Overview
W.e.f 04 October 2021, Either parent who is an Indian national, is required to come personally and affirm/sworn in front of Consular Officer, Madrid or Hon. CG, Barcelona or Tenerife
A child born in Spain or Andorra to an Indian citizen needs to be registered at the Embassy in Madrid within one year of birth to acquire/retain Indian citizenship. The birth can be registered if either parent is an Indian citizen or the child is not holding foreign passport. The application for registration of birth is to be filed online with the Ministry of Home Affairs New Delhi at http://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/IC_4_1_page1.aspx. After filing the online form save, print and submit documents required for birth registration given below. If the documents are found in order and the child is eligible for registration of birth, the application will be recommended to the Ministry of Home Affairs for approval for registration of birth. The registration of birth will be done only on receipt of approval from the Ministry. Minimum time taken in the process is two weeks. In case, the child is born to a single parent, an affidavit in this regard is also need to be submitted. The affidavits to be attached with the application are required to be signed in presence of the Consular Officer.
Relevant extract from Section 4 of the Citizenship Act is reproduced below (visit www.mha.gov.in for full text):
Citizenship by descent.-1[(1) A person born outside India shall be a citizen of India by descent,
- on or after the 26th day of January, 1950, but before the l0th day of December, 1992, if his father is a citizen of India at the time of his birth; or
- on or after the l0th day of December, 1992, if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth:
Provided also that on or after the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, a person shall not be a citizen of India by virtue of this section, unless his birth is registered at an Indian consulate in such form and in such manner, as may be prescribed,-
- within one year of its occurrence or the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, whichever is later; or
- with the permission of the Central Government, after the expiry of the said period:
Provided also that no such birth shall be registered unless the parents of such person declare, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, that the minor does not hold the passport of another country.
(lA) A minor who is a citizen of India by virtue of this section and is also a citizen of any other country shall cease to be a citizen of India if he does not renounce the citizenship or nationality of another country within six months of attaining full age (18 years).]
1.Subs. by Act 6 of 2004, sec.4 for sub-section(1) (w.e.f. 3.12.2004)"
Accordingly, the Ministry Home Affairs notified the Citizenship Rules, 2009, extract from section 3 thereof is reproduced below (visit www.mha.gov.in for full text):
"3. Application for registration of birth under section 4 (of the Citizenship Act) - A person may submit an application for registration of birth of his minor child born outside India in terms of sub-section (1) of section 4 (of the Citizenship Act) in Form I to the Indian consulate in the country, where such child was born, together with a declaration that the child does not hold the passport of any other country."
The duly filled in Form I for registration of birth shall be affirmed/sworn before the consular officer or the Hon. Consuls General by either parent who is Indian national.
Fees
Please note
The latter can be accepted, refused or modified by the Embassy of India in its full right. Once fees have been paid, they cannot be refunded, even in a case of an application refusal or cancellation.
The price of your application is made up of fixed service charges and variable consular charges. Please consult the fees chart below in order to calculate the total amount to pay.
Fees Brochure: Click here
Documents Required
Kindly print the check list which corresponds with the service you wish to apply for and attach it with your application. It must be filled in and signed. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Print Registration of Birth Checklist
Guidelines for ICAO Compliant Photographs for Passport Applications
Here are the photograph guidelines as per ICAO standards to be adhered to photograph capturing or uploading for passport services.
- Close up of the head and top of the shoulders such that the face takes up 80-85% of the photograph.
- The photograph should be in color and dimensions should be 630*810 Pixels.
- Photos should be unaltered by computer software.
- Background of the photograph should be White.
- The photographs must –
- Show the applicant looking directly at the camera.
- Show the skin tones naturally.
- Have appropriate brightness and contrast.
- Show the applicants eyes open and clearlyvisible.
- Should not have hair across the eyes.
- Be taken with uniform lighting and not show shadows or flash reflections on the face and no red eye.
- Mouth should not be open.
- Be taken from distance of 1.5 meters from a camera (not too close)
- Should not be blurred
- It should have full face, front view, eyes open.
- Photo should be present full head from top of hair to bottom of chin.
- Centre head within frame (head should not be tilted).
- There should not be any distracting shadows on the face or in the background (should not have reflection of the glasses; glasses to be taken off to avoid reflections).
- Illumination shall not cause any red eye effects visible in the eyes or other effects reducing the visibility of the eyes.
- Head coverings are not permitted except for religious reasons, but the facial features from bottom of chin to top of forehead and both edges of the face must be clearly shown.
- The expression on the face should look natural.
For more information: Click Here
Processing Time
Kindly note that obtaining consular service documents is not automatic; your application may be accepted, modified or refused by the Embassy of India in its full right.
Applications processed individually
Each application is processed individually by the Embassy of India: as a result processing times may vary between applications that appear to be similar.
Minimum processing times
The company BLS has no influence over the processing times of a consular services application: these depend essentially on the Embassy of India and to a lesser extent on the postal services (in case you have opted for a return courier service). We are therefore not in a position to guarantee maximum processing times. We are only able to communicate minimum processing times, provided for information purposes only.
| Minimum processing times for a Consular Services application |
| Mode of Submission |
Minimum Processing Time |
| In Madrid |
Minimum 1 working day but may take longer |
| In Barcelona |
Minimum 7 working days but may take longer |
| In Tenerife |
Minimum 7 working days but may take longer |
| By Post |
Minimum 7 working days but may take longer |
| The Embassy of India reserves the right to withhold any application submitted for an in-depth examination |
Download Form
As a private outsourcing partner of the Embassy of India, Madrid, BLS has no influence over the content of the application forms and are not in a position to modify their content or structure.
Instructions to fill in the application form
- Applicants must fill the form in block capitals
- The form should be signed and dated accordingly
Please note that if the supporting documents provided are not satisfactory, the applicant will be asked to provide more documentary evidence.
| Form (click on the title to print) |
Description |
| Declaration Form |
Declaration Form to be filled by all applicants when submitting any application |
