The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, does not allow dual citizenship. It is a punishable offence under the Indian Passport Act, 1967, to apply for an Indian passport, continue to hold an Indian passport, get an Indian passport re-issued or travel on an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship. Extant rules prescribe penalties for holding Indian passports by foreign nationals.

Under Indian law, Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), who have acquired foreign citizenship, are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian Mission/Post immediately after acquisition of foreign citizenship. Even after acquiring the Foreign citizenship, the Indian passport can be used to travel for 3 months from the day of aquiring the citizenship. The grace period is only for such cases where foreign citizenship has been acquired but a foreign passport is not available to the person. It is also mentioned that it is illegal to travel on an Indian passport, where a person has obtained a foreign passport.

Indian citizens acquiring any foreign citizenship on or after 1 June, 2010 must formally renounce Indian citizenship. This can be done by surrendering Indian passports for cancellation. The Indian passport would be cancelled and returned to the passport holder along with the requisite certificate for future reference.

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.

Those who acquired foreign citizenship on 31 May, 2010 or earlier need not pay the Renunciation Fee. They must however get their Indian Passport, whether already expired or not, duly cancelled. Necessary entries in the records would be made by the Mission/Consulate and the Indian passport cancelled and returned to the applicant.

Persons of Indian Origins who had earlier obtained OCI / PIO Cards or Visa without surrendering their Indian passports are required to surrender their last held Indian passport and obtain surrender certificates at the time of renewing their OCI / PIO Cards or for obtaining fresh visa.