Does Holding a US Passport card annuls the Indian citizenship? My Baby holds Indian passport (parents being Indians) and is US citizen ( being born in US).

Indian Law says acquiring foreign citizenship/passport voluntarily makes you loose your Indian citizenship which we want to avoid by all means.

Does US passport card come into this category?

Appreciate your Inputs.

Thanks,

A passport card is a passport and, to my knowledge, you can't get the card without a passport.

Welcome to FT!
I would speak to an immigration lawyer about this. This is not something you want to get answers about on a forum. Having said that, a US passport card is proof of US citizenship, so I guess it can be interpreted either way and probably depends on wording of Indian laws.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

For something this important, I would see a reputable immigration lawyer and not rely on what you might read on an internet message board.

If you want to discuss something like "nuts in first class", come on back. This is the place.

Yes....to get a US passport you denounce your rights to other citizen status. However you can get a dual citizenship, which means the country besides USA also says you are a citizen of that country.

That's not correct. In the words of the state department:

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS FOR U.S. CITIZENS
Apply for one or both, it�s your choice.

If all you need is the card, you can save some money by just applying for that without having to get a passport book.

They also state

US Passports, either in book or card format.....

Which to me implies they treat both of them the same.

But I am not an immigration lawyer and would suggest checking with one for the full ramifications of you getting either a passport or a card for her.

Yes, you should probably speak to a lawyer.

If they acquired US citizenship, that would be the issue with Indian citizenship, not the passport. (You can be a citizen and not have a US passport.) Sounds like they may have an issue already, hence the advice to see a lawyer.

If the kid already has US citizenship then he/she is already in violation of Indian law regardless of the passport card/passport. You need to talk to someone versed in Indian Immigration law since the issue is on the Indian side.

there are things I want to say but I'll have to keep my trap shut so this doesn't end up in PR.

Strictly speaking, yes. You can have a US Passport card only if you are a US citizen. Since India does not recognize dual citizenship, your child is no longer Indian (unless you somehow hide the US citizenship from the Indian authorities).

Does your baby have an Indian passport for herself? Or is she included in the mother's passport? If neither of these are true, then your child is not recognized as an Indian citizen. In fact, I bet you will run into issues if you try to apply for an Indian passport for your child. If you do so, I bet the Indian consulate will ask for some kind of proof of renunciation of US citizenship.

If I'm not mistaken, anyone born in the US is a US citizen unless they specifically renounce US citizenship. So a child born to Indian parents in the US is only a US citizen by default.

If I may, why do you strive so hard to retain Indian citizenship for your child? I would assume that US citizenship + OCI card is far superior to Indian citizenship.

If your child was born in the US (which I assume is the case) then the child is a US citizen by birth. Indian Nationality Law recognizes children born overseas to Indian parents only if their birth is registered with the nearest diplomatic mission.

Indian Nationality Law also considers Indian citizenship as having terminated as soon as you acquire a foreign citizenship. (This I know because I had a lengthy argument with a consular staff in Canberra requiring me to sign the "Denunciation of Indian Citizenship" form; told him I couldn't sign away something I didn't have, as my Indian Citizenship had ended as soon as I took oath as an Australian - I digress).

Section 9 of Citizenship Act 1955 governs the Indian citizenship and also considers jus-soli as applicable to US and other countries. Telling is the fact that the caveat used to terminate a person's citizenship in this regard is the obtainment of a foreign passport (or travel document); which is considered to be an evidence that the person had acquired foreign citizenship at a date prior to obtaining the said passport.

IANAL and you should seek legal advice but based on my experience in doing this dance not too long ago; your child isn't technically an Indian Citizen.

Could be a variety of reasons that the OP need not disclose. I know scores of people who refuse to naturalize in Australia and give up their Indian citizenship for they see it as losing the last binding tie to the country.

A friend of mine is an American living in Mumbai. He is married to an Indian woman, and they just had a baby in Mumbai. He told me that the baby has dual citizenship until she's 18, at which point she will have to pick one.

India does not allow dual citizenship. The only way to have dual citizenship is to hide the foreign citizenship from the Indian authorities.

as400: Try asking this question on the India forum. You'll probably find a lot of people there with similar experiences.

I'm not saying that wikipedia is 100% correct, but it confirms what I'm saying:

"Section 9(1) of the act provides that any citizen of India who by naturalisation or registration acquires the citizenship of another country shall cease to be a citizen of India.Notably, the termination provision differs from the renunciation provision because it applies to "any citizen of India" and is not restricted to adults. Indian children therefore also automatically lose their claim to Indian citizenship if at any time after birth they acquire a citizenship of another country by, for example, naturalisation or registration — even if the acquisition of another citizenship was done as a result of actions by the child's parents."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_law

Thank you for all the replies. So, it seems Passport and Passport card are treated as same. They are just different formats. Also, there is a single application for both formats.

Indian Law makes it impossible for us to hold another passport. I believe this law is rubbish and does not fit in to the rest of world. Because of this stupid law, i would be forced to renounce indian citizenship of my baby and take PIO.

Thanks,

I've heard the Indian government is becoming more strict about this than they were in the recent past. A friend recently paid some sort of penalty for not turning in his Indian passport upon receiving Canadian citizenship. A lawyer familiar with Indian law would be helpful for you at this point.