Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

The Constitution of India does not allow holding Indian citizenship and citizenship of a foreign country simultaneously. Based on the recommendation of the High Level committee on Indian Diaspora, the Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) commonly known as 'Dual Citizenship'. Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) of certain category as has been specified in the Brochure who migrated from India and acquired citizenship of a foreign country other than Pakistan and Bangladesh, are eligible for grant of OCI as long as their home countries allow dual citizenship in some form or the other under their local laws.

Persons registered as OCI have not been given any voting rights, election to Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/Legislative Assembly/Council, holding Constitutional posts such as President, Vice President, Judge of Supreme Court/High Court etc. Registered OCIs shall be entitled to following benefits:

(i) Multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to visit India;
(ii) Exemption from reporting to Police authorities for any length of stay in India; and
(iii) Parity with NRIs in financial, economic and educational fields, except in the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.

Implementation and Application Procedure

Visit MHA OCI page : http://www.mha.nic.in/

1. Click Online registration and complete the form (Part A) online

2. After Part A is filled out, click save. A print window would appear. Click OK to print out the requisite application form consisting of Part A (which has been completed as online registration). The blank form of Part-B will automatically print itself along with Part A. (Print 2 Copy- Original and Duplicate)

3. Copy of the already registered applications can be obtained using REPRINT FORM

4. The applicant must then fill-in Part B, which should be preferably TYPED Alternatively, it may be handwritten in capital letters with Blue or Black Ink only

5. The completed application form (Part A & Part B) along with supporting documents must be submitted in duplicate (two sets) by mail to the Consulate

Photograph
Four (4) color Photographs (size 3.5 cm X 3.5 cm), taken against a light color background. Two of them should be pasted on application(original and duplicate) and two stapled with the application.

Fees
The application fee for registration under the OCI Scheme is US$ 275. An additional amount of US$ 20 towards return mailing charges should also be sent along with a self-addressed envelope accompanying the application (One money order for $295 payable to the "Consulate General of India’ should be fine)

Address
Send Application to Consulate General of India, 1990 Post Oak Blvd. # 600 Three Post Oak Central, Houston, TX-77056.

Documents:
a) Copy of first and last pages/pages containing personal details of Indian Passport held by the applicant prior to acquiring foreign citizenship. Please do not attach photocopy of all pages of the passport.

OR

Birth Certificate in case of minors and applicants born outside India who did not possess Indian Passport; and copy of Indian passports of parents or grandparents (pages containing personal particulars only) where applicable (please do not attach photocopy of all pages of passport

b) Copy of US or current nationality Passport. (Please attach copies of pages containing personal particulars only).

c) Photocopies of all documents enclosed with the application may either be notarized or self attested i.e. signed by the applicant himself/herself.

Application Process
1. Use the Postal tracking number to confirm receipt of application at the Consulate.

2. Status of the OCI card can be tracked at https://passport.gov.in/oci/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp

3. Allow 30days to acknowledge the application and for online status inquiry

4. The status report will show dates of "Registration Status", "Documents Printing Status", "Documents Printed On", "Documents Dispatched to concerned Mission/Office on" and "Documents Received at".

5. Once the application is GRANTED and the documents arrived back at Houston, send both passport to Consulate to complete the process. While mailing passport do not forget to write the file number in a covering letter along with the passport(s).

6. OCI visa will be stamped on the US passport and along with a ‘Cancelled’ stamp on the Indian passport

REISSUE OF OCI STICKER:

Q. Will a new OCI visa sticker be issued on the new foreign passport after the expiry of the old passport?
A: Yes. On payment of requisite fee, a new OCI 'U' visa sticker will be issued. However, the applicant can continue to carry the old passport wherein OCI 'U' visa sticker was pasted along with new passport for visiting India without seeking a new visa, as the visa is for life long.

Details: http://www.cgihouston.org/OCIMisc.html

Process:
Suggestions/representations have been received from Indian Missions/Posts and registered OCIs regarding facilities/procedures for re-issuance of OCI registration certificate/visa in certain situations viz:
(i) In case of issuance of new passport.

