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An Indian decision to consider children with dual passports as its citizens has prevented them from getting British citizenship.

 Minors under 18 holding Indian as well as British National (Overseas) passports were now ineligible to obtain full British passports under a scheme to grant citizenship to ethnic minorities, said Indian Resources Group director Ravi Gidumal.

 Many Indian and Pakistani families were delaying applications until New Delhi and Islamabad decided whether to continue considering children with both passports as their citizens.

 New Delhi has disowned adults who obtained BNOs and continued to hold their Indian passports.

 London sought clarification from New Delhi on its treatment of minors because they appeared unable to make a decision on their nationality until adulthood.

 The Indian Consulate said children born before December 10, 1992, whose fathers were Indian citizens 'by descent', would be considered Indian if their birth was registered with the Indian mission.

 Those with fathers born in India would be considered Indian even if their births were not registered.

 Children born after December 10, 1992, would be considered Indian citizens if their parents were born in India.

  Those whose parents were Indian by descent would only be considered citizens if they were registered at the Indian Consulate.

 The consulate said children who were Indian citizens by descent would retain that status until they turned 18, when they would have a year to decide to be a BNO or Indian.

 If they failed to do it within one year, they would lose Indian citizenship.

 Many ethnic minority residents applying for British citizenship are exploiting a loophole in the scheme launched one year ago.

 Fewer than expected Indians and Pakistanis have asked for British passports, but a large proportion of those who have applied have done so even though they retain passports from their motherlands.

 The British Consulate has received more than 5,000 applications. Indian lobbyists and Pakistani community leaders described the figure as lower than expected.

 But London's acceptance of dual passport holders' claims to citizenship has aroused anger in the Indian community.

 In the year since London vowed to take care of ethnic minorities who only held BNO passports, it has registered 1,500 Hong Kong residents as citizens.

 There had been fears the minority groups could be forced out of Hong Kong under Chinese rule and those who held only BNO passports would have had nowhere to go, because they were not entitled to live in Britain.

 The Indian Resources Group, which led lobbying efforts for the British citizenship deal, said it had only intended to help those people without any other passport.

 Mr Gidumal said: 'When it first happened I was a little bit irritated because these were the people we had not fought for.

 'But I realised it was the British Government, and if they were going to be liberal and give citizenship to more people than they had allowed for, then let them.'  British Consulate spokesman Bill Dickson said 190 applications had been rejected because the applicants did not qualify.



India stops children becoming British