India Dual Citizenship Mega Thread (Merged)

The India Dual Citizenship will be Operational:

  • In 2003

    Votes: 4 20.0%

  • In 2004

    Votes: 11 55.0%

  • Sometime after 2004

    Votes: 4 20.0%

  • I am skeptical if this will happen

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Total voters
    20
  • Poll closed .
gaurav2005 said:
MEA, New Delhi are literally working overtime on my case. They might have received the new photos on Friday night and they worked on Saturday and sent me this mail:

The photo has been rejected once again unfortunately. OCI Cell personnel tells me the photograph is of good quality but some spots are coming on the face which may probably be because of some dust on the surface of scanner. Kindly scan the photograph again urgently after cleaning the scanner. As soon as it is received here, the cards will be issued and despatched.

Could'nt the OCI personnel check the images after scanning and before uplodading ? I am almost getting a feeling that it is done intentionally as they know I have been contacting lot of people complaining about them.

:mad: :mad: :mad:
Click to expand...

See my post above - I correctly predicted that they are using the scanner as their lunch table. It is probably the only clear surface in the OCI area, the rest is piled up with overdue paperwork ;)
 
gaurav2005 said:
MEA, New Delhi are literally working overtime on my case. They might have received the new photos on Friday night and they worked on Saturday and sent me this mail:

The photo has been rejected once again unfortunately. OCI Cell personnel tells me the photograph is of good quality but some spots are coming on the face which may probably be because of some dust on the surface of scanner. Kindly scan the photograph again urgently after cleaning the scanner. As soon as it is received here, the cards will be issued and despatched.

Could'nt the OCI personnel check the images after scanning and before uplodading ? I am almost getting a feeling that it is done intentionally as they know I have been contacting lot of people complaining about them.

:mad: :mad: :mad:
Click to expand...


Similar thing happenned to me. I was so hapy that the 'Granted' came very fast. I called uo OCI folks in Delhi ( I had applied from India) they asked me to send the passports asap.

After sending the passport I called them to check they have received it. They said they will despatch it next day. I called them in couple of days and the guy said photograph is not getting scanned properly - may be it is taken on glossy paper (utter non-sense). On his advice I resent the photos. After I resent the photos I have called them for 10 times. Everytime the person says - your passports are in safe custody and I'll send them in a day or two when the OCI card is ready.

God knows what's gonna happen !!! I hope they stick correct photos in my OCI card and visa after all this. The guy is mostly on holidays - whenever you call someone picks up and tell the person is on holidays. If the person comes on phone - he asks 'aapne kab bheja tha?' ' aapka naam kya hai?' 'aapko email mila kya?' ' Aapko do din mein bhejta huin....'

Now I may need to travel very soon and my passport is stuck. I have PIO card but without passport what can I do? I may even have to register with FRRO as a PIO card holder. Again without passport and PIO card it may be difficult. People please beware - they never send any mail and just keep asking 'did u get the email?'. The guy said he sent me two mails for the problem in photographs - I have received none till date. I have been sending him mails and he is just ignoring them.
 
PIO1

Your prediction was dead-on. There is something of such going on definitely.

I am getting a feeling that the OCI folks are venting their anger and frustration on the applicants by doing such a sloppy job. Being govt servants, they might have never seen such a work load and this is their way of getting back at the applicants as well as the OCI overseeing authority.
 
CGSIF OCI Application status

JFYI, I had mailed in my daughter's application for OCI to CGSIF on March 02. I received an email on thursday stating that the photo is overexposed hence they want us to send a new set of photographs with the application.
 
This photograph virus really seems to be catching on...Though i pretty much do not realise what the fuss the embassies are making about it.
I am sure there are people at the embassies/MOIA who know how to lighten/darken JPEG's.

Maybe it's just a technique to stall applications ?? Requesting for a photograph takes a good fortnight out of the equation......
 
basis,
I just visited the nritax site (will add it to finance links with a disclaimer).It says Indian nationals can be taxed on assets abroad. Is this true ?

PIO1,Excellent job with the OCI card description post !You look so cute in those pictures :D

About the adoption issue CARA is the best way to go though unofficially i have a feeling the government will look favourably on OCI's because they can easily convert to full Indian nationality.

Gaurav man I am sorry to hear your process is going SO badly.But the consulate seems to be shrewd in blaming yor photos-it's the only way of stalling they can do without you screaming foul from the rooftop :).Maybe you can ask Ms. Thekkat if you can scan
the photo and send.They can compare the original scanned ones for verification.And/or you can send the photos to India yourself and let the MOIA scan it.

