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Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 10:01 am
by vnsarvind
Hi All,
My 2 year old son was born in UK and we went to India once with his Indian passport.
Now he got British passport, so do we need OCI / Indian Visa for him to travel to India or he can use Indian passport?
Is this the rule that child can have both citizenship (and both Passports) until he is turning 18 years and after that child can decide whether he/she need British citizenship or Indian citizenship (and accordingly choose passports)?
Please advise.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:01 am
by CR001
Was he born before or after you got ILR?
Did you have to register him as British in form MN1?
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:43 am
by vnsarvind
He was born before my ILR, that's why I have his Indian passport (I got his passport on Sept-2020).
In July 2022, I got my ILR, so now I got his British passport (few days back).
Did you have to register him as British in form MN1? :
NO. I didn't register him as British in form MN1.
It was not requirement for Naturalisation.
He got naturalisation & British Passport now.
Please let me know if you need any other information.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:45 am
by CR001
Children are registered as british not naturalised.
As he was born before you got ilr, you would have had to apply to register the child as british on form MN1 first before applying for a british passport.
If you formally registered rhe child as british, then the child has lost their Indian citizenship.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:47 am
by contorted_svy
Sorry but I do not understand how you got a British passport for your son without registering him as a British citizen?
If he has a British passport anyway, he is a British citizen, and from my knowledge that means he lost Indian citizenship as India doesn't allow dual nationality.
To travel to India you would need to inquire with Indian authorities (and you might have to surrender your son's Indian passport)
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:13 pm
by meself2
i think you'd need to apply for a visa/OCI for him then
eg from
https://www.indianembassydublin.gov.in/ ... tizenship/ :
The Constitution of India does not permit holding of dual nationality by Indian nationals. As and when an Indian national obtains a foreign nationality, he/she is not entitled to retain dual citizenship and has to renounce their citizenship at the time of acquiring another nationality.
Renunciation of Indian nationality is irrevocable and due care must be exercised in making an application for renunciation. On acquisition of foreign citizenship all Indian nationals included Minors should renounce the Indian citizenship.
https://visa.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/in ... n-passport for more info
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:10 am
by vnsarvind
CR001 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:45 am
Children are registered as british not naturalised.
As he was born before you got ilr, you would have had to apply to register the child as british on form MN1 first before applying for a british passport.
If you formally registered rhe child as british, then the child has lost their Indian citizenship.
Child got naturalisation certificate and when applying for British passport, authority just needs naturalisation certificate and old Indian passport.
MN1 form is only if you are living in British overseas.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:15 am
by vnsarvind
contorted_svy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:47 am
Sorry but I do not understand how you got a British passport for your son without registering him as a British citizen?
If he has a British passport anyway, he is a British citizen, and from my knowledge that means he lost Indian citizenship as India doesn't allow dual nationality.
To travel to India you would need to inquire with Indian authorities (and you might have to surrender your son's Indian passport)
He got naturalisation.
In one of post it’s written as:
Response date : January 8 2022.
Response by CR001
Title: Father ILR, Mother ILR dependent and baby born in UK
A child born automatically British in the UK to Indian parents is able to hold both nationalities until they turn 18, when they would then have to decide which citizenship to keep and which to give up.
I am bit confused with different responses.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:17 am
by vnsarvind
meself2 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:13 pm
i think you'd need to apply for a visa/OCI for him then
eg from
https://www.indianembassydublin.gov.in/ ... tizenship/ :
The Constitution of India does not permit holding of dual nationality by Indian nationals. As and when an Indian national obtains a foreign nationality, he/she is not entitled to retain dual citizenship and has to renounce their citizenship at the time of acquiring another nationality.
Thanks for your response.
Is this applicable for MINORS also ( less than 18 years)?
Renunciation of Indian nationality is irrevocable and due care must be exercised in making an application for renunciation. On acquisition of foreign citizenship all Indian nationals included Minors should renounce the Indian citizenship.
https://visa.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/in ... n-passport for more info
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:19 am
by vnsarvind
CR001 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:45 am
Children are registered as british not naturalised.
