Notice Board
RENUNCIATION/SURRENDER OF INDIAN PASSPORTS
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SCREENING OF PASSENGERS FOR SWINE INFLUENZA
All incoming passengers arriving at the international airports in India will be
screened for detection of Swine Influenza (H1N1). Cases of detection of positive
symptoms of the flu will involve quarantine, hospitalisation,
etc.
TOURIST VISA ADVISORY
This is for
information that there should be a gap of at least 2 months between two visits
to India on a Tourist Visa.
In case of requirement to visit India within 2 months, permission should be
sought from the High Commission of India, London or the Indian Consulates at
Birmingham and Edinburgh directly without going through the outsourcing agency
VFS Global (UK) Ltd. Where permission is accorded in such cases, registration
with the local FRRO/FRO would be required within 14 days of arrival in India.
Request form can be downloaded through the web-site
http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk Processing time
of the request will be 3-4 working days.
However, those holding Tourist Visas, who after initial entry into India plan to
visit another country and re-enter India before finally exiting, could be
permitted more than one entry, as the case may, be subject to their submission
of a detailed itinerary and supporting documents i.e. confirmed Air tickets.
In view of the change in the Tourist Visa procedure, Government of India has
fixed Pounds Seven (£7/-) as Miscellaneous Charge for according permission to
re-enter India within Two months of last exit.
LAUNCH OF THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE “OVERSEAS INDIAN”
Hon’ble Minister for Overseas
Indian Affairs, Mr. Vayalar Ravi launched an interactive portal of the Ministry
on 27 Feb. 2006. This is the electronic version of Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs (MOIA) monthly magazine “Overseas Indian” which was released by
the Hon’ble Prime Minister during the 4th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) at
Hyderabad. The online edition of the magazine will come out in English and
seven other Indian languages, viz. Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Telugu, Punjabi,
Tamil & Urdu. The magazine covers news, views and events related to
Overseas Indians and activities undertaken by MOIA. The website address is
www.overseasindian.in.
The Indian community is welcome to visit the website often and keep themselves
updated on the latest developments related to overseas Indians. They are
also welcome to give their views for further improvement of the portal.
Holding of an Indian passport by a foreign national constitutes an offence under
the Indian Laws
Under the Indian
laws, if the holder of an Indian passport acquires nationality of another
country, he should surrender his/her Indian passport forthwith to the nearest
Indian Mission/Post. Unauthorised possession of Indian passport constitutes an
offence punishable under the Indian Passports Act, 1967.
2.
The Consulate General has come across several cases where persons of Indian
origin who have acquired British citizenship continue to hold their Indian
passports. The Indian laws are very clear on this. Article 9 of the
Constitution of India states that a person shall cease to be a citizen of India,
if he voluntarily acquires the citizenship of any foreign State. A foreign
national is thus not entitled to hold an Indian passport. In the light of
this position, all persons of Indian origin, who have acquired foreign
nationality, are advised to surrender their Indian passports forthwith to the
nearest Indian Mission/Post for cancellation, in case they have not done so, so
far.
3.
There is also a misconception among the public that now that the Government of
India have introduced the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), foreign nationals
of Indian origin can continue to hold an Indian passport. The factual position
is that holding of an Indian passport by a foreign national continues to be an
offence punishable under the Indian Passports Act, 1967. OCI holders would be
granted a “U” sticker visa which will be a multi-purpose, multi-entry, life-long
visa pasted on their foreign passports. Indian passport would not be
issued to an OCI holder.
COMPLAINTS FROM OUR NEIGHBOURS AT JEWELLERY QUARTERS
Complaints have been received
from neighbours in Jewellery Quarters, Birmingham that the service-seekers to
the Consulate General are misusing their premises while they wait for the
Consulate General of India to open in the morning. For the information of the
visitors, there is a public convenience facility at Vise Street, about 300 yards
away from the Consulate building. The local authorities have also emphasised the
need to keep the area neat and tidy.
INDIAN WOMEN IN DISTRESS
Consulate
General of India, Birmingham is in the process of identifying NGOs/Women's
organisations and other organisations which may be involved in working with
Indian women in the United Kingdom. The focus is presently on women who are
Indian nationals. The objective of this exercise is to examine the magnitude of
the problem and to see that the process of giving support to such women is
streamlined and made more effective. Institutions/organisations in the Midlands
and other areas under the jurisdiction of this Consulate, working in this domain
are invited to send details of their activities and contact particulars to Mr. S.V. Balaji, Consul (P&I) at the Consulate at the earliest either by fax:
0121-212-2786 or by e-mail:
cons_cgibir@fsmail.net.
