Applying for Indian passport - US born infant

[humbled]

Hello all,

My wife and I are going to have a baby in the next few months. We are on L1 and L2 status respectively (Indian citizens) and that is valid till April of 2021. We feel that it is going to be tight to get US Passport, US SSN and eventually OCI for the infant before the i94 expiry.

We heard that it is possible for the US born baby to adopt the Indian citizenship. Considering that we are moving back to India, we are thinking of getting an Indian passport for our infant.

I wanted to check with everyone here

• Whether it is possible for a US born infant (with Indian parents) to apply and receive an Indian passport here in the US.
• Besides the US birth certificate and parents's passport, anything else that is required ?
• Current time it takes to request a new passport.
• Any issues leaving the US or Arriving in India with the infant on Indian passport.

Thanks
Humbled

[Liberty48]

You can get an Indian passport for sure. Here are the references
https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic....ent%2C%20after

https://www.mea.gov.in/birth-certificate.htm

It looks like you have to visit the consulate and apply for the passport. It is not clear how you get the visa after that. Maybe you just travel with the passport out of the US. You can check with the airline if they allow that.

All that said, it may be easy to get the US passport and OCI/visa. After the child lives in India for 5 years, you can apply for her/his Indian citizenship.

[newacct]

Your child is an Indian citizen by descent if you register him/her within one year of birth, with the declaration that he/she does not have a foreign passport. He/she will lose Indian citizenship within 6 months of turning 18 if he/she does not renounce his/her US citizenship.

He/she will have no problem leaving the US and traveling to India. However, he/she will have trouble returning to the US, because, as he/she is a US citizen, he/she cannot get a US visa and must get a US passport. Getting a US passport might cause issues with his/her Indian citizenship.

[humbled]

Thank you all for the advice and the link ! I really appreciate it !

If I understand it correctly, this is the below process if we need to obtain an Indian passport for the infant born in the US

• Get Birth certificate
• Get the registration of birth done with Indian consulate
• Apply for passport

As I understand from above, the infant can now travel back to India. But the below needs clarity.

• Whether a US visa can be applied for the child later on with the Indian passport (If there is a need for the child to visit back to the US as B1,F1 etc )

[R78]

Your child will not get a US Visa since she is a US citizen. She will need to renounce that citizenship at a US consulate before she can apply for a visa.

[newacct]

• Whether a US visa can be applied for the child later on with the Indian passport (If there is a need for the child to visit back to the US as B1,F1 etc )

No. They will not issue a US visa to a US citizen.