499. US born baby must surrender

Indian passport . . .

Question: Hello. My wife and I are Indian citizens living in Virginia, US. We had a child 6 months ago, and we found out that we can register our child's birth at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. The embassy requires that we also apply for our child's Indian passport along with the application to register her birth. We have not applied for a US passport for our child. My question: after registering our child's birth and getting her Indian passport, can she still hold on to her Indian passport if we apply for a US passport for her? Or are we required to surrender her Indian passport as soon as she gets her US passport? Thank you, RC Answer: Yes! Once a person holding an Indian passport acquires foreign citizenship, they must surrender their Indian passport. India does NOT allow dual citizenship. By registering your child’s birth you would have the advantage that even if your child gets an American passport and surrenders the Indian passport, the option to re-gain Indian citizenship on reaching the age of majority is still there. The only drawback would be that whenever a US citizen opts to acquire Indian citizenship, they would have to renounce their US citizenship and hence loose their US passport.