Indian citizenship for a child born in Australia: the one-year clock and the one-passport rule

A baby born in Australia to two Indian citizens who hold temporary visas is not automatically a citizen of either country. The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 makes a child born here a citizen at birth only if a parent is an Australian citizen or permanent resident on that day. India’s Citizenship Act 1955 offers citizenship by descent, but provides that from 3 December 2004 a person “shall not be a citizen of India by virtue of this section” unless the birth is registered at an Indian consulate. For a child born in Australia, Indian citizenship therefore depends on a registration the Act ties to one year, and on the parents’ declaration that the child holds no other country’s passport.

Indian citizenship for a child born in Australia: what section 4 requires

Section 4(1) of the Indian Act grants citizenship by descent to a person born outside India on or after 10 December 1992 “if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth”. Two provisos in force from 3 December 2004 attach the conditions. The birth must be registered at an Indian consulate “within one year of its occurrence”, or later “with the permission of the Central Government, after the expiry of the said period”. And “no such birth shall be registered unless the parents of such person declare… that the minor does not hold the passport of another country”.

The High Commission of India in Pretoria and the Consulate General in Cape Town both state that for registration “after one year of age, the reason for applying late in writing must be given”. In Australia, the VFS Global checklist for a minor’s first Indian passport, dated 4 May 2026, asks for a covering letter if the passport is sought more than a year after the birth; that passport is a separate application.

Under subsection (1A), a minor who is an Indian citizen by descent and also a citizen of another country “shall cease to be a citizen of India if he does not renounce the citizenship or nationality of another country within six months of attaining full age”.

Reporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026 on 1 May 2026, the public broadcaster’s News on Air service said the Ministry of Home Affairs had stated that “a minor child cannot, at any time, hold the passport of any other country while also holding an Indian passport”.

How to register the birth from Australia

Registration starts on the Ministry of Home Affairs portal, indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in, where the High Commission of India in Maputo, for one, directs applicants to the option “Registration of birth of a minor child at an Indian consulate Under Section 4(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955”. The printed application then goes to VFS Global, which the High Commission in Canberra calls “the only authorised service delivery provider” for Indian consular, passport and visa services in Australia. From 23 July 2026, VFS has run Indian Consular Application Centres in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, by online appointment, with a service charge of A$115 per application on top of the Government of India fee.

VFS Global’s registration of birth checklist for Australia, dated 31 August 2020, asks for the form signed by both parents, both parents’ passports, the birth certificate and the marriage certificate, attested by a Justice of the Peace or notary (a notary only for New South Wales residents), plus a statutory declaration “by both parents that the minor child does not hold passport or nationality of any other country”.

The Australian side: section 12 and the tenth birthday

Section 12(1) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 says a person born in Australia is an Australian citizen “if and only if” one of two tests is met: “a parent of the person is an Australian citizen, or a permanent resident, at the time the person is born”, or “the person is ordinarily resident in Australia throughout the period of 10 years beginning on the day the person is born”. “Ordinarily resident” means having one’s home or permanent abode in the country, not residing there “for a special or temporary purpose only”.

So a child whose parents are both on student or temporary skilled visas is not Australian at birth. Guidance from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations says a child who lived mostly in Australia for those first ten years “will have gained Australian citizenship on their 10th birthday”, even if neither parent was a citizen or permanent resident at the birth.

Proof is a separate step. For anyone born on or after 20 August 1986, the Department of Home Affairs accepts a citizenship certificate, a current Australian passport, or a full birth certificate with proof that a parent was an Australian citizen at the birth. Where the parent was a permanent resident, the Victorian Government’s child protection manual points to Form 119, an application for evidence of citizenship lodged online through an ImmiAccount.

Where the two systems meet: one passport only

The VFS checklist in Australia goes further than the Act’s wording on passports, requiring a statutory declaration that the child “does not hold passport or nationality of any other country”. Under section 12(1)(a), a child with an Australian citizen or permanent resident parent is an Australian citizen from birth. For a minor child with an Indian citizen parent, the Indian Act also provides the OCI card.

Under section 8(2), when a parent renounces Indian citizenship, “every minor child of that person shall thereupon cease to be a citizen of India”, although that child “may, within one year after attaining full age, make a declaration in the prescribed form and manner that he wishes to resume Indian citizenship”.

The OCI route for a child with an Australian passport

Section 7A(1) of the Citizenship Act 1955 lists who may register as an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder. Clause (c) covers “a person, who is a minor child, and whose both parents are citizens of India or one of the parents is a citizen of India”. A proviso bars any person “who or either of whose parents or grandparents or great grandparents is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh” or another notified country.

For a minor, the VFS Australia OCI checklist dated 30 March 2026 asks for an “Australian passport with minimum of 6 months validity”, the birth certificate, both parents’ passport bio pages, proof of Indian origin from at least one parent, an affidavit signed by both parents, and custody papers where a parent is single or separated. If the child ever held an Indian passport, “submission of Surrender Certificate of Indian Passport is mandatory”.

OCI guidelines published by the High Commission of India in Pretoria say the card provides a “lifelong, multiple-entry visa for visiting India” and “parity with Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in economic, financial, and educational fields”. The Ministry of Home Affairs OCI portal states that a cardholder “cannot acquire agricultural land or farmhouse or plantation properties in India” and “is not entitled to vote”. Under the 2026 rule changes, News on Air reported, “registered individuals may now be issued either a physical OCI card or an electronic OCI registration”.

The re-issue rules also apply to children. Under Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines of 16 April 2021, a cardholder registered before the age of 20 must have the card re-issued “only once when a new passport is issued after his/her completing 20 years of age”. For a passport issued before that age, the family uploads a copy of the new passport and a recent photograph on the OCI portal within three months, at no charge. Since 10 April 2026, the High Commission in Canberra has charged A$43 where the new passport details are uploaded after three months.

The takeaway

Australia’s test looks at the parents’ status on the day of birth, or at where the child lives for the next ten years. India’s Act asks for registration within one year, or later with Central Government permission, and a declaration that no other passport is held, and it ends the Indian citizenship of a minor citizen by descent who also holds another citizenship and does not renounce it within six months of reaching full age. For a child who is Australian from birth, section 7A provides the OCI card.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.