Having a Baby in US or India

satya99999

Hi,

Now we are in USA and might return back permanently to India in another couple of years. Now we are expecting a baby in next couple of months. So we are confussed whether to have a baby in USA or India because if we have in USA, baby will become US citizen and if we go back to India, baby will become foreigner to India offcouse we will have PIO.
What advantages you will get if we have baby her ?

Thanks in advance

seventies'hippy

An American Passport comes to mind,,,,,,,,,,,

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SANJAY_DEL

I know of a lot of people in India who hanker after the US green card for half their lives.
The US passport offers a lot of previleges that only Uncle Sam can provide and no other power on earth.
Yet, I'm happy to be in India , and oh-so-lucky that I was born Indian.
This is such a personal decision that you both have to make.

The Government of India have now made it easier in that dual citizenship is now allowed for Persons of Indian Origin, so your child , even if born in the USA, can still lay full claim to the Indian heritage.

batistuta

Having a US passport helps a lot when applying for visas when one has to travel around the world.The same cant be said of Indian passport.When the Indian gov is providing facilities which are as good as having Indian passport ,why not take the best advantage of both worlds?.

satya99999

Thanks for all your inputs.
We are actually concern about baby studies. I heard If baby born in US and if we want to make him/her to study in India then fees will be more when compared Indian born.

satya99999

My question is educational expenses for OCI (or PIO) card holder. Are children with OCI (or PIO) status charged more than the regular fees in schools and colleges in India?
Thanks in advance.

SANJAY_DEL

No they are not.

Shaktipalooza

It's been a while since I researched the school issues but I believe Sanjay is correct. Children with PIO/OCI status have parity with Indian citizens.

My wife and I struggled with this same issue for a while, to have our first child in the US or India. I'll run down the two main issues that affected our decision.

We plan on moving to an area of India where we do not have family. That would make it more difficult to find the style health care we wanted for our pregnancy. It would take time getting to know the hospitals, pediatricians, ob/gyns. In Portland we had lots of recommendations available, pre/post natal classes, new parent groups, in short, a lot of support available in community where we are already comfortable.

Citizenship. This issue extended to my spouse. She is (was) an Indian citizen. After months of deliberation we finally ceded that a PIO/OCI card was indeed the best option for us. We plan on coming back to the US often and don't want any hassles when it comes to visas and employment. We decided the same was true for our soon to be born child.

So our son was born last June. Mrs Shaktipalooza aquired her US citizenship a couple of months ago. We then applied for wife and sons US passports which arrived in the mail two days ago.

Next step is to apply for the PIO/OCI cards. Should take a month or two. During this time we'll put the house up for sale and get ready for the big move!

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silicon_brain

Sanjay is correct.

I know, one of my friend, his wife traveled to US from India in 7th month of pregnancy just to make sure, the new born will have a US passport.

US passport will give you much privilege to travel anywhere around the world and for India you always have PIO option.

Even international schools in India will easily absorb your child for education. the cost of education fees is pretty high both for Indian and non-Indian. They will not ask for your Child's passport while applying for admission. You should have any residence proof thats all.

edwardseco

Yes, US citizenship is retained no matter where the birth assuming the parent had it. A great way to round out the advantages I would say..

kmalik

If one of the parents is an Indian citizen, the child born anywhere ought to have rights to an Indian citizenship. If the child were born in the USA, (s)he would have the rights to a US citizenship. The child would likely not have to decide on the one to keep until (s)he reaches adulthood. That's generally the principle involved, even if the countries involved do not allow dual citizenship (India, in this case). You may wish to confirm this with an Indian lawyer...

Shaktipalooza

That was an interesting topic for us. Our son was born in the US while Mrs S was still an Indian citizen. So I suppose he would have had the right to hold an Indian passport. The option might be there but for all practicalities it will be easier with the US passport, especially since my wife recently received her US citizenship. I can see how all sorts of hassles would have arisen with our son having an Indian passport while both parents are US citizens.

It's ironic the US citizenship is so desirable while so many people deplore the actions of the US government. We know a woman whose parents actually had all their children in the US then moved right back to India and raised them there.

kmalik

Shaktipalooza - Since your wife has already given up the Indian citizenship, it might not be an option anymore. However, if it were an option, I'd suggest looking at it this way: it is/should not be an either/or decision. Until your son reached adulthood, your son ought to be able to hold BOTH Indian and US citizenships. And, ultimately - the choice of citizenship is a decision that ought to be his. On a practical level, it is possible that the Indian citizenship becomes a more coveted asset in 15-20 years from now...

That said, the hassle factor of dealing with bureaucracy is undoubtedly a significant deterrent...

Nick-H

I think Shakti has already established that OCI is going to give his son that option in the future, as well as giving his wife the option to return to Indian citizenship should she so desire.

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eileen

Interesting to be reading this thread and then have this experience.
I have just returned from the Forginers Regional Regestration Office. I had to update something, so I thought I would check with someone to make sure I had all of the info for my son's OCI card. I was informed by someone faily senior, that children cannot apply for the card. They can be tacked on to an adult application, but may not apply on their own. Children who qualify for the OCI can apply for POI status and then change it when they are 18 years old. I did not read this on the Ministy of Home Affiars web-site, although it may be barried in there. I was pretty disappointed, but glad I had not done all of the work first.

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