Indian baby born in the US - please share your experiences

[tamtom]

We are looking for other people in the same situation as ourselves to join together and discuss the following problem.

We have a baby daughter recently born in the US. One parent is an Indian citizen. So, the baby is entitled to Indian citizenship by descent and we have got her an Indian passport.

Now we want to travel to India with our baby. The problem is the US still considers her a US citizen (because of her birth in the US), and so US will ask us to get her a US passport for departure from and entry to the US. This is true even though we tell them that she is an Indian citizen and we prefer for her to travel on her Indian passport.

If we do get her a US passport, this will make her lose Indian citizenship. Then it will be very difficult for her to reaquire Indian citizenship during her childhood, because to do so, she will have to renounce US citizenship and US will only recognize that after she is of mature age.

Does anyone else have experience with this problem? If so, please reply to us (either on the forum or by sending us a private message) so we can share our experiences and information together.

Thanks,

Tamtom

[Nishant]

Getting a US passport will make your daughter eligeble for OCI and is most preferred way of maintaining dual citizenship.

Use US passport for leaving and entering US and use OCI passport for entering and leaving India.

[tamtom]

Getting a US passport will make your daughter eligeble for OCI and is most preferred way of maintaining dual citizenship.

Use US passport for leaving and entering US and use OCI passport for entering and leaving India.

Nishant,

Thanks, but getting her a US passport and OCI will make her lose Indian citizenship, so we don't prefer that at all.

Indian citizenship: The status is a constitutionally protected right, the holder of it can fully participate in Indian society as an equal with other Indian citizens, and the status has no dependency on any foreign country.

OCI: The status can be granted or removed at government's discretion, the holder of it lacks most rights that distinguish citizens from non-citizens, and the status depends on maintaining a foreign passport.

We can consider OCI a satisfactory option only if India puts OCI status into the constitution, grants full equality to OCI holders, and removes its dependency on the foreign passport.

[Guddan]

Even I am too thinking of Indian Passport for my kid , so that my kid would be recognised as indian citizen during education and other fields in India.

But, I fail to undertand, why US authorities would try or force to get a US Passport instead.

[tamtom]

Even I am too thinking of Indian Passport for my kid , so that my kid would be recognised as indian citizen during education and other fields in India.

But, I fail to undertand, why US authorities would try or force to get a US Passport instead.

There's a US law on the books saying that, with a few exceptions, US citizens are required to have a US passport when leaving or entering the US. As I pointed out in the earlier post, getting the kid an Indian passport doesn't make it lose US citizenship. That law is the reason for the officials' behaviour.

As enforcement, if you try to make a round trip from the US to India and back, the US will refuse to issue a visa in the kid's Indian passport, and tell you to get the kid a US passport instead. This is the problem we are facing.

--Tamtom

[Guddan]

Entering to US on indian Passport for US born kid:
Chennai US Consulate has a FAQ saying that the child must get US passport as they will not issue visa on indian passport.

http://chennai.usconsulate.gov/bepfaq.html

Departure from US on indian passport for US born kid:
Here, it appears that immigration officer may object on having indian passport for US born kid at airport.

It seems there is no other alternative than to get US passport for entering to US. but I am thinking of only departure from US and no round trip, and hence indian passport should work (although I don't know if immigration officer/INS at airport may object on indian passport for US born kid)

[tamtom]

It seems there is no other alternative than to get US passport for entering to US. but I am thinking of only departure from US and no round trip, and hence indian passport should work (although I don't know if immigration officer/INS at airport may object on indian passport for US born kid)

In the US, there is no immigration inspection on departure. Many people have reported successfully making the trip in the US-India direction. As for the legality of the situation, a law trying to prevent an Indian citizen traveling to India on an Indian passport obviously is open to question, to say the least.

Hope this helps,

Tamtom

[mansmi18]

Interesting dilemma..some solution

Hi,

I am facing the same questions. However you need to ask the following questions to yourself:
1. Are you going to live in India or in USA If your child is going to grow up in USA better to have US citizenship and PIO card.
2. Is it easy to get admission in US colleges or Indian colleges?
With all these reservations going on..(If you can take advantage of reservation better to be in India as more opportunities as indian citizen) if you cannot take advantage of reservation at least your child will have seats available from NRI quota which will reduce competition a lot and your child can have best of both. Indian as well as US education.

Note: I did not mean to comment on reservation here just gave you a possibility.

[tamtom]

mansmi18,

Interesting points.

I am facing the same questions. However you need to ask the following questions to yourself:
1. Are you going to live in India or in USA If your child is going to grow up in USA better to have US citizenship and PIO card.

As explained in the start of this thread, taking an Indian passport does NOT make the kid lose US citizenship. The main problem with the Indian passport is the inconvenience of international travel.

2. Is it easy to get admission in US colleges or Indian colleges?
With all these reservations going on..(If you can take advantage of reservation better to be in India as more opportunities as indian citizen) if you cannot take advantage of reservation at least your child will have seats available from NRI quota which will reduce competition a lot and your child can have best of both. Indian as well as US education.

