Returning Minor Child’s Unused German Passport: Could It Affect German Citizenship?
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for guidance on a citizenship/passport situation involving my daughter.
I was and am a German citizen when my daughter was born. My wife was and is an Indian citizen. My daughter was issued an Indian passport first. Later, when she came to Germany, she was registered as both an Indian and German citizen, and we also obtained a German passport and German Personalausweis for her.
We have now moved back to India. We recently became aware that India generally does not allow dual citizenship / holding two nationalities in the same way Germany does, and that having two passports can create complications from the Indian side.
We have never used my daughter’s German passport even once. When needed in Germany, we only showed her Personalausweis, and that was sufficient.
Now we are wondering whether we should return her unused German passport to the German consulate in India, mainly because we want to renew her Indian passport and avoid any issue if we are asked whether she holds any other passport.
My concern is this: if we return the German passport, could that be interpreted in any way as giving up or renouncing her German citizenship? Could it create problems for her German citizenship now or in the future?
To be clear, we are not trying to renounce her German citizenship unless that is legally required through a proper process. We are only trying to understand whether returning an unused German passport is just an administrative act, or whether it could have citizenship consequences.
Has anyone dealt with a similar situation involving a minor child? I would especially appreciate pointers on any doumentation of laws around this.
Thanks in advance.