- Chhattisgarh recorded 93 passport surrenders from January through August 2026 after holders acquired foreign citizenship.
- Applicants came from major cities and smaller areas, including Bastar and Kanker, and named destinations included Germany, Canada, and the United States.
- After naturalization, Indian citizens must surrender their passports; post-naturalization use can bring financial penalties.
The Regional Passport Office recorded 93 Indian passport surrenders in Chhattisgarh between January and August 2026, after the holders acquired citizenship in other countries. The figures come from state-wise data available through Passport Seva Kendra under the Union Ministry of External Affairs.
The leading destinations included the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, along with European countries. The reported country list also includes the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
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Applicants most often came from Raipur, Bhilai Nagar-Durg, Korba, Bilaspur and Raigarh. Passport authorities also recorded rising applications from Bastar, including Jagdalpur and Kanker, as well as Rajnandgaon and Surguja-Ambikapur.
Many had first moved abroad on student visas or for information-technology jobs. Some later found employment and met the requirements to naturalize. The surrenders mark a change in citizenship, not just a period spent overseas.
Vicky Chandrakar, a passport expert, said people who voluntarily take another country’s citizenship lose Indian citizenship and must give up their Indian passport. The surrender formalizes that they can no longer hold or use it.
Indrajeet Choudhary, who went to school in Bhilai Nagar, surrendered his passport with his family in 2023 after becoming a German citizen. He described the process as quick, but the decision as difficult.
“Once I obtained German citizenship, I understood that I had to surrender my Indian passport as per the rules. The process was not difficult and I completed the formalities quickly. It was an emotional and painful decision, but I took it for a better future.”
Foreign naturalization ends Indian citizenship under the law
Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, provides that an Indian citizen who voluntarily acquires another country’s citizenship ceases to be an Indian citizen. India does not allow ordinary dual citizenship.
After naturalization, the former citizen is expected to surrender the Indian passport and obtain a Surrender Certificate or, where applicable, a Renunciation Certificate. That document is generally needed when applying for an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card.
The usual application route starts through the Passport Seva portal for Indian Missions or the relevant passport office. Applicants submit their original Indian passport and proof of foreign citizenship, such as a foreign passport and naturalization certificate, along with supporting documents.
The process also involves government, welfare-fund and service-provider charges. The passport is cancelled, and the applicant receives the relevant certificate. A Passport Seva-related fee listing gives the surrender-certificate charge as ₹750 from July 1, 2026; total costs can vary depending on location and whether the application goes through an office in India or an Indian diplomatic mission abroad.
Using the old passport after naturalization can draw penalties
People who continue to travel on an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship may face financial penalties. The stated charge is ₹10,000 for each post-grace-period journey, subject to a maximum travel penalty of ₹50,000.
Renewing or reissuing an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship can bring a separate ₹25,000 penalty. The penalties apply to continued use or passport services after the change in citizenship.
Pune recorded 160 surrenders over the same eight months
The Chhattisgarh count sits alongside a larger total reported in Pune, where 160 people surrendered Indian passports from January to August 2026 after becoming citizens of other countries.
Vinod Gaikwad, the Pune passport officer, said the office handles around 25 to 30 surrender cases each month. Monthly numbers vary, he said, and the office periodically publishes the figures as part of its transparency-oriented approach.
The figures show how migration for education and technology-sector work can lead to naturalization and the formal relinquishment of an Indian passport. In Chhattisgarh, the rising applications from Bastar, Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Surguja-Ambikapur extend the reported pattern beyond the state’s largest urban centers.
