I seem to be caught in some sort of former nationality hell...
I was born to Indian parents while my father was stationed at the Indian Embassy in China. I was born an Indian citizen and held only Indian citizenship for 35 years until I was naturalized in 2000 as a US citizen. However, my place of birth and my "country of birth" for US purposes is China. When I naturalized the naturalization certificate shows my "former nationality" incorrectly as People's Republic of China.
Now I became OCI some time ago (before the current rules on Renunciation were formalized) but since I turned 50 I have to renew, which requires Renunciation. When I applied for Renunciation, however, I was rejected(!) because my naturalization certificate says that I was formerly Chinese, which of course I never was. All the rules say it has to show former nationality as India. So now CKGS and Indian consulate say I should get USCIS to correct this mistake, but when I call USCIS, they say China is my country of birth so they can't correct that.
This is nuts. Has anyone seen a similar situation before and is there a way to fix it? I have written a letter to the consulate laying out my case and I'm hoping it is accepted but I have not heard back yet. USCIS is also wrong about this because the form says "former nationality" which should not be the same as the country of birth.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I was born to Indian parents while my father was stationed at the Indian Embassy in China. I was born an Indian citizen and held only Indian citizenship for 35 years until I was naturalized in 2000 as a US citizen. However, my place of birth and my "country of birth" for US purposes is China. When I naturalized the naturalization certificate shows my "former nationality" incorrectly as People's Republic of China.
Now I became OCI some time ago (before the current rules on Renunciation were formalized) but since I turned 50 I have to renew, which requires Renunciation. When I applied for Renunciation, however, I was rejected(!) because my naturalization certificate says that I was formerly Chinese, which of course I never was. All the rules say it has to show former nationality as India. So now CKGS and Indian consulate say I should get USCIS to correct this mistake, but when I call USCIS, they say China is my country of birth so they can't correct that.
This is nuts. Has anyone seen a similar situation before and is there a way to fix it? I have written a letter to the consulate laying out my case and I'm hoping it is accepted but I have not heard back yet. USCIS is also wrong about this because the form says "former nationality" which should not be the same as the country of birth.
Thanks in advance for any help.