Discussion:
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
Answer:
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.
Answer:
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
Answer:
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.
Answer:
Originally Posted by 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.
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
Answer:
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)
Answer:
Originally Posted by Guddan 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
Answer:
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.
Answer:
mansmi18,
Interesting points.
Originally Posted by mansmi18 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.
Originally Posted by mansmi18 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
Answer:
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