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Can a child born in US to Indian Father and Pakistani Mother obtain an Indian Citizenship or OCI card?

Expatriates Asked by Guddu Mony on September 25, 2021

My wife and I are both US citizens are have been living in the US for about 20 years.

I was born in India, and my wife was born in Pakistan.

We are having a newborn soon and wanted to make sure he would able to travel to India frequently without hassle.

Would it be possible for him to obtain Indian Citizenship for him? (I assume not since he will automatically have US citizenship)

Alternately is it possible for him to obtain an OCI card? (I’ve heard that if one’s parents or grandparents are from Pakistan or Bangladesh, then he/she is not eligible to apply for an OCI card.

I’m sure this is a situation that has happened to others. Looking for some guidance on how to handle the situation so that he can travel to India. My wife, for example, gets her visa application rejected to India all the time, even though she is a US Citizen.

One Answer

Would it be possible for him to obtain Indian Citizenship for him? (I assume not since he will automatically have US citizenship)

No.

I want to note that it's not true that he can't have Indian citizenship just because he will automatically have US citizenship. According to India's citizenship act, a child born abroad to at least one Indian citizen parent will be an Indian citizen by descent if he/she is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth with the declaration that he/she does not possess a foreign passport. Your son having US citizenship doesn't the ability to meet that requirement, as long as you don't get him a US passport.

However, since both of you are US citizens, neither of you are Indian citizens when your son is born (you lost your Indian citizenship when you voluntarily acquired US citizenship), and thus neither of you have Indian citizenship that can be passed to him.

Alternately is it possible for him to obtain an OCI card? (I've heard that if one's parents or grandparents are from Pakistan or Bangladesh, then he/she is not eligible to apply for an OCI card.

I am not very familiar with OCI, but I believe what you heard is correct -- your son can't get OCI because one of his parents is or was a Pakistani citizen.

Answered by user102008 on September 25, 2021

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