J. A. Fernandez
New Member
My sister and her family were recently traveling to the US and had encountered problems on account of their new born baby. The whole episode is explained below in her own words:
“My husband, my son and I are US resident immigrants with valid Green Cards. We migrated to the US 2 ½ years back and were living together in New York until January 2007. I was seven months pregnant when I came to India with my son Evan in January to visit my extended family. My son Bryan was born here on March 20, 2007. My husband joined us here in May. Our plan was to return together to the US on Kuwait Airlines - Kochi to New York with a transit stop in Kuwait.
Before I came to India I had made several enquiries at government Offices in the US about the legal standing of my child when we returned to the US and was told that the baby would not require a visa to enter the US, and that the matter would be handled at the port of entry. I confirmed that this was indeed the case with the ‘Office of Consular Affairs, Consulate General of United States of America, Chennai, India’ and received an email confirming that “the baby would not require a visa”.
At the transit stop in Kuwait, the Kuwait Airlines representatives refused to let us proceed, insisting that the baby required a visa. We all had Indian passports; everyone except the baby had green cards. We had the baby's birth certificate and Indian passport, as well as a copy of the email received from the Chennai Consulate. But they remained unconvinced and said that the baby will also require an official Letter of Transportation from the Chennai Consulate. They argued that even if the copy of the email can be trusted, our green cards cannot be considered as legitimate immigrant visas. They canceled our tickets and put us on a flight to Thiruvananthapuram later that night and left us to get back to Kochi on our own”
Since then she has written to the Chennai Consulate to help them to resolve this problem and fly back to New York as early as possible. On verbal enquiry they suggested to try other Airlines. We explained the whole episode to the ‘Air India’ Officials. They agreed to take them and assured that there will not be any difficulty from their side during the trip. To them the Law was very clear and felt that all travel documents of my sister and family are correct and sufficient to travel back to the US with the Baby. Now the baby has fallen sick and they are waiting for it to recover before starting.
Under this circumstance, she intends ‘to avail legal recourse to obtain satisfaction from Kuwait Airlines for the expenses that she incurred and may incur as a result of their decisions and their consequent actions’. Will this incident qualify for a legal action against Kuwait Airlines? If so where should they file a legal Suit? Should it be in India (or) in Kuwait (or) in the US? They had originally booked their tickets through a Travel Agent in New Jersey. Please advise. Thank You.
“My husband, my son and I are US resident immigrants with valid Green Cards. We migrated to the US 2 ½ years back and were living together in New York until January 2007. I was seven months pregnant when I came to India with my son Evan in January to visit my extended family. My son Bryan was born here on March 20, 2007. My husband joined us here in May. Our plan was to return together to the US on Kuwait Airlines - Kochi to New York with a transit stop in Kuwait.
Before I came to India I had made several enquiries at government Offices in the US about the legal standing of my child when we returned to the US and was told that the baby would not require a visa to enter the US, and that the matter would be handled at the port of entry. I confirmed that this was indeed the case with the ‘Office of Consular Affairs, Consulate General of United States of America, Chennai, India’ and received an email confirming that “the baby would not require a visa”.
At the transit stop in Kuwait, the Kuwait Airlines representatives refused to let us proceed, insisting that the baby required a visa. We all had Indian passports; everyone except the baby had green cards. We had the baby's birth certificate and Indian passport, as well as a copy of the email received from the Chennai Consulate. But they remained unconvinced and said that the baby will also require an official Letter of Transportation from the Chennai Consulate. They argued that even if the copy of the email can be trusted, our green cards cannot be considered as legitimate immigrant visas. They canceled our tickets and put us on a flight to Thiruvananthapuram later that night and left us to get back to Kochi on our own”
Since then she has written to the Chennai Consulate to help them to resolve this problem and fly back to New York as early as possible. On verbal enquiry they suggested to try other Airlines. We explained the whole episode to the ‘Air India’ Officials. They agreed to take them and assured that there will not be any difficulty from their side during the trip. To them the Law was very clear and felt that all travel documents of my sister and family are correct and sufficient to travel back to the US with the Baby. Now the baby has fallen sick and they are waiting for it to recover before starting.
Under this circumstance, she intends ‘to avail legal recourse to obtain satisfaction from Kuwait Airlines for the expenses that she incurred and may incur as a result of their decisions and their consequent actions’. Will this incident qualify for a legal action against Kuwait Airlines? If so where should they file a legal Suit? Should it be in India (or) in Kuwait (or) in the US? They had originally booked their tickets through a Travel Agent in New Jersey. Please advise. Thank You.