Confused about Canada/India Citizenship for my kids

[Adbhutha]

Hi,
We (Parents: Indian Citizens having Canada PR) have a daughter (4 years) who is born in Vancouver, Canada, so she is a Canadian citizen and she has Canadian Passport. I didn't register her with the Indian Consulate yet. When I went to India for vacation, I got an Indian Visa for her. But we want to eventually move back to India, may be in 2-3 years. Considering the fact that the School fees for NRIs in India are very very high, I don't want to even get OCI for her, I am thinking to get Indian Passport for her. So can you guide me on the next steps ? Do we really need to surrender the Canadian Passport because the actual decision should be taken @ the age of 18 ? Can you share the CIC link where it states the process to reclaim/decide Canada Citizenship @ the age of 18 for him ?

I have a new born son as well, he is born in Vancouver as well. I didn't apply for Canadian Passport yet. The reason we gave birth to him in Vancouver is because if he was born in India, we would have had to apply PR for him (they don't give Visa to kids of PR holders) and that would have obviously taken more than 3 months. Now should I directly apply for Indian Passport for him ? Or since he is a citizen by birth, should we apply for Canadian passport first ?

Thank you.

 

[Bryanna]

We (Parents: Indian Citizens having Canada PR) have a daughter (4 years) who is born in Vancouver, Canada, so she is a Canadian citizen and she has Canadian Passport. I didn't register her with the Indian Consulate yet. When I went to India for vacation, I got an Indian Visa for her. But we want to eventually move back to India, may be in 2-3 years. Considering the fact that the School fees for NRIs in India are very very high, I don't want to even get OCI for her, I am thinking to get Indian Passport for her. So can you guide me on the next steps ? Do we really need to surrender the Canadian Passport because the actual decision should be taken @ the age of 18 ? Can you share the CIC link where it states the process to reclaim/decide Canada Citizenship @ the age of 18 for him ?

She cannot hold both Canadian and Indian passports simultaneously because India does not allow dual citizenship. So, yes, she would need to surrender her Canadian citizenship if you decide to go through this process.

I have a new born son as well, he is born in Vancouver as well. I didn't apply for Canadian Passport yet. The reason we gave birth to him in Vancouver is because if he was born in India, we would have had to apply PR for him (they don't give Visa to kids of PR holders) and that would have obviously taken more than 3 months. Now should I directly apply for Indian Passport for him ? Or since he is a citizen by birth, should we apply for Canadian passport first ?

You can apply for an Indian passport directly.


Hopefully, you will not deprive your children of their Canadian citizenship just because of school fees in India:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/indian-citizenship-for-canada-born-child.547928/#post-6777181

 

[canuck78]

You want the best of both worlds. You moved to Canada so can have Canadian children and sounds like you want them to attend university in Canada at the domestic rate but you also want to move your family back to India and don't want to pay higher school fees.

 

[Bs65]

Giving up Canadian citizenship given the kids were born in Canada should be a last resort and for sure not something to given up for something as trivial as school fees. Giving it up before they are 18 and able to make their own choices could in future be something the kids might never understand or worst case forgive.

 

[Bryanna]

Perhaps the OP wants to return to India after he and his wife get Canadian citizenship, but in the process they want their minor children to unknowingly renounce/give up their Canadian citizenship for the sake of lower school fees in India

 

[canuck78]

Perhaps the OP wants to return to India after he and his wife get Canadian citizenship, but in the process they want their minor children to unknowingly renounce/give up their Canadian citizenship for the sake of lower school fees in India

Sounds like they would have already have applied. As we have seen more and more on this forum, families get PR for their children (in this case citizenship) with the goal of returning for university at a domestic rate.

 

[Adbhutha]

She cannot hold both Canadian and Indian passports simultaneously because India does not allow dual citizenship. So, yes, she would need to surrender her Canadian citizenship if you decide to go through this process.



You can apply for an Indian passport directly.


Hopefully, you will not deprive your children of their Canadian citizenship just because of school fees in India:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/indian-citizenship-for-canada-born-child.547928/#post-6777181

Thank you! Could you answer these 3 questions:
1). So that means in order for me to get Indian Passport for my daughter, I need to first go to Canada Passport office and surrender the passport and get a letter and submit it to Indian Consulate along with other documents, right ?
2). Regarding my son's case, once he gets the Indian passport, do I need to apply Visa for him or PR for him or doesn't he need any of these to stay here in Canada, because he is anyway born in Canada ?
3) After we get an Indian passport for my son, what if we have to visit India for vacation in between, how will my son enter Canada again ? because he doesn't have Canada Passport nor a Canada Citizenship certificate, but since he is born in Canada they may not issue temporary Visa. There is one more reason for refusal, since we both parents are PR holders, I guess they will ask us to apply for PR or Canada Passport first and then enter ?

 

[Adbhutha]

Sounds like they would have already have applied. As we have seen more and more on this forum, families get PR for their children (in this case citizenship) with the goal of returning for university at a domestic rate.

Thanks for all of you for responding to my questions! We didn't plan to come to Canada in the first place, I got this opportunity through my company and my project continued to get extended. In the meantime, it was becoming very difficult to renew the Visa, so we applied for PR. We gave birth to kids here, to avoid leaving my wife in India during delivery and to avoid the waiting time for travel after the baby is born. But since all our family members, friends, properties are all in India, we tend to like it there irrespective of the issues that are prevailing, so we are planning to get Canadian Citizenship. Outsiders get to see only the superficial aspects, so its natural to come to such conclusion about India, but there are other rich aspects about India too, but like for everything in the world, there are pros and cons. Anyways, I highly appreciate your candid response/feedback. I totally understand how valuable Canadian passport is.

