Originally Posted by
B747-437B
The situation in the case of minor children is pretty clear.
A minor child may hold the right to multiple citizenships by virtue of their birth, but they may not hold an Indian passport if they hold the passport of another country as well. The parents must affirm this under oath when applying for an Indian passport. However, this does not diminish their right to be a citizen of India or elsewhere - even if they were to hold the passport of another country while a minor.
On attaining the age of majority, a decision must be made within 6 months whether one wishes to be a citizen of India or a citizen of another country. If the choice is to be the citizen of India, one must renounce citizenship of all other countries. If the choice is to be a citizen elsewhere, one must renounce Indian citizenship. Inaction in this circumstance will lead to the automatic loss of Indian citizenship. The Indian citizenship may subsequently be reclaimed via the process of registration, which would in its turn however require renunciation of other citizenships.
Hence the situation is :
a) acquire other citizenship while a minor = renounce other citizenship when turning 18 or else automatically lose Indian citizenship
b) acquire other citizenship after age of majority = automatic loss of Indian citizenship
So:
A youth having a claim by birth to a citizenship of any country other than India, who lives in India, acts as a citizen of India, holds a passport of India but of no other country, automatically ceases to be a citizen of India at age 18 years 6 months if he ignores the other citizenships and takes no action about them.
If a person resident in India applies for an Indian passport and swears, under penalty of perjury, that he holds no other passport - truthfully about that - but in underlying fact is not an Indian citizen because he has ceased to be a citizen at age 18 years 6 months, has he committed a crime of fraud?
What counts as "renunciation of foreign citizenship" for the government of India?