 070-3617072/3462594/3562523

Telephone enquiries by the Consular Wing are entertained between 1600 hrs to 1700 hrs only. Callers are requested to first dial the main number, 070-3469771, and then the extension number after the recorded message.

Applicants are advised not to send any kind of documents/applications for any kind of Consular service by post/courier to the Embassy as the same would not be entertained.

Travellers may kindly note that use of any satellite phone without prior approval of Department of Telecommunictions, Government of India, is not permitted.  The use/operation of any telegraph services/devices including wireless in India is regulated by the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.  As per the existing guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, Inmarsat Satphones excluding BGAN system can be used by the Government, Corporate Houses, Members of the Mountaineering Expedition and other such categories with prior permission from DoT.  Thuraya Satphone service is not permitted in India. Anyone using any telegraphic devices including Satphone without authorization violates Section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and he/she can be penalized under Section 20 and 21 of the said Act. 

 

In case satellite phones are brought to India in baggage/hand baggage, those satellite phones without licence from DoT would be detained/confiscated by the Customs authorities as per the existing procedures till the time the holder of the satellite phone is able to produce a licence issued by DoT.  In case of import of cargo, a declaration is to be given by the person importing the goods about details of goods.