 

[vensak]

Thanks for all of you for responding to my questions! We didn't plan to come to Canada in the first place, I got this opportunity through my company and my project continued to get extended. In the meantime, it was becoming very difficult to renew the Visa, so we applied for PR. We gave birth to kids here, to avoid leaving my wife in India during delivery and to avoid the waiting time for travel after the baby is born. But since all our family members, friends, properties are all in India, we tend to like it there irrespective of the issues that are prevailing, so we are planning to get Canadian Citizenship. Outsiders get to see only the superficial aspects, so its natural to come to such conclusion about India, but there are other rich aspects about India too, but like for everything in the world, there are pros and cons. Anyways, I highly appreciate your candid response/feedback. I totally understand how valuable Canadian passport is.

If you can, let your children grow a bit and decide if they want Indian citizenship or not. That is my advice.

 

[russ6970]

Agreed. For the sake of money, your children may end up resenting you for making this decision without their knowledge.

 

[Bryanna]

Thank you! Could you answer these 3 questions:
1). So that means in order for me to get Indian Passport for my daughter, I need to first go to Canada Passport office and surrender the passport and get a letter and submit it to Indian Consulate along with other documents, right ?
2). Regarding my son's case, once he gets the Indian passport, do I need to apply Visa for him or PR for him or doesn't he need any of these to stay here in Canada, because he is anyway born in Canada ?
3) After we get an Indian passport for my son, what if we have to visit India for vacation in between, how will my son enter Canada again ? because he doesn't have Canada Passport nor a Canada Citizenship certificate, but since he is born in Canada they may not issue temporary Visa. There is one more reason for refusal, since we both parents are PR holders, I guess they will ask us to apply for PR or Canada Passport first and then enter ?

It's not my place to say this but I will say it nonetheless because your children are innocent minors who do not understand the repercussions of your actions on their lives:
Please do not deprive your children of their Canadian citizenship. They may never forgive you when they grow up.

Allow them to decide what citizenship they would like to have at an age when they are able to make that decision for themselves. It is a decision they will live with for the rest of their lives

 

[Adbhutha]

It's not my place to say this but I will say it nonetheless because your children are innocent minors who do not understand the repercussions of your actions on their lives:
Please do not deprive your children of their Canadian citizenship. They may never forgive you when they grow up.

Allow them to decide what citizenship they would like to have at an age when they are able to make that decision for themselves. It is a decision they will live with for the rest of their lives

I understand, but even if I get the Indian Citizenship for both of them now, @ the age of 18, they can still make the decision to go for Canadian Citizenship anyways right ?

Thank you! Could you answer these 3 questions:
1). So that means in order for me to get Indian Passport for my daughter, I need to first go to Canada Passport office and surrender the passport and get a letter and submit it to Indian Consulate along with other documents, right ?
2). Regarding my son's case, once he gets the Indian passport, do I need to apply Visa for him or PR for him or doesn't he need any of these to stay here in Canada, because he is anyway born in Canada ?
3) After we get an Indian passport for my son, what if we have to visit India for vacation in between, how will my son enter Canada again ? because he doesn't have Canada Passport nor a Canada Citizenship certificate, but since he is born in Canada they may not issue temporary Visa. There is one more reason for refusal, since we both parents are PR holders, I guess they will ask us to apply for PR or Canada Passport first and then enter ?

Could you answer these questions as well ?

 

[Bryanna]

I understand, but even if I get the Indian Citizenship for both of them now, @ the age of 18, they can still make the decision to go for Canadian Citizenship anyways right ?

Another option for you:
Maybe wait until you are ready to move back to India before you make any decision.


As for them switching back to Canadian citizenship at the age of 18 years:
1. They would have only one year from the date they turn 18 to make the change.

2. Rules for citizenship do change. 14-18 years from now is a long time. New rules might be implemented by then

3. I'm not too sure how this switching back works. No one normally keeps their foreign citizenship on hold

 

[PMM]

Hi

Giving up Canadian citizenship given the kids were born in Canada should be a last resort and for sure not something to given up for something as trivial as school fees. Giving it up before they are 18 and able to make their own choices could in future be something the kids might never understand or worst case forgive.

1. Should be noted that you can't renounce citizenship under the age of 18.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for all of you for responding to my questions! We didn't plan to come to Canada in the first place, I got this opportunity through my company and my project continued to get extended. In the meantime, it was becoming very difficult to renew the Visa, so we applied for PR. We gave birth to kids here, to avoid leaving my wife in India during delivery and to avoid the waiting time for travel after the baby is born. But since all our family members, friends, properties are all in India, we tend to like it there irrespective of the issues that are prevailing, so we are planning to get Canadian Citizenship. Outsiders get to see only the superficial aspects, so its natural to come to such conclusion about India, but there are other rich aspects about India too, but like for everything in the world, there are pros and cons. Anyways, I highly appreciate your candid response/feedback. I totally understand how valuable Canadian passport is.

Not sure why you are getting Canadian citizenship your yourself and your spouse. I am under the impression that you can't be dual citizen so you will be renouncing your Indian citizenship?