Child status in India if we acquire British citizenship

[micky1579]

Hi,

I am currently on ILR (and so are my wife and 3 year old son who is born in UK). I will be eligible for British citizenship next year. We intend to return to India to settle by end of 2014 due to family reasons however I want to keep my options open to come and settle in UK Just in case.

Also, i do not want to go to settle in India after taking British citizenship + OCI for my son as that way our child will be treated in OCI category throughout his education which can pose educational restrictions and exorbitant fees (OCI category fees).

If me and my wife take British citizenship and OCI but do not register our son as British citizen as of now so that he remains an Indian citizen (and with an option to become British citizen any time in future), will it work OR can it pose some issues for us in settling in India. In case we want to come back to UK, we can register our son as British citizen and then come to UK and settle here. I just wanted to check if this is a viable option or I am going to land up in some unknown issue with this approach in India.

Thanks in advance for your views on this.

[gidoc]

Your son is eligible for British Citizenship now, you will have to apply next year but you havent got it yet.
There isnt much you can do now.
If you are going to settle in India, why do you want to be British citizens?
You want to take the British Citizenship but want your son to retain Indian citizenship. Yes, sure , you can do that. You will then be denying your child, what he rightfully should have, being born in the UK.

No wonder youre confused!

[micky1579]

Hi,

yes i am confused indeed .Please see my reasoning

"Your son is eligible for British Citizenship now, you will have to apply next year but you havent got it yet.
There isnt much you can do now.
If you are going to settle in India, why do you want to be British citizens? "

[Mickey]: I want to keep an option open for my son to come to UK whenever we feel a need for the same in next 10-15 years. The easiest way is for us to take British citizenship and keep this link intact. No one knows about future and even though we have decided to Return to India, i am aware that lots of R2I result into failures and people return back. Taking British citizenship now will help me come back easier. Hope this makes sense. I do not want to let the time I have already spent here go waste by loosing this opportunity. We can always take Indian citizenship after 5 years if we make our mind to stay in India for ever.

"You want to take the British Citizenship but want your son to retain Indian citizenship. Yes, sure , you can do that. You will then be denying your child, what he rightfully should have, being born in the UK."

[Mickey]: As of now, we are returning to India and so my son's education primary and secondary eduction will happen in India. It doesn't make sense for us to let him get British citizenship and then pay 2-3 times fees under OCI category in India along with other restrictions. In case we decide to come back to UK and permanently settle here, I always have the option to apply of British citizenship for him. Hope it makes sense..


I have another question. If only I take British citizenship and my wife doesn't take it (She is on ILR now). We then stay in India for say 15 years and then decide to come back to UK for permanent stay then

a) will she be able to come back on ILR OR she will have to take some other visa (like dependent) because ILR will no more be valid as she has stayed for 15 years in India.

b) After coming to UK, can she straightaway apply for British citizenship or she will have to again go through some other criteria for the same. (like staying for another 5 years here).


Finally, is there any issue in working in India (software industry) as a british citizen with OCI status.

We are all getting eligible for British citizenship in next week and so it will be great if I can get some help on this.

Thanks.

[ban.s]

Your child:

You can always register your son as a BC u/s 1(3) until he reaches 18.

Your wife:

re. (a) and (b) She will lose her ILR status if stayed in India for more than 2 years. She needs to apply as returning residents

Working in India with OCI - no problem at all.

[micky1579]

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.

[vinny]

If your wife spends 15 years in India, then she probably won't qualify as a returning resident.

[faislondon]

Hi Micky,

Are you still in UK?. Did you acquire BC?

[nehalbhagat]

See my post regarding OCI benefit, It says your child can study in indian education system under general catagory student

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... b0eff24588