216. Choose Indian or Canadian

passport for new born

Q. Hello Mr. Chand, I am Madhuri and we(my husband and me) are staying in Canada-Toronto since 2 years under work permit and are Indian Citizens. Now, my question is: We have our child born in Toronto next year and I want to go to India immediately after delivery within a month to my Mom's place in India -Hyderabad. Can we get an Indian Passport for my child even though the child is born in Toronto? or should we surely take the Canadian passport? we want to take the Indian Passport since after say some 2-3 years when we want to go back and settle down in India, we dont want to have any problem for our child having Canadian passport in view of Donations in school and colleges or else where. what are the options that we have? what is the procedure to obtain Indian Passport and how soon does it take to get the passport for our child? Also, i heard that child born in Canada, even after having Indian passport can at any time obtain Canadian passport when ever she wants to have (wish and will of the child after she is major)? is it true? what is the procedure involved in this? Thanks in advance. Please advice us and clarify the things. Thanks AGAIN Madhuri A: Yes you can get Indian Passport for your new born child, or if you prefer you can get a Canadian passport. However you cannot get both passports. While Canada allows its citizens to hold two passports, India does not. So you and your husband would have to decide the route to take. You are correct in assuming that a child born in Canada, holding an Indian passport can select Canadian citizenship on becoming a major. Please be aware that a child born outside India on or after 3rd December, 2004 shall not be a citizen of India, unless the parents declare that the minor does not hold passport of another country and his birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of the date of birth.

How to get Indian passport for new

born child born abroad:

1. You should first get the child's birth registration certificate as soon as possible as this will be required. This birth registration is the Canadian birth registration. The hospital where the baby is born will normally provide you with the registration form or perhaps a brochure on how to proceed. Don't confuse this with the birth registration at Indian consulates. 2. Registration of birth should also be done at the nearest Indian consulate. This registration must be done within a year of birth of the child. However, as you won't have enough time, you could apply to the Indian Consulate for child's birth registration as well as India passport at the same time. 3. An undertaking is required that the child has not applied for any other passport to get a Indian passport. A sample for the required form to be filled in for registering the birth of a minor child born abroad can be seen by clicking HERE. 4. How long it takes to get a passport for your child would depend on the consulate where you apply, I would guess a three to four week period would be required. Options you have are to get a Canadian passport for your child. Since both of your are Indian citizens, your child cannot get OCI status so you should get PIO card for your child. As far as schools fees etc are concerned, I would not worry too much about this, if both of you are Indian citizens and your child is a minor the chances are that extra fees may not be charged. In case you decided to take your child to India on an Indian passport, you should check with the Canadian authorities as to how you could bring your child back to Canada. Being born in Canada the baby would be deemed to be a Canadian Citizen and visas are given to non-citizens. In such a case, as the child is born in Canada you could use the birth certificate to get a Canadian passport but then you would have to surrender the Indian passport of the child as India does not allow its citizens to hold two passports. You may be interested to read about a question similar to yours, look for question number 125 ‘How to get a Indian Passport for baby born in Canada’.