As he was born before you got ilr, you would have had to apply to register the child as british on form MN1 first before applying for a british passport.
If you formally registered rhe child as british, then the child has lost their Indian citizenship.
Please refer this link:
indefinite-leave-to-remain/father-ilr-m ... 24483.html
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 8:10 am
by CR001
vnsarvind wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:19 am
CR001 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:45 am
Children are registered as british not naturalised.
As he was born before you got ilr, you would have had to apply to register the child as british on form MN1 first before applying for a british passport.
If you formally registered rhe child as british, then the child has lost their Indian citizenship.
Please refer this link:
indefinite-leave-to-remain/father-ilr-m ... 24483.html
This user baby was born After one parent already had ilr, which makes the baby automatically british.
Not the same as your situation at all where your child was born BEFORE you got ilr and was NOT automatically british.
vnsarvind wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:10 am
CR001 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:45 am
Children are registered as british not naturalised.
As he was born before you got ilr, you would have had to apply to register the child as british on form MN1 first before applying for a british passport.
If you formally registered rhe child as british, then the child has lost their Indian citizenship.
Child got naturalisation certificate and when applying for British passport, authority just needs naturalisation certificate and old Indian passport.
MN1 form is only if you are living in British overseas.
You applied to formally REGISTER the child as British and have a registration certificate. Only adults are naturalised. As this was a voluntary process you did and the child obtained another citizenship, the child loses their Indian citizenship.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:29 am
by vnsarvind
Thanks for your response.
He got British citizenship now and Britain allow dual citizenship.
Now after surrendering my son passport, should I re-apply for Indian citizenship for him (if I want him as Indian citizen also)
Any other option, since he already have Indian citizenship?,
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:47 am
by secret.simon
This thread is going all over the place, so let's focus it.
A child can hold both British and Indian citizenship only if he acquired both at the time of birth. That would apply in case
(a) if the child is born in the UK to an Indian parent with ILR, or
(b) if the child is born in India to one British citizen parent and one Indian parent.
Note that these conditions must be met at the time of the birth of the child. If the child meets these conditions, the child can continue to hold both citizenships till the age of 18. Note however, that the child can't hold both
passports (again, a limitation imposed by Indian law). They would need to have an Indian passport with a CoE-RoA stamped into it.
If the child acquires a non-Indian citizenship at any time after birth, by registration or naturalisation or any other process,
Indian law (UK law does not care about this) automatically removes Indian citizenship from such a child.
Conversely, to acquire Indian citizenship, Indian law requires them to give up any other citizenship.
Therefore, for voluntary (as opposed to acquisition by birth) acquisition of any citizenship, Indian law forces a choice between Indian citizenship and any other citizenship.
For any questions about either Indian citizenship or OCI, please post a thread in the
Other Countries forum.
Re: Minor - Indian and UK Passport
Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2022 7:40 am
by vnsarvind
Thank you.
This is really helpful information.
secret.simon wrote: ↑Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:47 am
This thread is going all over the place, so let's focus it.
A child can hold both British and Indian citizenship only if he acquired both at the time of birth. That would apply in case
(a) if the child is born in the UK to an Indian parent with ILR, or
(b) if the child is born in India to one British citizen parent and one Indian parent.
Note that these conditions must be met at the time of the birth of the child. If the child meets these conditions, the child can continue to hold both citizenships till the age of 18. Note however, that the child can't hold both
passports (again, a limitation imposed by Indian law). They would need to have an Indian passport with a CoE-RoA stamped into it.
If the child acquires a non-Indian citizenship at any time after birth, by registration or naturalisation or any other process,
Indian law (UK law does not care about this) automatically removes Indian citizenship from such a child.
Conversely, to acquire Indian citizenship, Indian law requires them to give up any other citizenship.
Therefore, for voluntary (as opposed to acquisition by birth) acquisition of any citizenship, Indian law forces a choice between Indian citizenship and any other citizenship.
For any questions about either Indian citizenship or OCI, please post a thread in the
Other Countries forum.