Raised My US Citizen Kids in India... Here's What Happened | NRI | OCI
Amit raised two US citizen children in India for 21 years. His daughter cracked supernumerary seats at every national law university in the country. His son used Delhi University's foreign national quota and now works at Bain Consulting. But the real story is about trade-offs, merit, and why a foreign passport is not a shortcut to premier Indian colleges.
Related planning guides: If this question is part of your broader return plan, also review moving back to India from USA guide and moving back to India from Canada guide.
Key Highlights
- Amit went to the US in 1999 on H1B, worked at United Airlines in Denver, got laid off after 9/11, did a brief master's at University of Denver, then moved back to India in 2004 after his second child was born.
- Both his children were born in the United States. He raised them entirely in India for 21 years as OCI holders.
- His daughter had an exceptional 10+2 score and got calls from every national law university through the supernumerary quota — NLS Bangalore, NALSAR, NLU Delhi, and more.
- At NLS Bangalore, there were only four supernumerary seats across the entire country. She was ranked second.
- His son competed in Delhi University's foreign national pool, got into a reputable DU college, graduated, and now works for Bain Consulting in Gurugram.
- For IITs, Amit is clear: OCI kids still need to clear JEE Advanced. The IITs will not dilute entry criteria. DASA exists but costs 5x to 10x more.
- His core message: supernumerary seats and foreign quotas are advantages only when combined with merit. They are not shortcuts for unqualified students.
- He recently moved back to the US at age 62 to support his children's careers there — a tactical decision, not a strategic one.
High-stakes note
This article reflects Amit's personal experience raising OCI children in India. College admission rules — including DASA, supernumerary quotas, and foreign national seats — change frequently. His tax and lifestyle observations are his own. For specific decisions about your children's education, OCI status, or cross-border financial planning, consult qualified education counselors and cross-border tax advisors.
What this story answers: Can you raise US citizen children in India and give them a genuine advantage for college admissions? Yes — but only if they have the grades to back it up. Amit's two children took different paths through India's OCI admission system, and both succeeded. But the system is getting more competitive, and the cost-benefit math changes depending on what your child wants to study.
Official admission pages to verify before applying
Use Amit's story as a decision framework, then verify the current admission rules on the official portals: DASA and CSAB for NIT, IIIT, and special-round counselling; Delhi University Foreign Students' Registry for DU foreign-national admissions; NLU Delhi's Foreign National/OCI/PIO page; and NLSIU international student admissions. Treat blog summaries and coaching-site pages as secondary until these official pages agree.
How did Amit's journey from India to the US begin?
Amit studied at Pune University, graduating with first class with distinction. His first job was at Galileo International — now called Travelport — a global distribution system that handled large-scale mission-critical airline bookings. In the late 1990s, as India's economy opened up, he moved to the United States and started working for United Airlines in Denver, Colorado.
He was on H1B. He got married before leaving India, and his wife went with him. Their first child was born in the US. When you look at the timeline, it starts as a classic late-90s tech immigration story: good degree, global company, H1B sponsorship, family formation on American soil.
What changed the trajectory was September 11, 2001. Amit describes what happened at United Airlines after the attacks as a "blood bath." He was laid off along with many other talented people. He briefly chose to do a master's at the University of Denver, but family obligations pulled him back to India.
He moved back to India, worked there from 2002, then returned to the US on H1B again for about a year. His second child was born in the US. By 2004, he left the United States for good — or at least, for the next 21 years.
Why did he move back to India in 2004 with two US-born children?
Amit does not frame his 2004 return as a grand emotional decision. It was practical. He had been laid off after 9/11. The US job market was tough. He had family obligations in India. He had already shuttled back and forth once — India in 2002, then back to the US on H1B for a year — and the pattern likely did not feel sustainable with two young children.
What makes his story different from most NRI return narratives is the next 21 years. He did not return to India temporarily. He stayed. He raised both his US citizen children entirely in India. They went through Indian schools. They navigated Indian college admissions. They built careers in India. And they did it all as OCI cardholders with American passports.
This is the part of the story that most NRI parents want data on. If you raise US citizen kids in India, what actually happens when it is time for college? Amit's two children answered that question through two completely different academic tracks.
