New US Citizen, Can I travel to India on my old passport

Um, Carco, you've referred to some quite old experiences in India of yours in some of your posts.

That would to me suggest a level of maturity.

Your frequent use of yo, dude, shit, crap, bull, etc., would suggest someone rather juvenile however.

Maybe take it easy on the lip some? Just a friendly suggestion.

I became a british citizen in January 2012 and did extensive research on this matter.

This is how the situation is (at least in the UK)from personal experience

1. You technically lose your indian nationality on the date that you become a citizen of another country.Please note that this is the date on which you took the oath/ceremony for citizenship of the country and not the date on which you got your passport.

2. The indian government gives you a 3 month grace period to sort out your visa/OCI/PIO etc.The 3 month period starts from the date on your oath/swearing/nauralisation ceremony and certificate and NOT from the date when your new passport was issued.

3.There are no issues if you have to travel to India in this 3 month period. Though I did go to india within 2 weeks of my naturalisation in the UK, I entered and exited india on my indian passport.( I suggest that you do that and dont use your US passport in India. Use it only for exit and entry into the US.)

4. As soon as you come back from india you should surrender your indian passport and get a surrender certificate. You can then apply for an OCI or PIO . I got the OCI last week from the indian high commission at london.

5.Provided that you surrender your indian passport within the 3 month grace period as mentioned in point 2 you are not going to be fined/reprimanded for any trips made to india in this period.However if you still keep on using the Indian passport after this 3month period, then you are liable for a fine when you eventually try to surrender your indian passport.

I do agree that the language by the poster could have been a bit more mature. But some of the posts in this thread are totally crazy!!!.I fact if I had mod status I would ban/warn members for deliberately spreading false information.

True, but a minor detail USCIS is not involved after sending out the letter; The Pledge of Allegiance is administered by a Judge. In NYC it is a State Supreme Court Judge, other places may vary. They do not ask for anything other than the PR card and the Letter sent to the permanent resident.

As long you are taking the citizenship of a country which allows dual nationality, you should'nt have any problems keeping both passports( at least during the 3 month grace period provided by India). And USA does allow dual nationality!!!!

I did contact the british home office prior to my travel to India and that was their response and AFAIK the USA also allows dual nationality with the only requirement that you should enter and exit the USA with your US passport.

I had to take my Indian passport for my british citizenship cermony. However The britsh govt has no problems even if you keep your indian passport after you become a British citizen. It is the Indian Government who has issues with it as I have mentioned in the earlier post.

While the HCI London has stated a 3 month grace period, it is neither codified in Ministry of Home Affairs or Ministry of External Affairs site in India. It only is to reflect the ground realities of the logistics that HCI and some other missions abroad might have. This 3 month grace did not exist in yonder era; and the 3 month grace has been recently instituted to address the delays caused by middlemen/outsourced entities in various countries.

There are still missions in many countries that give same day visa and other services. Remember the missions in these countries issue fewer visas in a year, than each consulate in many of the countries issue in a day.

Why is this important in the US case ?

The rules of Exit/Entry in UK might be different than in US. You exit US on US passport to India; the airlines transmit the APIS data to India before the flight lands. It carries your name, nationality and US passport no: that is what is matched with the manifest transmitted to India immigrations at the destination airport. You cannot do a switcharoo. EU/UK tend to not bother too much with co-relating APIS data with your passport.

The followup implications of APIS data become clear USG wants to see its citizens enter with and leave with USP. The combination of lack of proper co-relation of exit-entry data makes it problematic for the pax ( the full details of these thorny aspects is outside the scope. )

In the US case, short of a death in the family, or serious emergency; I'd just postpone my swearing in, and sleep peacefully.

I would rather trust my own 2 eyes at the ceremony in Los Angeles than someone who hasn't been there. Authority is another question indeed as I also suggested. Who trumps all is my spouse who since she is Bengali knows more than all of us (as she says). However, if had met my future Bengali neighbors by then who also went through the ceremony I would have known the workaround that they employed..

US law does not address dual nationality. They however do not explicitly do anything about it

The tricky problem comes not from British, but the operant logistics of US exit/entry issues and modern day issues and the seriousness with which DHS & CBP takes APIS data.

I feel that you are making a mountain out of a molehill
!!' All I would do In such a case is to check in personally instead of
an online check in.

APIS data is rubbish by the way. No one takes it seriously until you actually check in !!!!