And also ask the MEA if the spots resemble Mayonnaise or Butter Chicken.Atleast we can know what the embassy staff eats for lunch !!!!! :)
(Hope that brightened you up somewhat)
 
Inindia,
Please check your bulk mail/spam folder regularly.The mails i got from CGINY and MEA usually ended up there.
About FRRO registration i dont think you'll have a problem because legally you are an OCI from the date which you are granted.The date of issue on the visa corresponds to the date you were granted. But please check this.

BTW werent you supposed to send your PIO card as well ??
 
mangal969 said:
basis,
I just visited the nritax site (will add it to finance links with a disclaimer).It says Indian nationals can be taxed on assets abroad. Is this true ?
Click to expand...

Where does it say so...mangal? Can you give exact link / reference so I can look at it.

Taxation is generally on a residence basis. So Indian Nationals if resident in India will be taxed on global income and assets. Indian Nationals Resident outside India will be taxed on income / asset in India only.
 
basis said:
The other OCI link is growing and I think and hope wll keep growing with new information / links http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=209468

I remember PIO1 had suggested to put it on a web site. Would that be possible? It would be a lot more easier to access the information on website than the present discussion format.

What are your views everyone?
Click to expand...

I think a web site would be good, but what will make it usefull is:

a) if it was professionally edited
b) the information was well researched and accurate, simple and concise. Our link is starting to get too confusing.
c) you were answerable to public, i.e. if someone provided feedback it could be updated promptly
d) if it was updated regularly into the future. Many sites start out ok, but are not valid/updated.

The above needs people who are willing to maintain it on an ongoing, long-term basis, not for a month or two or even a year ... but long term.
 
PIO1 said:
I think a web site would be good, but what will make it usefull is:

a) if it was professionally edited
b) the information was well researched and accurate, simple and concise. Our link is starting to get too confusing.
c) you were answerable to public, i.e. if someone provided feedback it could be updated promptly
d) if it was updated regularly into the future. Many sites start out ok, but are not valid/updated.

The above needs people who are willing to maintain it on an ongoing, long-term basis, not for a month or two or even a year ... but long term.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree. :rolleyes:

Let RBI and CBDT continue doing the good work. And let us continue with the immigrationportal.com forum :D
 
PIO1,
We can improve our thread if it is getting too confusing .....What are the sticking points ??We can remove some 'unnecessary' posts and edit the current ones to match independent website standards !
 
basis said:
.

13. Are Non-Resident Indians given any preference in inter-country adoption?

Yes. As per the Revised Guidelines, the order of preference for adoption of Indian children is :-

1) Indian Family in India.
2) Indian Family abroad.
3) One parent of Indian origin abroad.
4) Totally foreign

Remember here Indian Family includes Indian Nationals and Persons of Indian Origin.

So OCI's will have following advantage -

a) Being citizen of the country where you are residing will help to speed up the process and also meet the guidelins / regulations of that country. Ofcourse this advantage is not by virtue of OCI but by virtue of Foreign Citizenship.
b) Being OCI one can come and reside India for indefinite period and adopt from within India. The easiest and simplest of all. Indian family residing in India is given first preference.
c) Being OCI can help one prove one is Person of Indian Origin if resident outside India. And get priority after Indian Family Resident in India. And is much simpler than being completely of Froeign Origin.

In short OCI does not offer any material advantages over PIO card or even over being a Person of Indian Origin and who has other valid proofs to show the indian origin (e.g. cancelled Indian Passport of self, parents, grand parents etc OR Indian Birth Cert etc.).
Click to expand...

Basis - What you have quoted from CARA's website has been their guidelines since November 30, 2003. Before that, NRIs (with or without Indian passports) had same preference as the families living in India, which was much easier for NRIs to adopt from India.

Since the change of guidelines from November 30, 2003, NRIs were put into 2nd preference after the Indian families living in India.

Recently, about 2 weeks ago, CARA has changed their rules for NRIs families, where either one or both spouses are holding Indian passport, to be considered as Indian families living in India, thus bumping them from 2nd preference to the 1st preference. This gives them better chance at getting younger and healthier babies.

CARA says it may deal with the issue of OCI/PIO families in future so they stay under 2nd preference at the moment. CARA has been slow in updating these guidelines on their website, but Indian adoption agencies have been confirming the new guidelines in their communications.

Finally, OCIs can go and reside in India for an indefinite period to complete the adoptions per Indian laws and guidelines, however, indian orphanages, do require that you set up a domicile in india, set up a household, and have a steady job/income, before they would consider them on par with the Indian families living in India. Timeframe ranges from 6 months to 2 years depending on the orphanages prople have talked to for setting up the domicile and completing the home studies to start the adoption in India. After that, US State Department guidelines require that you live with the child after taking a custody in India for 2 years, before applying for the child's visa. So it doen't really help if someone wants to complete the adoption and bring the child to US as soon as possible.
 