For the broader context of how NRIs choose schools when moving back, see our detailed comparison of IB vs IGCSE vs CBSE for NRI kids.
How did his daughter get into every NLU through the supernumerary quota?
The law school route is where Amit's story becomes extremely specific and useful. His daughter had an exceptional 10+2 score. She applied to national law universities through the supernumerary quota — additional seats reserved above the regular intake specifically for foreign nationals and OCI students.
She got calls from everywhere. NLS Bangalore. NALSAR. NLU Delhi. Every national law university she applied to said yes. At NLS Bangalore, there were only four supernumerary seats for the entire country. She was ranked second.
But Amit is careful not to oversell this. The supernumerary pool is small. The competition is real. You are not competing against the entire general category — you are competing within a small, merit-based pool of foreign nationals. His daughter's 10+2 score was genuinely exceptional. Without that, the supernumerary route would not have worked.
He also points out that the advantage may shrink over time. As more OCI families discover these routes and start competing, the supernumerary pool will become more crowded. What worked for his daughter five or ten years ago may be materially harder for OCI children applying today or in the near future.
Supernumerary seats: what parents need to know
- They are real, but tiny: NLS Bangalore had four supernumerary seats across the entire country.
- Merit still decides: your child competes within the foreign national pool. Strong grades are non-negotiable.
- Cost is higher: expect to pay 5x to 10x what Indian nationals pay for the same program.
- Rules change frequently: what Amit's daughter experienced may not be what your child faces today.
- Each state differs: medical, engineering, and general degree supernumerary rules vary by state and institution.
Can OCI kids get into IITs and NITs without JEE?
Here is where Amit draws a hard line. For IITs, the answer is no. There is no shortcut.
He says the bar is very high even for OCI kids. A foreign passport does not buy you a seat at an IIT. You sit for the same exam. You clear the same cutoff. No exceptions.
There is an alternative route called DASA — Direct Admission of Students Abroad — which allows foreign nationals and OCI students to get into triple IITs (IIITs) or NITs through supernumerary seats. Amit's son initially showed interest in engineering and explored this path but eventually dropped it, so Amit's firsthand knowledge is limited.
His warning about DASA is about cost. If you go the supernumerary or DASA route for engineering, expect to pay almost 5x to 10x what Indian nationals pay. You need to do a cost-benefit analysis. Is the premium worth it compared to sending your child to a US university where they are already a citizen?
Engineering admissions for OCI kids: the options
| Pathway | What it requires | Cost vs Indian nationals |
|---|---|---|
| IIT (JEE Advanced) | Clear JEE Advanced. No OCI shortcut. | Same as Indian nationals |
| NIT / IIIT (DASA) | DASA application. Supernumerary seats. | 5x to 10x higher |
| Private engineering colleges | Varies. Some offer supernumerary routes. | Very expensive, often beyond reach of most |
| State government colleges | Each state has its own guidelines for foreign nationals. | Varies by state |
Amit's overall message on engineering: if your child genuinely wants STEM at a top Indian institution, OCI status gives you almost no edge. The exam is the exam. For related education strategy, see why this parent chose India over the UK for her children's education.
How does Delhi University's foreign national quota actually work?
Amit's son took a different path. After his 10+2, he applied to Delhi University through its foreign student admission mechanism. This is not the same as the supernumerary quota for professional courses. It is a separate pool that Delhi University reserves for foreign nationals from around the world.
The pool is genuinely international. Amit describes students applying from African countries, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Nepal, and other regions. Each college within Delhi University has a few seats reserved for foreign nationals. You compete, but you compete only within that pool — not against the millions of Indian students applying through regular cutoffs.
His son got into a reputable college at Delhi University. He graduated. And then he did something that validates the entire cross-border experiment: he got a job at Bain Consulting in Gurugram. A US citizen, raised in India, educated at Delhi University, working at a top-tier global consulting firm — from an Indian office.
Amit also points out that Delhi University's Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) has supernumerary seats for foreign nationals at the postgraduate level. For MBA aspirants, the cutoff is based on GMAT percentile. You do not have to appear for CAT. But you must do exceptionally well on the GMAT to get in.
What is the real advantage — and where is it misleading?
