citizenship for child

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veeru71

Registered Users (C)
We are going to shortly apply for citizenship. We have a 9 year old kid
(born in India). We would like to take the US citizendship only for myself
and kid if possible, retaining my wife's Indian citizenship. We are planning to move back to India and so, we thought it might be better if one of us retain Indian citizenship.

My qustion is : Is a child eligible for US citizenship if only one parent is a US citizen ? Can we simply apply for the child's passport once I get mine ?
Do I need to consult an attorney on this question ?

I've read the Naturalization guide on the USCIS website but couldn't get a clear answer. Thanks for your help.
 
Your child becomes US citizen automatically once you become a citizen. you can apply for your child's passport direcly, you will have to file a form to get her naturalization certificate. Other members in the forum could share more details.

I would suggest reconsidering US citizenship for your wife also. It's a different issue if you want to be an Indian because you are born in India or something on those lines. Then please ignore the whatever is written below.

The reason being, with the PIO card and OIC becoming reality in near future, it would be beneficial to have US citizenship for both of you.

PIO and OIC will give you everything else but voting rights, holding public offices and defence positions. Other than that thare are no additional material benefits for keeping Indian citizenship.

US citizenship comes after a long journey and I consider it as a previlege for serving that country honestly and abiding by the laws of that country. US immigration is becoming difficult day by day. Who knows what kind of laws they will pass to make the country more secure. In future if your child were to go back to USA for higher studies and you would like to visit him US citizenship comes handy for both of you. Also having US citizenship opens gates to many other countries if you choose to travel or take up a job.

You might want to do more research, excahge views with other member in this forum and speak to immigration specialist before making final decision.
 
Question:
If the child is not born in USA, should both parents become US citizens for the dependent children to become US citizens automatically?
 
rbcool said:
Question:
If the child is not born in USA, should both parents become US citizens for the dependent children to become US citizens automatically?
Click to expand...

No. One citizen parent is enough to gain automatic citizenship for dependent children provided they are legally present in the country.
 
veeru71 said:
My qustion is : Is a child eligible for US citizenship if only one parent is a US citizen ? Can we simply apply for the child's passport once I get mine ?
One parent has to be citizen. Yes you can apply for child's passport once one parent become US Citizen. Don't forget to apply for Certificate of Citizenship. It is highly recomended even though your child already has a US passport.
Do I need to consult an attorney on this question ? I don't think so you need to consult an attorney. Its a straightforward question.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks rbcool and everyone else for your valuable comments.

I am still in dilemma as to whether to take citizenship for only one of us
or both . I dont know when "overseas citizenship" is going to be a reality
and thought one of us, retaining Indian citizenship might be better.

Is there any one who is in the same boat - thinking of taking US citizenship
and moving back to India ? Can you pl. share your thoughts ?
 
I think it depends on your future plans. How long do you plan to live in India? With the US Citizenship and tourist visa or PIO/and in future w/OIC, you can live in India for 6 months. If you going to be working in India, then you need to have the employment visa for the expected duration before you arrive in India.

If you're a US citizen and you spouse remains an Indian citizen, there may be some benefits in India, but your spouse will risk abandoning the green card if the continous stay in India is more than 1 year. Since you will be a US citizen so I guess you can always file for your spouse's green card again if needed. The other dimension to this situation is a tax liability. As a US citizen you will HAVE to file US taxes on your worldwide income. If you spouse lives in India continously for more than 6 months, then s/he losses the NRI status and will be treated like an Indian resident for tax purposes. I would definitely pay attention to the tax consequenses in addition to the immigration issues.
 
With PIO or OIC you do not need a work visa to work in India.

As a US citizen you will have to file tax returns every year declaring your world wide income. US and India has tax treaty that avoids double taxation. So you will have to file US tax returns, you do not pay US taxes for your income in India.
 
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