Here’s something that could change a routine trip to the passport office for thousands of Indian families in America.
The US State Department is working on a new rule that would make parents prove their own citizenship or immigration status before their American-born child can get a passport. Right now, it’s a fairly simple process — parents just tick a box saying they’re citizens and show an ID. A media agency broke the story on September 1, based on a draft guidance document, and it’s already being read as the clearest sign yet of how Washington plans to act on Trump’s August 6 executive order, the one aimed at limiting birthright citizenship and cracking down on so-called “birth tourism.”
So what changes? Under the draft plan, a parent who is a US citizen would need to actually produce a passport or birth certificate. A parent who isn’t a citizen — say, someone on a work visa — would need to show documents like an I-94 or a green card. The idea, according to the State Department, is to check whether the child even qualifies as a citizen under the new order, which specifically targets kids of parents working for foreign governments, involved in fraud, or labelled an “alien enemy.”
Now, why should Indian families care? A huge number of Indians in the US are on H-1B or L-1 visas, many stuck for years — sometimes over a decade — waiting for their green cards because of backlogs. Their kids, born on US soil, are currently citizens by birth. If this rule goes through, getting something as basic as a passport for that child could mean pulling out visa papers, proving status, and possibly facing delays or extra questioning.
To be clear, none of this is law yet. It’s still a draft, and it’s tangled up in court battles over whether Trump’s original executive order is even constitutional. But immigration lawyers are already advising families to keep their documents — visas, I-94s, green cards — organized and ready, just in case.
For Indian households already juggling visa renewals and green card timelines, this is one more thing to watch closely in the months ahead.