Attention Indians seeking jobs in UK
A number of enquiries have been
received from India to confirm the antecedents of companies in UK who advertise
in India for jobs in UK. There have been some cases where the UK companies which
advertised in India were found to be spurious in nature. The Consulate General
of India in Birmingham is not in a position to confirm or verify the antecedents
of such companies advertising for jobs.
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
The Government of India has
promulgated Right To Information (RTI) Act 2005 which came into force with
effect from October 12, 2005. All Indian citizens abroad have come under the
ambit of the RTI Act subsequently.
Those wishing to apply for any
information/documents under the RTI Act may please contact the following
official who has been designated as the Public Information Officer (PIO) of this
Consulate General for necessary action:
Public
Information Officer
Mr. Kartar
Singh,
Consul (HOC & Com.)
Tel : 00-44-121-212-2791
Fax : 00-44-121-212-2786
E-Mail:
hoc.birmingham@mea.gov.in
The Appellate
Authority is:
Mr.
C. Gururaj Rao
Consul General
Tel : 00-44-121-212-2778
Fax : 00-44-121-212-2786
E-mail :
cg.birmingham@mea.gov.in
The rights, obligations and other provisions/details under the RTI Act
are available on the following websites:
1.
http://www.persmin.nic.in
2.
http://cic.gov.in
The fees for various information/documents, which are to be paid by the
applicants, are laid down by the Department of Personnel & Training, Government
of India on its website:
http://righttoinformation.gov.in
"TRACING THE ROOTS" PROGRAMME
The Programme has been designed with a view to
facilitate persons of Indian origin in tracing their roots in India.
‘Guidelines’ and ‘Application Form’ prescribed for the purpose are given below.
Guidelines for ‘Tracing the Roots’
Programme
-
It is a programme designed by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs,
hereinafter called ‘Ministry’; to assist Persons of Indians origin in tracing
their roots.
-
Persons of Indians origin desirous of tracing their roots in India would be
required to fill up the prescribed application form and deposit it with the
concerned Indian Mission/Post located in the country of their residence along
with a fee of Rs 20,000/- (Rupees twenty thousand) in equivalent US dollar,
Euro or any other foreign currency acceptable to the Indian Mission/Post. Any
other useful information/document that could be helpful in tracing the roots
may also be submitted with the application.
-
The Ministry would forward the application with all supporting documents to
“Indiroots” with whom it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
for this purpose. An amount of Rs 6,000/- (Rupees six thousand) as advance
will also be paid to “Indiroots” as soon as possible. Contact details of
Indiroots are as under:
Address:
E-663/9 West Vinod Nagar, Delhi-110092.
Tel: (0091) 9868464738
E-mail:
indiroots@yahoo.com,
sst11_in@yahoo.com
The details of the roots in India (where traceable) i.e. name of close
surviving relatives, details of the place of origin of their forefathers
(paternal and maternal side) and a possible family tree will be prepared by
“Indiroots” and submitted to the Ministry approximately within a period of
three months from the date of receipt of the application by it.
The information received from “Indiroots” including family tree prepared by
it, would then be sent to the concerned Indian Mission/Post at the earliest
for onward transmission to the applicant.
In case of any doubt about the genuineness of the ‘roots’, the decision of the
Ministry, taken in consultation with the applicant and ‘Indiroots’ will be
final and binding on ‘Indiroots’.
In case of a successful attempt, the balance of Rs 14,000/- (Rupees fourteen
thousand) will be released by the Ministry to “Indiroots”. In case the attempt
is not successful a further amount of only Rs 4,000/- (Rupees four thousand)
will be released to “Indiroots’ and the Indian Mission/Post would be
authorized to refund foreign currency equivalent to Rs 10,000/- (Rupees ten
thousand) to the applicant at the official rate of exchange, as determined by
the Government of India, applicable on the date of the refund.
N.B. The
programme provides for gathering of the information of the ancestors of the
applicant and does not have any provision or arrangement for the visit of the
applicant to his/her ancestral place(s). In case the applicant wishes to visit
these places, the Ministry/Indiroots would facilitate such visits but the
applicant would have to bear all related expenditure.
CLICK HERE FOR
"TRACING THE ROOTS" APPLICATION FORM (PDF FORMAT)
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