Dual Citizenship

K

kashinath

Registered Users (C)
Does any one have any updates on whether India will be offering Dual Citizenship in the near future?.

Will this be retroactive to current US Citizens who are of Indian origin?

What happens to your Indian citizenship right now if you get Naturalized and apply for your US Passport?.

Do you have to turn your Indian passport in to the Indian Embassy, and get a visa to travel to India?


Some of you folks who got their citizenship recently may be able to answer these. I have just filed my N-400 from Pittsburgh and these were some open issues. Thanks
 
Indian Parliament has agreed for dual citizenship for some selected countries - US is one of them. I have called the embassy in NYC - they are waiting for further instruction.

Right now - if you take US citizenship - by law you loose your Indian citizenship and you are required to return your Indian passport to the nearest Indian mission. You would need a VISA to travel to India.
 
thanks:

If you loose your Indian Citizenship now, can you get it back when the Dual Citizenship Law is passed?
 
Surprise !!!!!

While I was attending Oath ceremony , Officer warned everyone about "Dual Citizenship"

He advised everyone that some countries' Dual Citizenship may affect your U.S. Citizenship & you may lose your U.S. Citizenship
permanently. You have to check it out the current BCIS rule whether you will lose your American citizenship or not.

Be very careful !!!!!!!!

I do not understand you guys ..........while thousands of immigrants are crying for Green Cards & American Citizenships, then why are you thinking about Dual citizenship !!!!!

Be a dual citizen at your own risk !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Joef - you have put it nicely why people want dual citizenship.

From an Indian perspective - the first generation of immigrants almost always feel that they still belong to India and they have strong emotional feelings in that regard. Apart from that - they have more materialistic concerns like to be able to invest, work, enter without a visa( most Indians are frequent visitors to their country) etc. etc.

Indian dual citizenship law is in it's infancy - but I think that the intent is to attract more Indian origin people back to India without disrupting their ties to their country of citizenship - so I am hopeful they will take proper care regarding loss of US citizenship.
 
There is an article in India Abroad previous 1 or 2 weeks). Please read that.

In that it is mentioned that Govt. of India is taking into account the impact of dual citizenship on US citizens. The exact words
are "We don't want these people to loose their US citizenship" when getting Indian passport or PIO card"

Another reason for dual citizenship is economic. Most of the people came for India for better economic life. The trend may reverse (e.g. out-sourcing) the direction and having dual citizenship will be useful
 
Thanks guys for the feed back. I was interested because maybe unlike some other people on the forum , I do have financial and personal ties with India and obviously not having Dual Citizenship would affect this to a certain extent.

Thanks again!!!
 
What to do with Indian Passport

This is what the Indian Embassy site says about the passport:

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http://www.indianembassy.org/consular/instructions.htm

5. If you have acquired US Citizenship, please surrender the Indian passport to the nearest Indian mission. The Indian passport is returned to the applicant after cancellation. The cancelled Indian passport should be kept in safe custody as it may be required at the time of applying for the PIO card, separate passport for children etc."
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What happens to the property owned by an indian who became US citizen? To be precise, when an Indian citizen bought a property in India and after some time if he/she becomes american citizen, what happens to that property? If I am correct, a property can be owned only by an indian citizen?
 
Peoperty owned

For property owned I suggest you get a PIO. Here is what the Indian Embassy web site says:

"The Government has announced the launching of a People of Indian Origin Card, which will allow visa free entry to Indian origin people living abroad and give them all the rights enjoyed by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) including purchase of non-agricultural land. 15 million people of Indian origin living abroad will benefit from the Card. Fee for PIO Card is US $ 310.00 for adult and for children below the age of 18 years is US $ 155.00 (effective from September 15, 2002). Validity of new PIO card will be 15 years from the date of issue. However, it would not be issued to people of Indian origin living in Pakistan and Bangladesh. It does not give voting rights to the holders of the Card. It is eligible for the Indians who hold a foreign passport living abroad till the fourth generation. The PIO Card holder would be exempt from registration if his stay in India does not exceed 180 days. However, if the stay exceeds 180 days, the PIO Card holder will have to register within 30 days of the expiry of 180 days with the concerned Foreigners Registration Officer at district headquarters. The right to buy property would not be valid to Jammu & Kashmir. The PIO Card holder would be able to admit their children to educational institution in India under the NRI category. These include the IITs and Indian institutes of Management. They can also benefit from housing schemes of the Life Insurance Corporation, State Governments and other Government agencies."

Source: http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/PIO/Introduction_PIO.html

I guess you will have to wait till the Dual citizenship is established to own agricultural land :)
 
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