The group of Indian parents expressed on Saturday their wish to return to India (representation)
Washington:
A group of 85 Indians in distress in the United States launched an SOS campaign to return home, urging the Indian government to allow their minor American children with a valid Indian visa to accompany them to India.
Travel to India by a non-Indian citizen, with the exception of certain categories of persons holding a Foreign Citizen of India (OIC) card, is prohibited due to strict travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin, allowing them to travel without a visa in most cases. It also gives them certain privileges like that of an Indian citizen, except to buy farmland, vote, stand for election and work in government.
On Saturday, the group of Indian parents, in a letter to the Department of External Affairs, the Indian embassy and their diplomatic missions to the United States, expressed their wish to return to India and urged the authorities to authorize their minor children of American nationality to travel. with them.
The parents, who in recent weeks have joined WhatsApp and Facebook, have children born in the United States, are therefore American citizens and do not have OCI cards.
“For these reasons, we humbly ask you to allow minors who are American citizens with valid Indian visas to travel to India,” the parents wrote.
“We are sure that the Indian government does not want to discriminate against us simply because of a completely unforeseen and unprecedented event, completely beyond our control.”
“Like our fellow Indian citizens who return to India on the Vande Bharat mission, we too have valid reasons for returning to India. But we cannot because our minor children cannot be left alone in the United States to fend for themselves, “said the group.
Group members are from various parts of the United States, including California, New Jersey, Washington, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Maryland, South Carolina and Minnesota.
A failed Indian parent also joined the group from Malaysia.
“We are Indians stranded in the United States due to this tragic pandemic. We wish to return to India. We are also parents of minor children. Our children are American citizens by virtue of their birth here. Our children have visas valid Indians on their passports, “they said in the letter sent by email.
Although the number of signatories is 85, but if we take into account their spouse and children, the number of those who are stranded and who wish to return home would amount to more than 250.
According to the letter, currently their minor children cannot obtain Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status at the moment because OCI treatment has been blocked for several months and many of us requested it in January. this year and are still waiting, and some of them have infants too young to have applied for an OIC before the COVID crisis.
“Some of our US visas are about to expire or have expired (and will not be renewed due to a maximum or job loss), which makes our children ineligible for OCI applications. of us have an entry visa, electronic visa / emergency visa, but not OCI. Some of us, after waiting OCI for so long, have applied for visa but are unable to get it, “says the letter.
In addition, OCI students with OCI parents cannot travel even if their parents are Indian residents, the letter says.
“We are grateful for the Vande Bharat mission and for the recent government order authorizing certain categories of OCI cardholders to travel to India. But Indian parents of visa-holder children should not be treated any differently from Indian parents of visa-holder children OCI card, “they said. wrote in the letter.
“My youngest daughter has an emergency visa but no OIC, which prevents me from going to India,” one of the parents, Deeprekha De, told PTI.
She, with her daughters Sahana (11) and Sohana (6), lived in Liverpool, New York. Deeprekha and her husband are both IT professionals, but her husband works in Canada and is currently trapped there.
She said she had applied for an emergency visa for her youngest daughter after her mother had kidney failure in India, but the family could not travel to India due to the stopping of flights due COVID-19 restrictions. PTI LKJ
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
