Indian Citizenship For US Born Child

[jayarajsivadasan]

Hi All

I work in US for an Indian IT company. I came here 18 months back with my wife. We had a baby boy very recently. even though my baby is born here I do not want to have the US citizenship I want to get Indian citizenship. Is it really possible? I am not talking about Dual Citizenship. I know about PIO and OCI cards that is only a signoff to stay for long in India. My child will have to be educated under NRI quota, he will not be eligible for any public sector jobs etc. I cant afford to educate in NRI quota as I will be going back to India soon and may not return to US again. I just want to know if it is possible that my kid can grown in India as a regular citizen of India. Can any one advice on this? My question may sound foolish to many people. But I just dont want to get the US citizenship. For whatever benefit it gives. My wife could not travel in the middle of her pregnancy that is the reason she had to give birth to him here. Please help !

[writeme]

Yes, you can opt for indian citizenship for your US born child. Please apply for registration of birth, birth certificate and indian passport for your child at the nearest indian consulate.

[bandu]

even we r planning for the same n lemme know furtherinfo if u have procedded

[js567]

Yes, your child can get Indian citizenship

You can do that by the following steps

1. To leave USA legally, your child will need a passport. The fastest you can get is the US passport. So get one.

2. Apply for a PIO card.

3. When you go home, apply for a citizenship for your child by "registration". See the wikepediaarticle for details .


The bottom line is that after going to India, you can always register your child and get citizenship. However, If your child wishes, on reaching age 18, can relinquish the Indian citizenship and become US citizen.

[sridiculous]

Indian citizenship

If you plan to go back to India once & not come back to the US, getting an Indian passport is the best of both worlds. Getting an Indian passport is just as easy as getting US passport. You will need the birth certificate, fill out the form, photographs, appropriate fee & copies of your passports. You will have to apply for both Registration of Birth of an Indian citizen born abroad & also Indian passport, both at the same time. You should get the passport & the registration certificate in about 2 to 4 weeks time.

If you apply for US passport instead, you have given up Indian citizenship for your child and the child will not be able to get that back until he/she turns 18 as India would require him to renounce his US citizenship and that is not possible before the child turns 18.

I hope this helps.

Thanks.

[samba]

How to travel back to India w/o US passport?

This is good info. Thanks.
Few questions come to my mind:

1. How will the child travel back to India? Is US Birth certificate enough for the travel back to India?
(since the passport will not have any exit stamp/I-94)
2. While traveling back to India, do airlines issue boarding pass to baby with US Birth certificate but without US passport?
3. Has anyone recently done this? What was the experience like?
4. The child will not require a US passport if he does not enter US till 18 years. After 18, he can decide on the citizenship. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Samba

If you plan to go back to India once & not come back to the US, getting an Indian passport is the best of both worlds. Getting an Indian passport is just as easy as getting US passport. You will need the birth certificate, fill out the form, photographs, appropriate fee & copies of your passports. You will have to apply for both Registration of Birth of an Indian citizen born abroad & also Indian passport, both at the same time. You should get the passport & the registration certificate in about 2 to 4 weeks time.

If you apply for US passport instead, you have given up Indian citizenship for your child and the child will not be able to get that back until he/she turns 18 as India would require him to renounce his US citizenship and that is not possible before the child turns 18.

I hope this helps.

Thanks.

[immihelp]

1. If the child has Indian passport, the child can travel to India. No problem.
2. Yes, that's OK.
3. I can't answer this.
4. Yes.

[dadasahebhonde]

The responses provided by: sridiculous and js567 are little bit contradictory.
JS567 says:
"The bottom line is that after going to India, you can always register your child and get citizenship. However, If your child wishes, on reaching age 18, can relinquish the Indian citizenship and become US citizen."

with this it means we can apply for child's indian citizenship even before the child turns 18.

But, sridiculous says that:
"If you apply for US passport instead, you have given up Indian citizenship for your child and the child will not be able to get that back until he/she turns 18 as India would require him to renounce his US citizenship and that is not possible before the child turns 18."

This means, child cannot get Indian citizenship before it turns 18.

Can someone confirm which one of these statements is correct; It will be great if we can get correct reference here.

Thanks much for the info.

[immihelp]

Answer to that question really depends upon whether the child wants to come to the US before turning 18, once you all move to India.

You can't have best of everything. You need to decide what are your priorities and accordingly decide.

[duttakunal]

Indian Citizenship for US Born

I am in L1 Visa.

I have contacted to Indian embassy and they told that I can opt for Indian Citizenship by registering birth.

My questions are:-

1.In that case how the baby can stay in USA because she is not applying for US Citizenship(US Passport)?
Means do i need to get US Visa?

2.What needs to be done during immigration check in India?

[pdatta]

Hi duttakunal,
any update regarding the Indian passport? Anybody out there who has traveled to India by air using Indian passport for US born baby?

Thanks.

[karthi8183]

Is there a provision to get India passport after going to India?

Answer to that question really depends upon whether the child wants to come to the US before turning 18, once you all move to India.

You can't have best of everything. You need to decide what are your priorities and accordingly decide.

does this mean, a kid with US passport and birth certificate can go to India and then get a Indian passport below attaining age 18. If yes, please direct me to more information related to this. thanks

[txh1b]

does this mean, a kid with US passport and birth certificate can go to India and then get a Indian passport below attaining age 18. If yes, please direct me to more information related to this. thanks

No. The kid should not have ever obtained a US passport. One can get an Indian passport based on birth to Indian parents. To return to US, they however have to surrender the Indian passport and get US passport as you cannot be granted a visa when you were born in US.

[india2usa10]

Child born in USA for indian Parent (on L1 Visa)

Hi,
I have gone thru some forum discussion and want to summarized all the answer on one page to better understand on topic "Child born in USA for indian Parent (on L1 Visa)" as i am in the same "boat"

1. if i get Indian Passport to my child born in USA, do i need to get him US visa on his passport ? because i might go back to india and may come back after few month;s due to job requirement.

2. if Yes, then which visa i should get ? will it be L2 visa (dependent) as i am on L1 Visa ?

3. if we get him Indian passport, and after 18 yrs of his age if he want to come to US for education, will he need to come on F1 Visa as normal indian student ?

4. or he will still have option on his citizenship at the age of 18 even after getting indian passport when he was born ?

Appreciate your help on this.
Thanks

[Kuki420]

Procedure for application of Indian Citizenship by a US Citizen

Hi,

My Cousin is a US citizen by birth and is now wish to apply for Indian Citizenship.

He was born on December 14, 1992 at California, USA and was issued a US passport on January 12, 1993. He was also issued permit to reside in India on January 13, 1993, which has been renewed and is valid till February 15, 2012. His father is an Indian Citizen by birth and mother is a US Citizen holding a PIO status. His the birth was not registered with the Indian Consulate in USA within one year from the date of his birth. His family has been residing in India since February 21, 1993. Since August 2010, he has been residing in US for his further studies.

As informed by the Home Ministry department in India, He cannot make an application in India as
1. His birth has not been registered with the Indian Consulate at USA
2. He has not been continuously staying in India for last one year preceding the date of application. We were also informed by the Home Ministry department that an application for Indian Citizenship needs to be filed at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

We shall be glade if you could help us with the procedure to be followed for application for Indian Citizenship.