Consultancy for us-born child to an indian citizen parents
Nishant Desai
(Querist) 08 October 2013
This query is : Resolved
I am in USA on H1 visa and my wife is here with me on H4 visa. We both are Indian citizen an hold valid Indian passports and valid Visa for USA. We are expecting our baby to born here in USA. We will return back to India in 1-2 yrs and do not have plans to settle down in USA. We went through different forums and articles on internet on pros & cons of having baby born to an Indian parents in USA. We are very confused about citizenship of our baby.
I kindly request you to take your time and guide me on below listed questions.
(1) Will baby get USA citizenship by virtue of having born here?
(2) Will he/she be eligible to get Indian Citizenship as well? If yes, how can we proceed to get Indian citizenship for our baby at/after his/her birth in USA?
If we consider to get US passport for our baby and get PIO for him/her to travel to India,
(1) Will he/she be considered as non-citizen of India and what will he be able to get equal opportunity as an Indian citizen for education in schools/colleges, employment, opening bank account, applying PAN card etc? Or he/she will treated in different category for all this rights?
(2) I understood that PIO is valid for 15 years? Can it be renewed after 15 years in India itself? Can baby travel frequently to and from India with PIO card?
(3) Can my child have right to decide on which citizenship he/she wants once turn to 18years age? Can he/she surrender US passport at US consulate in India and apply for Indian passport, thus accepting Indian citizenship and renouncing US citizenship?
If we consider to get birth registered at Indian Consulate/Embassy in USA and get Indian passport
(1) Will baby gain Indian citizenship by registering birth at Indian Consulate and getting Indian passport? Will baby still be considered as USA citizen and is there any need that we need to get Visa for baby for stay in USA?
(2) Will we face any problem at any airport in the world to travel back to India with baby on his Indian Passport?
(3) I read on Internet that, in this case if kid needs to come back to USA in future with Indian Passport, US consulate in India will not give visa to my child as it will be US born. In this case it is impossible to travel to US in future.Can you please throw some light on this scenario? What could be best mitigation for this?
Please guide us. Your guidance will be highly appreciated.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
NKD
Raj Kumar Makkad
(Expert) 08 October 2013
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes, but he shall have to apply for Indian citizenship.
I). He shall still be USA citizen but he through you can apply for Indian citizenship which shall be provided to him without much formalities.
ii). You need to apply for Indian citizenship for your child which shall end your entire problems.
Nadeem Qureshi
(Expert) 08 October 2013
contact a lawyer personally, you can easily bear lawyer's consultation fee
R.K Nanda
(Expert) 08 October 2013
consult lawyer personally.
Guest
(Expert) 08 October 2013
If you do not want him/her to be a US citizen, better send your wife to India before the child birth to enable her to have delivery in India to enable the child get natural citizenship of India.
However, if you want your child not to lose US citizenship and also get Indian citizenship, the issue being of complex nature with lengthy process, you would need to consult some local expert on immigration/ emigration matters on charge basis to guide you in detail. The child will however be treated as a US citizen on account of his/her birth in USA.
Thyagarajan
(Expert) 08 October 2013
Since you no immediate plans to come to India you have enough time to put your questions to Indian Embassy in USA. Surely some might have approached the Embassy with similar problem like you and the Embassy will give you right answer. You can also voice your concern about legality of the citizenship of your yet to be born one.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 10 October 2013
PLEASE READ SECTION 2 OF THE INDIAN CITIZENSHIP ACT 1955.
2. Citizenship by descent
(1) A person born outside India,-
(a) on or after the 26th January, 1950, but
before the commencement of the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act, 1992, shall be a citizen of India by
descent if his father is a citizen of India at
the time of his birth; or
(b) on after such commencement, shall be a citizen of
India by descent if either of his parents is a
citizen of India at the time of his birth:]
PROVIDED that if the father of such a person 3[re
ferred to clause (a)] was a citizen of India by
descent only, that person shall
not be a citizen of India by vi
rtue of this section unless-
(a) his birth is registered at an Indian consul
ate within one year of
its occurrence or the
commencement of this Act, whichever is later,
or, with the permission of the Central Government,
after the expiry of the said period; or
(b) his father is, at the time of his birth,
in service under a Government in India:
3[PROVIDED FURTHER that if either of the parent
s of such a person referred to in clause (b)
was a citizen of India by descent
only, that person shall not be a citi
zen of India by virtue of this
section, unless-
(a) his birth is registered at an Indian consul
ate within one year of
its occurrence or the
commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment)
Act, 1992, whichever is later, or with the
permission of the Central Government, afte
r the expiry of the said period; or
(b) either of his parents is, at the time of his bi
rth, in service under a Government in India.
(2) If the Central Government so directs, a birth shall be deemed for the purposes of this section
to have been registered with its permission, notwi
thstanding that its permission was not obtained
before the registration.
(3) For the purposes of the proviso to sub-se
ction (1), 4[any person] born outside undivided India
who was, or was deemed to be, a citizen of India
at the commencement of the Constitution shall
be deemed to be a citizen of India by descent onlY