(ii) In case of change of personal particulars viz. nationality etc.,
(iii) In case of loss/damage of OCI registration certificate/visa.
(iv) In case of filling of wrong personal particulars while submitting online applications viz. name, father’s name, date of birth etc.,
(v) In case of manually filled in applications (discontinued now) mistakes have been committed by the Indian Mission/Post/Office while entering the personal particulars.
(vi)In case of change of address/occupation

I. In case of issuance of new passport
OCI registration certificate and visa carries the passport number of the registered OCI. Accordingly, each time a new passport is issued to an OCI holder; it has to be captured on the registration certificate and visa. This would require re-issuance of OCI registration certificate and visa each time a new passport is issued. However, as the major benefit of OCI Scheme is lifelong visa to visit India, problems arise each time a new passport is issued. In some countries old passports are not returned. Further, in many countries, the validity of passport is for 5 years. To obviate these difficulties, the following scheme has been incorporated:

(i) Up to the completion of 20 years of age, OCI documents have to be re-issued each time a new passport is issued.
(ii) After the completion of 50 years of age, OCI documents have to be re-issued once after issuance of a new passport.
(iii) Between 21-50 years of age, there is no need to seek re-issuance of OCI documents each time a new passport is issued. However, if the applicant desires, he may avail the service for re-issuance of OCI documents.


PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE APPLICANT
A software module has been developed by NIC named as OCI Miscellaneous Services. The public interface for this has been hosted on MHA’s website: MHA OCI Page. The procedure to be followed by the applicant is as under:

http://mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?Id_Pk=553

(1) After accessing the OCI Miscellaneous Services and going through the Guidelines and Instructions for filing the application form, the applicant has to fill in at least one of the following data fields:
(i)U-Visa number
(ii)OCI Registration number
(iii)OCI File number

(2)Thereafter, the applicant has to fill in all the following fields:
(i) Current Passport number
(ii) Date of birth
(iii) Place of birth
(iv) Mother’s name

The applicant would be able to proceed ahead and seek the particular service(s) only if, the above data (except 2 (i) above) matches with the OCI database. This feature has been incorporated as a security measure so that the scheme is not misused.

3)The applicant thereafter has to select any one or many of the following services:
(i)Change of Passport particulars
(ii)Change of Personal particulars
(iii)Loss/damage of OCI certificate/visa
(iv)Change of Address/Occupation

(4)After selection of the service(s) to be availed, a Registration Form will appear having only the relevant fields, which need to be entered as per the services(s) sought. The applicant has to fill in all the relevant fields afresh online. The reasons for availing the services shall also be filled by the applicant.

(5)Upon submission of the Registration Form, a hard copy of the application with Reference number along with the instructions for filling application form shall be printed. The applicant has to sign the application form, paste the photograph and append his signature in the box provided and submit one copy of the application form along with the relevant enclosures and fee as mentioned in the instructions. The application can be submitted to the Indian Mission/Post/Office in whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily residing irrespective of the fact whether the same Indian Mission/Post/Office has issued the original OCI documents or not. Each applicant shall submit separate application form.

No hard copy of the application shall be generated in case of change of address/occupation since no application needs to be submitted to the Indian Mission/Post/Office.

Enclosures
(i) Copy of OCI registration certificate and visa

(a) In case of issuance of new passport, copy of U-visa pasted on the old passport along with copy of registration certificate has to be enclosed. If the old passport is not returned by the concerned authorities while issuing new passport and copy of the U-visa had not been taken prior to the surrender of old passport, they may not be enclosed. A copy of new passport also to be enclosed.

(b) In case of loss of OCI Registration Certificate and/or Visa, copy of the complaint lodged with Police authorities and copy of visa and registration certificate to be enclosed. If a copy of the registration certificate and/or visa was not taken prior to the loss, they may not be enclosed.

(c) In case of change of personal particulars (due to change by the applicant or wrong filling of particulars by the applicant or Indian Mission/Office), copy of the document (s) relevant for affecting the requisite changes viz. Nationality Certificate in case of change of nationality etc to be enclosed.

(d) In respect of the service for change of address/occupation, no hard copy of the application shall be submitted to the Indian Mission/Post/Office. Accordingly, the issue of Enclosures and payment of fee does not arise.

Fees
(a) US $ 25 by Money Order/Cashier Cheque drawn in favour of CGI, Houston for re-issuance of OCI documents in case of issuance of new passport, change of personal particulars, wrong filing of particulars.
(b) US $ 100 by Money Order/Cashier Cheque drawn in favour of CGI, Houston for issuance of duplicate OCI documents in case of loss/damage. (Both OCI registration certificate and visa shall be issued in respect of any/all service (s)).
(c)Mailing Charge: Please add $ 20/- to the fee towards return mail charge.
(d)Refund: No fee shall be refunded if the requisite service(s) are not granted.
(7)Submission of print out of online application

The print out of the completed application, duly signed, with supporting documents and fees (including mailing fee) are required to be sent by Mail only to:-

OCI Section,
Consulate General of India,
1990 Post Oak Blvd # 600,
Three Post Oak Central,
Houston, TX-77056.