388. How to renounce US

citizenship of a minor child . . .

Question: Dear Sir, Me and my wife got immigration to US around 3 yrs ago and my younger daughter who was born here in 2010 and got made here US passport after getting her birth certificate. Actually, we wanted to go back to India permanently and we got tourist visa for her. But now the problem is that her being a US citizen how can we get her Indian citizenship as we both are green card holders. Can we apply for her Indian citizenship in India as tourist visa permits for not to stay more than 180 days. We want to settle back in India which shall lead to losing of green cards for both of us and we both are agreed with this but we want to change her citizenship too. Please guide us regarding this issue. Thanking you, Yours faithfully, Barinder singh Answer: Since you made the mistake of getting a US passport for your three year old daughter, it will not be possible for you, to get Indian citizenship for your daughter in India. The reason for this is, to get Indian citizenship, there is a condition that the person renounce their foreign citizenship, and here is where the problem arises! Minors cannot renounce their citizenship. While most countries do not allow minors to renounce their citizenship until they reach the age of eighteen. The US does allow under the age of eighteen children to renounce US citizenship. The child in such cases, has to be of an age where they understand the actions they are taking. When minors renounce their US citizenship, they are interviewed by US consular officers, always without the presence of the parents to determine that the minor child is not being pressured into renouncing US citizenship. The purpose of the interview is to try and ascertain that the minor child is aware about their renunciation of citizenship application, whether they really want to renounce US citizenship and fully understand the consequences of such an action. Your three year old daughter of course is still quite young to be able to go through the renunciation procedure. When minors do renounce US citizenship, they are allowed to claim US citizenship again if within six months of reaching age 18 they apply for US citizenship. Currently you only feasible option would be to get a PIO Card for your daughter and let time take its course. The PIO card will take away the problem of repeatedly getting Indian visas for your daughter. God knows this may turn out to be the best for your daughter in the long run.