This is the section where Amit's honesty makes the story valuable. He does not sell a dream. He gives a balanced ledger.
Is there an advantage for OCI kids in Indian college admissions? Yes. Is it easier than competing in the brutal general-category exams? In his experience, yes. But is it easy? No. And it is getting harder.
Here is the ledger as Amit presents it:
| What is genuinely easier | What is NOT easier |
|---|---|
| Supernumerary seats create a smaller, separate competition pool for law and some professional courses | IIT admission still requires clearing JEE Advanced with the same cutoff as everyone else |
| Delhi University's foreign national quota offers an international applicant track | Medical seats in government colleges remain extremely competitive even through foreign quotas |
| FMS Delhi accepts GMAT instead of CAT for foreign nationals at the PG level | You pay 5x to 10x the Indian-national fee for supernumerary and DASA seats |
| Your child grows up with genuine India experience and cultural fluency | Admission rules change frequently. Each state has different guidelines. |
| A dollar earned abroad stretches far more if you eventually return | Competition within the foreign national pool is intensifying as more families discover these routes |
For NRIs weighing whether to move back with school-age children, read our story about moving back to India with a middle schooler after 10 years in the US.
Why he moved back to the US at 62 after 21 years in India
This is the twist. After spending 21 years raising his US citizen children in India, Amit is now back in the United States. He describes the decision as "extremely tactical, not very strategic."
His children, now in their twenties, were completing their education and starting careers in India. But they were also US citizens. That gave them optionality — the ability to build a base in the United States if they chose to. Amit moved back to give them a landing zone.
The mechanism was straightforward. His daughter turned 21 and sponsored him for an IR5 visa (parent of a US citizen). He got the green card within two years. Once that optionality existed, he took it.
He is clear that this is not a permanent relocation. He sees himself working in the US until roughly age 62 to 65, saving enough for retirement in rupees, and then moving back to India. The US passport — if he eventually gets it — gives him global mobility and the ability to hold an OCI card in India.
His situation also highlights something important about US citizen children. If you raise them in India, they can eventually sponsor you back to the US if you want that option. The cross-border family structure works in both directions.
What should OCI families learn from this story?
Amit's advice comes from 21 years of lived experience, not theory. Here are the lessons that emerge from his story.
Merit is non-negotiable
OCI status and a foreign passport create pathways — DASA, supernumerary seats, foreign national quotas — but every single pathway still requires strong academic performance. His daughter's exceptional 10+2 score is what made the NLU supernumerary route work. His son's Delhi University admission required competing within a merit-based international pool. Without merit, the passport is just a document.
The advantage is shrinking
As more OCI and NRI families discover these routes, the competition within foreign national pools is intensifying. What worked for Amit's children a few years ago will be harder for families applying today. Plan with the assumption that the advantage will narrow, not widen.
Cost must be part of the calculation
Supernumerary and DASA seats cost 5x to 10x what Indian nationals pay. Before committing to the OCI-in-India education path, compare that cost against what you would pay for the same child to study in the US, where they are already a citizen.
Think about what you want out of life
Amit's overarching question is simple: what do you want? If you stay in the US, you earn in dollars and spend in dollars. If you move to India, a dollar earned abroad stretches far more. He estimates that someone who works abroad and then returns to India can have a net worth 3x to 4x higher — or even 6x to 8x for dual-income families — compared to someone who worked their entire career in India.
Don't put your life on hold for H1B
If you are on H1B, Amit's advice is direct: do not put your life on hold waiting for a green card. He got laid off after 9/11. He moved back to India. He raised his kids there. He came back to the US later through his daughter's sponsorship. There are multiple paths. Waiting indefinitely for one specific immigration outcome is the worst of them.
Factor in aging parents
Amit's most personal question to NRIs: think very hard about whether you can live with the fact that your aging parents are alone and isolated in their elder years. Many aging parents will never willingly settle abroad. They have deep roots and social structures. If you cannot be there, work out a system to mitigate their discomfort. There is no right or wrong answer — each situation is different — but you must think about the trade-off and take an informed decision.
For the practical side of OCI documentation and legal requirements, see our complete OCI to Aadhaar to PAN legal requirements guide.
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