Q392. Is minor US child born eligible for OCI if one parent is an Indian

Question: Hello. I am an Indian citizen with permanent residency in the US. My wife is a US citizen and holds OCI. We live in Virginia, US. We have a one-year old daughter, we did not register her birth in the Indian embassy in Washington DC, and we will soon be applying for her US passport. Could you kindly give me the following information: is our daughter eligible to apply for OCI if one parent(I) is an Indian citizen and the other parent (my wife) is a US citizen holding OCI? Or is she eligible only for PIO? (the OCI website says that if both parents are Indian citizens, then the minor child can apply only for PIO and not OCI). Thanks, RC

Answer: Not sure which OCI website you are referring to but my understanding of the rules is that your daughter is eligible to apply for OCI. • As long as one parent holds foreign citizenship and the other parent is an Indian citizen, their minor children can apply for OCI if one of the parents is eligible for OCI. • Only if both parents are Indian citizens, then their foreign born child can only apply for PIO and not for OCI. In your case as your wife has US citizenship with OCI, your daughter should be able to apply for OCI. Update: Effective January 6, 2015 Foreign spouse of Indian citizen or OCI holder can now apply for registration as an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) - For more info see ‘Recent changes to OCI’ >>