US Citizenship & Adoption of Indian Child

Recently, about 2 weeks ago, CARA has changed their rules for NRIs families, where either one or both spouses are holding Indian passport, to be considered as Indian families living in India, thus bumping them from 2nd preference to the 1st preference. This gives them better chance at getting younger and healthier babies.
Click to expand...

In the past many from the US adopted children from India, had to take up US Citizenship prior to the adoption process and in many cases was done primarily for adoption.
From the guideline it clearly states it values Indian Citizenship even for those who normally reside outside India. Was this (acquiring US Citizenship) done primarily to bring the child to the US easily or are there some country resitiction in the US that lead to the change in Citizenship?
 
sv2707 said:
In the past many from the US adopted children from India, had to take up US Citizenship prior to the adoption process and in many cases was done primarily for adoption.
From the guideline it clearly states it values Indian Citizenship even for those who normally reside outside India. Was this (acquiring US Citizenship) done primarily to bring the child to the US easily or are there some country resitiction in the US that lead to the change in Citizenship?
Click to expand...

From the perspective of US law, one of the adoptive parents has to be a US citizen in order to adopt through an inter-country adoption. Child has to be meet the criteria of an orphan. If that's the case, USCIS will approve an advanced petition on behalf of a US citizen to adoption internationally and bring the child to US. Immigration of the child is very easy under these circumstances, if the conditions set forth are met. Child enters the US on an IR-3 or IR-4 visa. If the adoption hase been completed abraod, then the child becomes a US citizen at the Port of entry. USCIS will mail the child's Certificate of Citizenship, automatically. If not, the adoptive parents, re-adopt in their child in their state of residence and then apply for Certificate of Citizenship from USCIS.

Every country has different laws and immigration policies concerning the inter-country adoption. US law has actually simplified the process a few year's back to automatically grant the citizenship to the children whose adoption gets finalized abroad. Also, by acquiring US citizenship for at least one of the parents, they are making sure to meet the requirements of the US law to bring the child to the US quickly. There is no quota of visa's for an adoptive child of the US green card holders.

CARA's guidelines about valuing the Indian citizenship....sounds great but the reality of the situation is that they were quite ambiguous in coming up with their order of preferences, i.e. indians families living in India, Indian families living abroad, etc... They basically created a discriminatory order even amongest indian citizens (holding indian passports) based on their place of residence (india vs abroad). Children who do get adopted are qualified to get the OCI status to mainatin a strong link to India.
 
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mangal969 said:
The nritax table which you had linked a couple of pages ago.
Click to expand...
Mangal,

For a start I think we are doing better than the independent site, but there is always room for improvement.

We could come up with a list of just a few posts (all complete and self contained, and concise ... And remove those that people don't find useful. Lets be honest and brutal ... which posts would people find of value, and go ahead and recommend changes.

I would divide them into the following and put all the links at the end of each post.

I think the posts are:

1) OCI Application (inc pp Cancellation)
2) OCI Processing, Timelines & Contacts
3) OCI Status according to law, and other countries
4) OCI Card (description, sample + maintenance)
5) Non Resident Investing & Transactions in India (Prpoerty, Accounts, Transacting and Tax)
6) Non Resident Living in India (Registration etc)
7) Non Resident Adoption in India
8) Other Useful Links


Everyone please provide comments - what is useful and what is not, and any feedback
 
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Gaurav man I am sorry to hear your process is going SO badly.But the consulate seems to be shrewd in blaming yor photos-it's the only way of stalling they can do without you screaming foul from the rooftop .Maybe you can ask Ms. Thekkat if you can scan
the photo and send.They can compare the original scanned ones for verification.And/or you can send the photos to India yourself and let the MOIA scan it.

And also ask the MEA if the spots resemble Mayonnaise or Butter Chicken.Atleast we can know what the embassy staff eats for lunch !!!!!
(Hope that brightened you up somewhat)

Mangal, that was a good one. Yes, the fact that she says some spots on the face, I am thinking it is butter chicken :) This reminds me of a Seinfeld episode in which the angry waiter does the unthinkable. After seeing that, I always remember to tip the waiter good more than the norm :)

Similarly seems like the mantra while dealing with GoI employees is to never complain. If you complain this is what you get. I learned my lesson now :)

Coming back to your suggestion, yes I already asked MEA whether I can send them the photos directly. She said they have to come through the consulate.
 
For OCI or PIOs returning to India -

do the kids fall under the "Open' category for educational institutions or
is there a "NRI" category that is even more competitive?

and secondly what's the fee structure for OCI / PIO kids in school, colleges, engineering / MBA /Medical colleges?
 
Stop complaining

All you people complaining about slow processing.

My father applied in Nov 2004. After the process going wrong at every point, he was granted 8 weeks ago. The embassy has no idea where his OCI is!

So 18 months...
 
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