Getting US passport at US consulate in India

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manishw

Registered Users (C)
My wife is planning to apply for her first US passport at the US consulate in India (Mumbai) using information at the following link:
http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/apply_first_passsport.html

The reason we were planning to have her apply in India is that she will be leaving for her India visit (actually we are moving to India) within few days of her oath ceremony. So if she applies from the US, we will receive the passport after she is gone. Also someone has advised that I should not take her passport to her (during my trip to India in few months) as it could be against the law to carry someone else's passport. That is why we think the best solution would be to apply for her US passport at the Mumbai consulate.

I would like to know if anyone has an insight to this process, especially if you have go through this yourself.

Thanks in advance.
 
My only question to you.

Once your wife takes oath, does it not make her Indian passport 'invalid'? If so, what document can she use to travel to India?
 
Once you take the naturalization oath, you are a US citizen. It is illegal to travel on an Indian passport. Additionally, the USCIS officials at the oath ceremony take away your permanent resident card, so even if you wanted to travel on an Indian passport, you will not be able to leave the country without evidence of lawful status. The only evidence of lawful status would be the naturalization certificate, which would make it very difficult to travel on a foreign passport.

You can get a passport in one day if you file at one of the regional passport offices. However, the visa will probably take a bit longer.
 
Need to take US passport before you travel.

As per my limited knowledge, once took oath, you are American Citizen and you lost the Indain citizenship. Need to get US Passport and need to get Indian VISA/PIO/OCI before travel.

If urgent, you will get US Passport in 2 days.
 
manishw said:
My wife is planning to apply for her first US passport at the US consulate in India (Mumbai) using information at the following link:
http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/apply_first_passsport.html

The reason we were planning to have her apply in India is that she will be leaving for her India visit (actually we are moving to India) within few days of her oath ceremony. So if she applies from the US, we will receive the passport after she is gone. Also someone has advised that I should not take her passport to her (during my trip to India in few months) as it could be against the law to carry someone else's passport. That is why we think the best solution would be to apply for her US passport at the Mumbai consulate.

I would like to know if anyone has an insight to this process, especially if you have go through this yourself.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
What you are planning is against the US law. Your wife must carry a US passport when she travels out of US. She does not have a choice in the matter. She must apply for US passport using expedited service, or better yet, at one of the passport service centers.
 
travelling after path ceremony

Hello Manish,
I have a similar situation ( in some way) i would like to know if you can travel with your indian passport after the oath.
As all the others say-on this board , and i spoke to someoe at the Indian Embassy , Your Indian passport is void and you are required to return it to a local consulate after the OATH.

I however think, this is not directly enforceable.
You can still travel out of the country with your indian passport. the Indian System doesnt know you have taken the OATH of US citizenship and it is voluntary disclosure .


The link you had on your posting does say you can apply for a US passport in Mumbai if you have a cert of naturalization

Im a wondering if this can be done and done legally.
 
travelling after oath ceremony

Hello Manish,
I have a similar situation ( in some way) i would like to know if you can travel with your indian passport after the oath.
As all the others say-on this board , and i spoke to someoe at the Indian Embassy , Your Indian passport is void and you are required to return it to a local consulate after the OATH.

I however think, this is not directly enforceable.
You can still travel out of the country with your indian passport. the Indian System doesnt know you have taken the OATH of US citizenship and it is voluntary disclosure .


The link you had on your posting does say you can apply for a US passport in Mumbai if you have a cert of naturalization

Im a wondering if this can be done and done legally.
 
equate said:
What you are planning is against the US law. Your wife must carry a US passport when she travels out of US. She does not have a choice in the matter. She must apply for US passport using expedited service, or better yet, at one of the passport service centers.
Click to expand...
Hi Equate,
How do you say its against US Law. ? Where did you get that ?
There is no text that explicitly states that as a US citizen you can not travel without a US passport. The US allows you to retain multiple passports. I know some friends who do have multiple passports.
INDIA on the other hand does not allow Full Dual Citizenship. So the issue is with the Indian Law
Comments please,
 
Lets say she travels to india on Indian Passport and everything is ok.

