Q.1162 OCI renouncing US

citizenship to save on school

fees in India

Question: I am an OCI card holder. Next year,I am turning 18 and I wish to renounce my US citizenship and have indian citizenship alone mainly because I feel that the college fees for an OCI is so high just like for an NRI. This year end I need to apply for entrance exams to get into indian college for which I will I have to submit all the OCI forms. I feel this will cause lots of commotion because when I attempt entrances as OCI,I will come under foreign quota. The next year in march(turning 18) I would be renouncing my US citizenship. So when the results for entrances are out in june and I apply for college,Will the indian colleges accept me as Indian national because I had attempted the entrances(conducted in may) as an OCI(submitted OCI forms in entrance application forms) and later converted to Indian citizen? I think I can avoid all these problems if I renounce US citizenship this year itself but I am still 17 now. I don't know if I can approach the embassy and ask for renounciation of US citizenship being a minor. Even if I renounce it after I turn 18 also,It seems to cause problems with my admission to colleges. Can someone please suggest me what I can do about this? Answer: Actually it is possible to renounce US citizenship even at age 17. What is required is that the US consular officer during an interview must be convinced that the person under age 18 seeking to renounce US citizenship fully understands the nature and consequences of their decision to renounce their US citizenship. For minors consular officials perhaps will want to make sure that the minor is not simply doing so due to pressure from parents etc. The procedure to renounce US citizenship from abroad can be done at US embassies/consulates and involves a personal appearance before a United States Consular or Diplomatic officer for an interview and the signing of oath of renunciation. While your desire and reasoning to renounce your US citizenship is something for you yourself to consider and decide, I would caution you to make an informed decision. There are many advantages of US citizenship, you are still young and you should understand that the renunciation of US citizenship once done, cannot be canceled. As a final note, keep in mind that the fee for renunciation of US citizen currently is US$2,350 which works out to about 1.5 Lakh Rupees. Renouncing US citizenship to save higher college fees applicable to foreign students in India, does not make any sense to me.