Child born in India to parents with British passport and OCI

[ybalondon]

Dear all,

I and my wife hold British passports by naturalization for the past couple of years, and we both have OCIs. We are now stuck in India due to Covid situation. A child was born to us in India a month ago, and now we are trying to get the newborn to the UK at the earliest. Following are the options I came across, could someone with similar experience or knowledge offer some guidance please?

1. Apply for British passport from India: as the child is born to British passport holders, she has British citizenship by descent. However, looks like this route will take time. Does anyone know what are the recent processing times for new British passport for a newborn, when applying from India?

2. Or, apply for an Indian passport, and if successful, apply for RoA/CoE. From many other threads in this forum, looks like this route is faster. However, I wonder if my child is eligible for Indian citizenship, as both parents have British passports.
2.1 Is my OCI sufficient to give my child right to Indian citizenship? Or, given that processing British passport from overseas takes time, will Indian government give some exception and issue Indian passport for a short term?
2.2 Any idea what are the recent processing times for RoA/CoE? And given that the child is British by descent, will she be eligible for RoA/CoE even if she gets Indian passport?

3. Is there any other way to get her back to the UK using some emergency travel documents? And then she can apply for her British passport from the UK. Would the UK embassy in India able to help here?

4. And, is it ok to apply for both the Indian passports and British passports in parallel, so that British passport application is in progress even if Indian passport application fails.

Thanks and regards,
Aby

[secret.simon]

Indian law requires that for a child born in India to have Indian citizenship, at least one of the parents must be an Indian citizen (and the other parent must not be an illegal migrant).

If both parents are British citizens by naturalisation, that condition is obviously not met and therefore the child is not an Indian citizen. They are therefore not eligible for an Indian passport.

Is my OCI sufficient to give my child right to Indian citizenship?

To the best of my knowledge, no.

Or, given that processing British passport from overseas takes time, will Indian government give some exception and issue Indian passport for a short term?

If it does issue a travel document for the short-term, it won't be a passport. Passports carry certain responsibilities for the issuing government and it likely won't be issued lightly. They may possibly issue some other form of travel document.

3. Is there any other way to get her back to the UK using some emergency travel documents? And then she can apply for her British passport from the UK. Would the UK embassy in India able to help here?

You can contact the UK HIgh Commission and ask, but the general rule is that an Emergency Travel Document is only issued to people who have already had a British passport issued to them (and who therefore already have their biometrics and other information registered with the Passport Office).

4. And, is it ok to apply for both the Indian passports and British passports in parallel, so that British passport application is in progress even if Indian passport application fails.

No harm from the British point of view, though I do not know if you would be breaking Indian law by applying for a document that the applicant is obviously not eligible for.

I believe @Bobthemoggie is another user who had the same questions (having been in the same situation). He may be able to contribute to this thread more fruitfully, having gone through this route himself.

[ybalondon]

Thank you very much, @secret.simon, for your clear answers and suggestions. I will contact UK embassy as you suggested, to see if there's any emergency document they can help with.

In fact, the only requirement is to get the newborn to the UK. Anything that legally gets her to the UK once will do, not necessarily a passport or visa, as she can get her British passport from the UK.

But if the embassy says the only option is to apply and wait for the British passport from India, does anyone know what are the processing time these days?

[Bobthemoggie]

Yes. do contact British embassy.

If you have any pressing reason such as child's School starting, your employment, family matter in UK then do highlight that.

If your child manages to get Indian passport then ROA is also equally valid form of British citizenship, you don't need short term passport etc..one can continue on ROA as well

[silk route]

I had similar situation. I got my kid's first British passport by applying from India which took 6 month exactly. Then after you have to apply for kids exit permit through - FRRO.

[uat76672]

I am in the similar situation @ silk route, if you could please share me the check list of the documents and process that would be very needful.

Currently me and my wife on British passport acquired through naturalization and we are in India now on OCI.

[silk route]

I am in the similar situation @ silk route, if you could please share me the check list of the documents and process that would be very needful.

Currently me and my wife on British passport acquired through naturalization and we are in India now on OCI.

Currently, I am searching on different government resources what exactly is the requirement. FRRO website is half informed. Don't know whether to get exit permit or Indian visa... Or both??? Let me know if you also come across any additional info.

[uat76672]

Thanks for your quick replay @silkroute, my child was born in month of July, has part of the first step i need to complete/apply the British passport application from hear in India (Hyderabad), please can you confirm if the below is the right list.

1) Passport application form
2) British passports copy (Both Mother and Father)
3) Naturalisation certificate (Both Mother and Father)
4) OCI Card (Both Mother and Father)
5) Address proof e.g utility bill, bank statements, UK driving license
6) UK NI number card
7) Birth certificate issued by the local municipal authority
Birth certificate issued by the hospital where the birth took place
9) Maternity records from the India Hospital e.g Scans, Blood Reports
10) Photos taken during the birth

I'll dig some information in reference to exit visa and will update you.