However, when she applies for US Passport in India, what if they question her on which passport she used to travel to India? Clearly, Indian passport is invalidated after she took Oath in US to become USC. There could be some trouble.

In addition, what if it takes long time (lets say 3-4 months) to get US passport in India? She will be stuck in India until then.

I think it is safest to get expedited passport in US and then travel. It only takes 1-2 days.
 
Don't travel to India with an Indian passport following oath ceremony it is against the law.

Do whatever it takes to get the US passport and cencel the Indian PP before your travel date. There is no choice here.
 
N400App said:
Hi Equate,
How do you say its against US Law. ? Where did you get that ?
There is no text that explicitly states that as a US citizen you can not travel without a US passport. The US allows you to retain multiple passports. I know some friends who do have multiple passports.
INDIA on the other hand does not allow Full Dual Citizenship. So the issue is with the Indian Law
Comments please,
Click to expand...

Like others are saying, you have to travel on US Passport and do not try to use (even though you think you can) the Indian Passport. One loses Indian Citizenship the moment one takes the Oath and becomes Naturalized here. OCI is not dual Citizenship rather it allows a US Nationals (among some other Citizens of Indian Origin) to enjoy many benefits.

If you travel on your Indian Passport, you might get into legal trouble (mostly from Indian Govt. side) at the time of cancellation of your Indian Passport. It would be very easy to see that you attained US Citizenship on day x and later traveled on the Indian passport on day x + 2.
 
I have read in this forum somewhere that you can make an appointment to get your US passport same day (may have to show emergency / airline ticket / etc.).

Call US Passport agency to check how early can you make an appointment with them for expedited passport.

Also, you can get same day visa from Indian consulate (again check with your nearest consulate). I know this since my friend was able to obtain same day visa for his daughter (after paying additional / expedited fee). My friend had to travel to the Indian consulate's office to get same day visa.

Once you reach India with US passport and Indian visa, you can then apply for your wife's OCI or PIO, etc.
 
The OP's wife will breach (atleast) two regulations if she leaves the US on an Indian passport after taking her oath.
(1) She cannot use an Indian passport since she will no longer be an Indian citizen
(2) She has to be in possession of a US passport when she departs from the US

You are right about multiple citizenship. US citizens can hold other citizenships, but they must use a US passport to enter the US and be in possession of a US passport when departing from the US. I use my Canadian passport to enter Canada, but by law I also have to possess a US passport when leaving US soil. After all, I will need a US passport to re-enter.

N400App said:
There is no text that explicitly states that as a US citizen you can not travel without a US passport.
Click to expand...
 
Okay, it's time for the big guy to step in :D Just kidding. I'm just an ordinary guy way, way behind in the immigration game. I guess that makes me less than ordinary. Anyways...

Check out the link in the OP's first message. There is a section for 'First-Time Applicants'. You will see that it is possible for a person who NEVER had a US passport but who HAS a US Natz Cert, to apply for a US passport overseas.

It is clear that the US Govt recognizes the fact that there can be naturalized US citizens living abroad, who never had a US passport.

How these naturalized citizens left the shores of the US without a US passport is a different matter. Maybe they got naturalized while abroad? I don't know if that's possible. It could even be a result of unique and/or special circumstances. I am in no way suggesting that the OP's wife should embark on this path. Besides, she would be most certainly violating Indian law. Also, I understand one has to get their Indian passport cancelled before applying for OCI, else there is a hefty fine. There was a post about this on the OCI forum a while ago. The safest would be to apply (expedited) for a US passport and just use that.

Regards.
Sammy
 
Maybe the country of their original citizenship allows its citizens to use its passports even if they acquired another citizenship?

Regards.
Sammy
 
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