In my opinion, citizenship is too serious a matter to be determined by the potential availability of college admissions 18 years in the future. If, say, China offered your kid a guaranteed spot in their top college, would you choose to take Chinese citizenship? ;-)

But if your child does prefer to use citizenship to boost quota chances for college, that will be fine too in the Indian passport case. At that point, the child will be of age, can make his or her own decisions, and having still not lost US citizenship, can renounce Indian citizenship and take a PIO if that is preferred.

--Tamtom

[mansmi18]

Need to be clear

Hi,

Obviously I did not clarify that I already got OCI for my child so I can understand why you got confused. Also we are not in reserved quota so my child will be competing with NRIs which are less numbers of seats at an inflated price.

I think you need to get your priorities straight which in your case I think you have not. You are making a point to show that indian citizenship is of a great concern to you but you are ready to change your priorities as per your convenience. At least I got my priorities straight and not sitting on a fence.


Regards

[tamtom]

Hi,

Obviously I did not clarify that I already got OCI for my child so I can understand why you got confused. Also we are not in reserved quota so my child will be competing with NRIs which are less numbers of seats at an inflated price.

Sorry for this misunderstanding. I think you overlooked the smiley sign in my post. No offense was intended and I hope none was taken.

I think you need to get your priorities straight which in your case I think you have not. You are making a point to show that indian citizenship is of a great concern to you but you are ready to change your priorities as per your convenience. At least I got my priorities straight and not sitting on a fence.

The point is that US law doesn't allow the parents to choose the citizenship for the child. The maximum we can do to express the priority is to get an Indian passport and not a US one, which is what we did.

Regards,

Tamtom

[tamtom]

Problem for Canadian-born Indian children

Yesterday I heard from an Indian citizen who had a baby born in Canada. When he went to his Indian consulate to apply for a passport for the baby, he was informed that "they don't issue Indian passports for children born in Canada".

The Indian nationality law does always allow Indian parents to pass their citizenship to their children born abroad, but there seems to be a misunderstanding about this in Canada.

If you are an Indian who had a child born in Canada and you tried to get the child an Indian passport, can you please post your experience here, or send me an email or private message via the link to my profile?

--Tamtom

[tamtom]

Entering to US on indian Passport for US born kid:
Chennai US Consulate has a FAQ saying that the child must get US passport as they will not issue visa on indian passport.

http://chennai.usconsulate.gov/bepfaq.html

Departure from US on indian passport for US born kid:
Here, it appears that immigration officer may object on having indian passport for US born kid at airport.

It seems there is no other alternative than to get US passport for entering to US. but I am thinking of only departure from US and no round trip, and hence indian passport should work (although I don't know if immigration officer/INS at airport may object on indian passport for US born kid)

We traveled from the US to India with the child's Indian passport and no US one, and we had no problems making the trip. After arrival, we informed the US consulate of our action and they have not complained about it. So in our case, a one-way trip from the US to India did turn out to be feasible.

Hope this helps,

Tamtom

[humap2000]

hi

myself and my wife are Indian citizen staying in Canada,holding indian passport only,yesterday i called the indian consulate in Toronto for the procedure to get the Indian Passport for my new born baby,as I don't want canadian Passport,they said they will not issue the Indian passport.I am very much surprised and worried because if we go back to India and my new born baby on Canadian Passport,at the most my new born baby will be allowed to stay for maximum of six months,because the Indian consulate mentioned in their website www.cgitoronto.ca that they will not issue oci for children born outside India if their parents hold Indian nationality,It mean only my baby have to leave India after six months .Please anybody help me what to do?
E-mail:[email protected]
With Regards
Moin

[tamtom]

myself and my wife are Indian citizen staying in Canada,holding indian passport only,yesterday i called the indian consulate in Toronto for the procedure to get the Indian Passport for my new born baby,as I don't want canadian Passport,they said they will not issue the Indian passport.I am very much surprised and worried because if we go back to India and my new born baby on Canadian Passport,at the most my new born baby will be allowed to stay for maximum of six months,because the Indian consulate mentioned in their website www.cgitoronto.ca that they will not issue oci for children born outside India if their parents hold Indian nationality,It mean only my baby have to leave India after six months .Please anybody help me what to do?

humap2000,

I have heard the same story from one other person - the Indian consulate in Toronto is refusing to issue passports to Canadian-born Indian citizens!

I believe other Indian missions in Canada (Vancouver and Ottawa) do issue Indian passports to Canadian-born child of Indian parents, so it seems the action of the Toronto consulate is not correct.

Your options are either file a complaint with the Indian government, or give up the child's Indian citizenship and get it the baby a Canadian passport and a PIO card. The PIO card gives rights similar to OCI but must be renewed every 15 years.

Also, feel free to get in touch with me via my profile on this forum if you want to hear many more details about other people's experiences with this.

Hope this helps,

Tamtom