Q.783 Renouncing US citizenship

| Minor CAN renounce US

citizenship

Question: I am writing to you regarding ,applying for an Indian Passport for my son ,who is currently 14 years . He has his PIO card at the moment . He was born in Houston in 2001 and has USA passport and we are currently based in UAE- Dubai We would like to take to apply for his Indian passport because the whole family has Indian passports, and often there is a quite a bit of hassle due to one different nationality. I understand that the he cannot keep 2 passports and will have to have only one . From what I understand since the Parents and grandparents are Indian nationals, he is eligible to apply for Indian passport . Can you kindly let me know is the procedure ,do I have to route this through Indian embassy in UAE or do I need to come to CGI- Houston? looking forward for your reply and once again thank you for your time and cooperation Best Regards Sushmeta Answer: You need not come to the United States to renounce US citizenship. In fact renunciation of US citizenship needs to be done when you are in a foreign state and not present in USA. Before renouncing US citizenship, you need to apply for Indian citizenship for your son. Renunciation should be done only after Indian citizenship is approved. Articles on how to apply for Indian citizenship are already available on this website in a few articles. Two links are also provided at the end of this page. The procedure to renounce US citizenship involves a formal renunciation of nationality before a consular officer of the United States in any US embassy worldwide. The person renouncing citizenship must: • Appear in person • Be in a foreign country normally in the United States Embassy or Consulate • Sign an oath of renunciation

Fee for Renunciation of US Citizenship

Prior to September 5, 2014 the fee was US$ 450/- However effective September 6, 2014 the fee for renouncing US citizenship has been raised to US$ 2350/-

Minor renouncing US citizenship

Despite the general view that minors cannot renounce US citizenship, some minors can! Read on . . . Parents cannot relinquish US citizenship of their children. For a minor to renounce US citizenship, she/he must convince a US consular officer during a personal interview that the renunciation is being done voluntarily and the minor child understands the consequences. The consular officer will decide to grant or refuse the renunciation request based on his assessment following the interview. Since your son is now 14 years of age, a US consular officer will have to determine during an interview with your son whether he actually wants to renounce his US citizenship and is not doing it under any kind of pressure or influence of family members. That despite his age he fully understands the implications/consequences of renouncing US citizenship. In case the consular officer is not convinced that the minor understands the full consequence of his action, renunciation application may be refused and the child would have to wait until the age of majority to renounce. Suggest Reading on Acquiring Indian Citizenship: 1. Modes of acquiring Indian citizenship: http://nriinformation.com/articles3/indian_ citizenship.htm 2. Procedure of OCI applying for Indian Citizenship - Step by step: Go to question #777 or clicking HERE