Nearly 70,000 Indians surrendered their passports in a decade; 40% of them in Goa

The 69,303 passports surrendered in RPOs since 2011 are, however, only a fraction of the Indian citizenship that was renounced in this period. According to information shared in Parliament by Minister of State in the MEA V Muraleedharan on March 24 this year, between 2011 and October 31 last year, over 16.21 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship.

The information provided under the RTI Act only covers passports surrendered at RPOs, not the ones relinquished at Indian embassies and High Commissions abroad.

The RTI data, which offers a glimpse of the traffic outflow from the country, was shared on an order from the Central Information Commission on a second appeal.

Under The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, Persons of Indian Origin are not allowed dual citizenship. If a person has ever held an Indian passport and has obtained the passport of another country, they are required to immediately surrender their Indian passport.

Of the 69,303 passports surrendered, Goa accounted for the highest number – 28,031, or 40.45 per cent – followed by Punjab (including the UT of Chandigarh) where 9,557 passports (13.79 per cent) were surrendered at the RPOs in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh.

Gujarat stood third on the list, with 8,918 passports (12.87 per cent) being surrendered at RPOs in Ahmedabad and Surat between 2011 and 2022. In Maharashtra, 6,545 passports (9.44 per cent) were surrendered at RPOs in Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai/Thane.

The southern states of Kerala (3,650 surrendered passports, 5.27 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (2,946 surrendered passports, 4.25 per cent) also featured on the list of states where a substantial number of people relinquished their passport.]

The MEA data presented in the Lok Sabha shows that on an average, 11,422 Indians renounced their Indian citizenship every month since 2011. On the other hand, 482 Indian passports were surrendered on an average every month during this period at RPOs across India.

A year-wise analysis of the passports surrendered at RPOs in India shows that only 239 passports were surrendered in 2011, but over the next two years, the numbers shot up – 11,492 in 2012 and 23,511 in 2013 – before settling in the 2,000-4,000 range over the next nine years (see box).

Goa has consistently topped the list of states with the highest number of surrendered passports, except for 2012 and 2013, when Gujarat had the maximum numbers. In 2014, the passports surrendered in Goa’s RPO accounted for over 90 per cent of the total surrendered across the country (see box).

Portugal offers those born in Goa before 1961 – the year that marks Goa’s liberation from Portugal – and two future generations the option of registering as Portuguese citizens. A Portuguese passport provides the holder visa-free entry to several countries, including the UK and EU. Portugal has been a member of the EU since 1986.