Well point noted. I used USCIS in the generic sense since they are the agency responsible for the whole naturalization process. I'll go a step above and add 'Any US govt agency'.
Oaths where I took mine are administered in Federal district courthouse by a Federal judge normally except for 3 or 4 times in a year (4th of July, Labor day, Memorial day etc) when it is done in a huge indoor stadium in one of those mass naturalization gala events.
And yes, all you need are the oath letter and green card and nothing else. No Indian passport or foreign country travel documents and the GC supersedes them all

[Quote]As long you are taking the citizenship of a country which allows dual nationality, you should'nt have any problems keeping both passports( at least during the 3 month grace period provided by India). And USA does allow dual nationality!!!![/Quote[

The problem won't arise from the US side or UK side since they both allow dual nationality. It will be from India.

The 3 month grace rule is vague and you don't happen to carry any kind of official travel document validating that to argue with the immigration officer in India when you land. Best case, you might be hassled for hours and worst case in India...who knows.

I personally would wait for OCI/PIO before I travel or postpone my oath ceremony to a later date so I can legitimately land in India as a Indian citizen and return to US as a PR. It avoids hassles with the Indian bureaucrats.


I'll make this short and sweet and as succinct as possible.

http://www.ilw.com/forms/N445.pdf

That is the generic official copy of N445 a.k.a oath ceremony notification letter.

If you will scroll down to the section bolded 'You MUST bring the following with you', no where on there does it say that you have to produce your alien passport and surrender it to them during oath ceremony, as per your steadfast claim.

I am not going to dispute your claim otherwise from alleged personal experience and don't need to.

If someone had asked me for my Indian passport be surrendered to them at the oath ceremony, I'd have told them that I did not bring it and nor is it mentioned anywhere on the letter that I need to do that. No lies or tricks needed. End of story.

It also begs the logical question....if one were to give away their Indian passport to the US authorities, what would they surrender to the Indian consulate when they renounce Indian citizenship? I suppose you can tell them the dog ate your Indian passport or you were so elated on the day you acquired US citizenship, you threw the desi passport in a bonfire and hope they buy that.

If I recall correctly, there is a specific question on OCI Application Form asking whether the applicant has traveled on Indian passport after becoming citizen of another country. A serious fine is levied if the answer is YES! Perjury, if one tries to lie about it. I did not run into three month grace period rule anywhere, not to say that it does not exist.

Bottom Line: Seek special permission from Indian Consulate if you have to travel in emergency.

Courtesy of another thread we have the answer! You have to file an affidavit about the dog, etc. and of course, pay more money..

I am amazed that when the OP is being specific about US-India, then people from other countries chime in about their experiences. Although they may be interesting in their own right, they are not relevant to the present thread.

During the oath ceremony to accept US citizenship, the green card is surrendered and application forms for a US passport is handed out. People are advised to fill them at the ceremony itself (we did). The new US citizen is then given the certificate of naturalization and until one gets the US passport, this is their only proof of citizenship (don't forget Green card is surrendered). No one is asked to hand over their "foreign" passport, all the ceremony stresses is to "show allegiance to the US constitution & US flag".

If the OP were to use the3-month grace period to visit India on the Indian passport, pray, how will he re-enter the US? At this point OP does not have a US passport nor the Green Card . And when does the clock of the 3-month grace period start? Will the Indian government accept a US documentation (certificate of naturalization)?

Best is to apply for the US passport immediately and it does not take much time for the process. I have wondered why they distribute the application immediately in the ceremony - I have my own theories:

1. The person becomes a voter since the passport is used as ID + the ruling party (Republican or Democrat) hopes to get new voters since during their regime the person became a US citizen!
2. The government gets revenue.

Cheers

Nattusbs

Nattusbs, getting your US passport after taking oath is easy. You can go into a regional passport center and apply for one and have it on hand within 2-3 days. OP says he has to leave after 7 days of his oath so US side won't be an issue and you can obtain and travel on a US passport within 7 days and re-enter US using the same.

However, after oath, your Indian status is I don't know what. Technically you have renounced Indian citizenship by swearing allegiance to US and you have neither formally renounced Indian citizenship and nor have OCI/PIO. I am not going to doubt this 3 month grace rule but however unless I am issued a travel document to that effect to land in India, I personally would not take that chance. If there is a grace 3 month rule and people have to travel shortly after their oath, I'd expect Indian consulate to issue me a legit travel document to that effect. Something like tatkal service visa or similar. I personally would not land in India trying to explain some guy sitting in the airport immigration counter about the 3 month rule without a valid travel document to strengthen my position.