Indians urged to register child births at missions within a year

ABU DHABI — The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has urged all Indian residents in the UAE to register the birth of their babies at the embassy or the consulate in Dubai to avoid delay or any sort of difficulty in getting passports for them.

Speaking to Khaleej Times on Thursday, Indian Ambassador to the UAE M. K. Lokesh said last year, the Indian missions in the UAE handled over 20 cases of parents approaching them to register their children a year after their birth and apply for passports. In all, over 11,000 newborn children were registered at the missions last year.

After a lapse of a year since birth, the missions in the UAE are not directly authorised to issue the passport to the child. ‘We need to approach the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in India,’ the ambassador said.

‘However, we receive the case at the missions. The parents need to fill up a separate form, which the mission processes with the authorities concerned in the MHA in India. But the entire process could take a month or more,’ he said.

‘It is, therefore, advisable that parents holding Indian passports register the birth of their children in the UAE with the missions within the prescribed period of one year without fail.’

In a statement, the embassy said the registration of the newborn children, if not done within one year of their birth, at the embassy or consulate may result in delay in issuance of Indian passports due to the involvement of additional formalities and avoidable financial penalties imposed by the local UAE authorities.

Every person born outside India shall be a citizen of India by descent if both the parents or either of them is an Indian citizen, not being an illegal migrant, provided his/her birth is registered at an Indian Mission/Post abroad within one year of the birth.

After one year, the permission would compulsorily be required from the Ministry of Home Affairs in India to register and obtain a passport abroad.

For registration of the birth and obtaining a passport, the parents are required to complete the formalities, including filling up of requisite forms under passport services like registration of birth, and issuing of a birth certificate and passport for a child born in the UAE.

As per the guidelines issued under the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, the birth of a child born to Indian parents is required to be registered in the Indian Embassy, Abu Dhabi or Consulate General of India, Dubai, expeditiously in order to get the Indian passport and, consequently, get registered as an Indian citizen in a timely manner.

According to the mission, Indian citizens’ spouses of other nationalities but intending to acquire Indian citizenship are required to apply in the prescribed forms to the MHA through the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi.

Prospective applicants are cautioned that the procedure for getting approval in such cases from the MHA takes considerable time. It is, therefore, advisable that such persons apply well in time with all documents.