UK Goans face passport woes for minors with mixed parentage / Facebook/ IndiaInUK

A recent predicament has surfaced within the Goan community residing in the UK, as the High Commission of India (HCI) in London has ceased accepting applications or renewing Indian passports for minor children with one Indian and one foreign national parent. This abrupt policy shift, initiated approximately a month ago, has created substantial distress among affected families, as their minor children find themselves in a precarious situation with expiring Indian passports.

As per the Indian Citizenship Act (ICA), minors born to one Indian and one foreign national parent are deemed ineligible for Indian passport issuance or renewal. Although this provision has existed for years, the HCI had, until recently, routinely renewed passports for minors in such familial configurations. Consequently, Indian citizens in this situation were caught off guard by the sudden enforcement of the ICA, leading to a lack of awareness regarding this legal provision.

Under the ICA, a child falling into this category can, upon reaching 18 years of age within six months, express a desire in writing to acquire Indian citizenship. However, the crucial question arises: what happens to the child until they turn 18? During this interim period, upon expiry of their Indian passport, the child faces a potential statelessness conundrum.

The intricacies of this policy change have posed significant challenges for many Goans, where one parent holds Portuguese or British nationality, and the other is an Indian national. In such scenarios, minor children, who are Indian nationals, require passport renewals for travel purposes and, in some instances, for applications for Portuguese or British nationality. However, without a valid Indian passport, parents encounter obstacles in applying for citizenship of the country where they currently reside or the country of the foreign national parent, leaving the child in a stateless predicament.

The unexpected enforcement of this procedure has instilled confusion, fear, anxiety, and instability in the lives of individuals grappling with this situation. The Goan community in the UK, particularly those with one Indian and one foreign national parent, has felt the brunt of this policy shift.

Critics question the fairness of implementing such a procedural change without adequate notification to Indian nationals in the UK. Advocates argue that sufficient time should have been afforded to parents to navigate the citizenship landscape for their minor children. Had there been awareness that Indian passports would no longer be renewed due to one parent being a foreign national, parents might have had the opportunity to apply for citizenship of the foreign national parent or the country of residence.

Acquiring citizenship is a time-consuming process, contingent on the eligibility criteria, requirements, and procedures of each country. This aspect, critics argue, needs to be taken into account by the HCI. Renewals are imperative to prevent the statelessness of minors, a situation explicitly discouraged by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Joyce De Souza, a corporate lawyer for international banks and recently elected Constituency of the Labour Party Women’s Officer in the Labour Party of Brent West Parliamentary Constituency in North West London, has actively addressed this issue. Upon learning of the problem, she engaged with a local agent facilitating passport services, who indicated that the HCI was acting based on a notification from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

De Souza emphasizes that there has been no circular or prior notification to the public or Indian nationals about this policy change. Even if the issuance or renewal of Indian passports for children of mixed parentage is deemed unlawful under the ICA, she contends that the MHA should have formally communicated this change through the Official Gazette and newspapers for public awareness.

De Souza has written to the HCI, urgently requesting them to address and resolve the concerns faced by Goan families in the UK, where one parent is an Indian national and the other is a foreign national. Additionally, she has met with Brent West Constituency MP Barry Gardiner to raise awareness about this issue and urged him to escalate the matter with the UK Home Office.

Gardiner has committed to liaising with his contacts in the Home Office, ensuring they are apprised of the situation and can engage with the HCI to seek resolution. The unintended consequences of this policy shift, potentially rendering minor children stateless due to unforeseen changes in HCI rules, have raised concerns about the welfare and well-being of affected families.