Q.923 Queries regarding overstay

in India for a minor child from USA

Sir, My sister is an Indian citizen and She also has a US Green card. She was residing in USA along with her Husband and 4.5 year old daughter. Her daughter is a US citizen and recently, she came to India with my sister on July 21st on a e-Tourist Visa. Her e- Tourist visa expired on Aug 19th. My sister and her daughter were scheduled to travel back to US on 18th of August but her Husband has initiated a Divorce notice from a lawyer on the date of travel and cancelled the return tickets for my sister and her daughter. In current circumstances, her daughter would be unable to travel back to the US on her own and her visa needs to be extended / stay needs to be legalized in India . Since, she is on e-Tourist visa now, we are unable to extend / convert her visa. Right now she is over staying her visa period in India and we are looking for options to legalize her stay in India until issue is sorted out. We have the following questions - 1. We have plans to exit India and return with a valid Indian tourist visa for my sisters daughter. Any suggestions on the country to visit for getting Indian tourist visa ? 2.Since her daughter's e-Tourist visa has expired now. Will it have any issues when She exit India and apply for getting a regular Indian Tourist visa ? 3.Being a single parent now, She would be the only person to sign any documents for her daughter's Indian tourist visa. Will that be sufficient or would her Husband's signature would be needed mandatory ? 4.Please let me know what would be the documents required for applying Indian Tourist visa for a minor ? Please also let me know if you have any other suggestions . Thanks a lot for your help ! Answer: Indeed a sad situation for anyone to be in such circumstances. I am in the process of traveling to India from the United States and just wanted to respond to your query as soon as possible. I can offer some suggestions that I hope might help your sister deal with this situation. Few options to consider: As the mother of a US citizen, your sister can contact the US Embassy for help. Contact FRRO and explain situation, visa extension may be allowed depending on circumstances. There is no harm in contacting FRRO as the child is not at fault and these are circumstances beyond the control of your sister. If an attempt is made to leave India the possibility is always there that the over stay of visa would be identified at point of departure when exiting India. The FRRO would also be the place to get an exit permit to leave India, once you explain the visa overstay, they will issue a exit visa, perhaps on payment of a small monetary penalty. Before your sister makes a decision to settle down in India she should carefully consider all her options and not take a hasty decision both for herself and for the child. Green card status of a spouse is NOT automatically lost in case of divorce. Hope this helps!