Indian citizenship for child born in usa

[Pardeepg]

Hi,
I am on L1 visa and expecting child in nov 2012. We want to have indian citizenship for our child and we know the procedure, we have to register birth with indian consulate and apply for indian passport.
I have few questions which are unclear from public threads.

1. Do we have to get usa visa for our child if we travel back usa in near future? Some threads are saying that usa visa can not be granted to person born in usa. Our child has to get usa passport for usa travel.

2. If we get indian passport and never had usa passport for child, then can our child apply for usa citizenship after turning 18?

[immihelp]

1. Your child can't get US visa. Needs to get US passport to travel to the U.S.
2. Yes.

[cafeconleche]

The answer to 2. is misleading. The child will remain a US citizen with or without applying for a US passport, so there is no question of applying for US citizenship when it turns 18. If anything, it can renounce citizenship.

Also, remember that being a US citizen, the child cannot technically be an Indian citizen. It's a weird hole in the law that allows a child born in the US to be registered at an Indian mission. So, you're skirting Indian law in a strangely legal, yet illegal way. I don't understand it, but this could lead to some problems in future.

[Pardeepg]

1. Your child can't get US visa. Needs to get US passport to travel to the U.S.
2. Yes.

For answer 1, what is alternative if we travel US for just 1 or 2 years in future. If we have to get US passport then we have to surrender Indian passport, again we have to get Indian Passport on return to india.

[cafeconleche]

This is what I mean. Problems. Really, your child ought not to have an Indian passport. This is the downside of having a child in the US. If you get only an Indian passport and go to India, you'll have to apply for a US passport in India to come back to the US, even for a visit. Once you leave the US and show Indian immigration your child's Indian passport and tell them where you've been, I'm sure the absence of a US visa will raise some eyebrows. Going through a third country might solve this, but really, the cleanest way to do things is to get a US passport and PIO for your child.

Remember, the US doesn't care about your other citizenship. India, on the other hand, does. When you apply for a US passport, you don't have to surrender your Indian passport.