PIO/Visa for my Baby

[indivisa]

Me and my husband are indian citizens residing presently in USA on J1 visa.Our daughter was born in USA .I am a little confused whether I should get a PIO card made for her or take Indian visa since we are planning to visit India for a few days and also after 2-3 years we plan to go back to India and settle there forever.So which will be a better option and also if we settle there does my daughter have to come back to USA anytime during her life to continue her citizenship?

[immihelp]

1. Get her PIO card. Details at New

2. No, she does not have to visit the U.S. at any time to continue her citizenship.

Good luck.

[smohanty]

FYI, if your daughter lives in India on a PIO card she will be regarded as an NRI for educational purposes and will have to take admissions in college/univ in India only under an NRI quota which generally means having to pay higher fees than Indian nationals.

Me and my husband are indian citizens residing presently in USA on J1 visa.Our daughter was born in USA .I am a little confused whether I should get a PIO card made for her or take Indian visa since we are planning to visit India for a few days and also after 2-3 years we plan to go back to India and settle there forever.So which will be a better option and also if we settle there does my daughter have to come back to USA anytime during her life to continue her citizenship?

[indivisa]

Thanks for the replies.If she lives in India on a visa even then will she have to study on an NRI basis in school/college etc.

[smohanty]

What kind of visa were you thinking of?

Tourist visa - well, I don't think a US passport holder can study in India on a tourist visa or stay in India without returning to the US at frequent intervals. You will have to find out from the consulate if that is even an option.

Student visa - I don't know if it is possible to get a student visa for general schooling i.e. from grade 1 to 12. Again, you will have to find out from the consulate if that is even an option.

But yes, for college education a US citizen with an Indian student visa will definitely have to pay the NRI/International student fees.

After all, international students who come to study in the US from India have to pay much more than the fees that US residents pay. Why should it not be the same for students in Indian universities who are on a foreign passport?

And whatever visa she is on, she will have to be registered with the police department in your Indian city and they will keep track of the duration/length of her stay.

As I see it, if you do not want to give up your daughter's US citizenship then the PIO card would be the sensible option.

But you need to remember that a PIO card is not the same as having an Indian citizenship/passport. So long as your daughter is a foreign citizen/ foreign passport holder she does not rightly deserve to enjoy the perks that an Indian citizen in India gets.

So basically, you can't have the cake and eat it too. If you return to India - you can't keep your daughter's US citizenship and also expect her to enjoy all the benefits that come with being an Indian citizen in India.

Thanks for the replies.If she lives in India on a visa even then will she have to study on an NRI basis in school/college etc.

[indivisa]

Thanks again for the reply.So if I get a PIO card made for her can she stay in India for the rest of her life.Also does she have to return to USA at frequent intervals to continue her citizenship.
If I get a tourist visa for her can she live in India for the rest of her life or she will have to return to USA to continue her citizenship.Thanks.

[smohanty]

The validity of the PIO card is 15 years. So it is not a permanent solution.
I am not sure how the renewal process works for the PIO card.

It is NOT possible for a US citizen to live permanently in India on a tourist visa. Your daughter will have to leave India at frequent intervals.

And living in India on a PIO card for over 180 days will require that your daughter's presence be reported to the local police.

The only permanent solution is to give up US citizenship and apply for Indian citizenship.

[amat]

Hi,

A better option than PIO card is OCI Card ( it's slighly more expensive ~330$ or so). It removes the headache of reporting to police if you are staying over 180 days in india. Also this would make your child eligible for owning property in in india( He/she still can not aquire aricultural land) . Your kid would still be considered as an NRI as Mr. Mohanty pointed out. I did the same for my kid. I was initially confused as to whether the kid would qualify for OCI . But the law clearly states that if either of the parents even held an indian passport the kid qualifies for OCI. The entire OCI application process takes about 2 months to complete though. So if you are planning to travel immediately, this wouldn't help and you would have to get a tourist visa for now and apply for an OCI once you get back.


As far as your query related to coming back to US at frequent intervals, that is not required. I have a friend who had the same situation.It might be a better idea to inform the american consulte in india about the adress. I believe the website mentioned above gives the details

amat

[immihelp]

Amat,

All that is good. However, if both parents are CURRENTLY citizens of India, the foreign citizen child is NOT eligible for OCI, only PIO.

And that is the case here.