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 .
There is only the reference number for us (According to CGI NY).They are not going to send us anything other than the OCI card or letter of rejection.If your asking from the point of view of the Online status application, I don't think i would bother much for that.

Mangal

Thanks for the response. Though I am not so keen to check my status online, I was wondering whether any such file number will be sent to me for easy reference when I call them. According to the application instructions, this number will be sent through an acknowledgment. I did FEDEX overnight so did not put return confirmation, not sure whether any such thing is there when we have a tracking number.

Also I sent my Indian passports for cancellation along with the OCI application with a covering letter stating so. When I called CGI, houston, they instructed me to send the passport along with OCI. Not sure whether they will send passports along with OCI card. I may have to call them after a week or so to find out.
 
gaurav2005 said:
There is only the reference number for us (According to CGI NY).They are not going to send us anything other than the OCI card or letter of rejection.If your asking from the point of view of the Online status application, I don't think i would bother much for that.

Mangal

Thanks for the response. Though I am not so keen to check my status online, I was wondering whether any such file number will be sent to me for easy reference when I call them. According to the application instructions, this number will be sent through an acknowledgment. I did FEDEX overnight so did not put return confirmation, not sure whether any such thing is there when we have a tracking number.

Also I sent my Indian passports for cancellation along with the OCI application with a covering letter stating so. When I called CGI, houston, they instructed me to send the passport along with OCI. Not sure whether they will send passports along with OCI card. I may have to call them after a week or so to find out.
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Generally, they will put the stamp 'Cancelled' on the Indian Passport and cut the edges of the Passport and return it to the person.
 
gaurav2005 said:
There is only the reference number for us (According to CGI NY).They are not going to send us anything other than the OCI card or letter of rejection.If your asking from the point of view of the Online status application, I don't think i would bother much for that.

Mangal

Thanks for the response. Though I am not so keen to check my status online, I was wondering whether any such file number will be sent to me for easy reference when I call them. According to the application instructions, this number will be sent through an acknowledgment. I did FEDEX overnight so did not put return confirmation, not sure whether any such thing is there when we have a tracking number.

Also I sent my Indian passports for cancellation along with the OCI application with a covering letter stating so. When I called CGI, houston, they instructed me to send the passport along with OCI. Not sure whether they will send passports along with OCI card. I may have to call them after a week or so to find out.
Click to expand...


When you call them you have to quote the treference number that was on the form after you filled in Part A.(USAXX0000000).But even if you ever did call them with the reference no,they probably would not bother checking it up for you. :eek:

For your passport i hope you enclosed a seperate stamped return envelope .
 
The chart clearly shows that the benefits of PIO/OIC are only upon registration.Some people had previously mentioned that the benfits of a PIO card holder default to all PIO's,but this is clearly not the case.As a PIO you are clearly on par with foreigners until you register.
Also in it's current form OIC is clearly similar to PIO except in the cases of 1.Police registration 2.Validity and 3.Cost.
So there should be no confusion as to OIC being a dual nationality (which it isn't).The only spoke in the wheel is the condition that the host country should permit dual citizenship in some form or the other.
 
mangal969 said:
The chart clearly shows that the benefits of PIO/OIC are only upon registration.Some people had previously mentioned that the benfits of a PIO card holder default to all PIO's,but this is clearly not the case.As a PIO you are clearly on par with foreigners until you register.
Also in it's current form OIC is clearly similar to PIO except in the cases of 1.Police registration 2.Validity and 3.Cost.
So there should be no confusion as to OIC being a dual nationality (which it isn't).The only spoke in the wheel is the condition that the host country should permit dual citizenship in some form or the other.
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I still do not understand why they have a clause that the host country should permit dual citizenship in some form or other - when clearly OIC is not citizenship? GOI is confusing people with their language on this issue.
 
mangal969 said:
Good news !
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=349143

First batch of OCI cards and U visas dispatched ! ! !

It's a small batch of 374 to be followed by 1000 next week.I guess they will first cover the 2004 applicants and the 2005 applicants (from Aus NZ etc).the 2006 US applicants may see their OCI cards around Feb.

Not bad (not good either but thats a different issue)
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Any idea if the 374 OCI certificates were delivered to the embassies or was it just an eyewash? As per that post 1000 OCI should be sent out this week. Has anybody on this forum received any call from their respective embassies?
 
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fitness99 said:
I still do not understand why they have a clause that the host country should permit dual citizenship in some form or other - when clearly OIC is not citizenship? GOI is confusing people with their language on this issue.
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May be the Babu's of India are thinking into the future. With this kind of language they could easily make the OCI's citizens if they and the applicant wants to without the chance of the OCIs loosing their foreign citizenship.

With my creative thinking cap: OCI is eligible to become a citizen of India in 5 yrs after one year of residence in India. If an OCI applies for Indian Citizenship, its still up in air on how they will cancel the foreign citizenship (eg US Citizenship) without they having the authority to do so. Does this mean a potential dual citizenship ?
 
Even as of today the Indian babus have no authority to cancel your foreign citizenship.When you apply for Indian citizenship,part of the documentation they ask for is a certificate of renunciation,which you get when go to the (say) US embassy and hand in your passport.The procedure will remain the same.There is no way you can get a dual citizenship (legally) unless the laws change.

About the language they probably want to keep the option of making OCI into a real dual citizenship open without having to resort to a whole new act.
 
qwert97 said:
Any idea if the 374 OCI certificates were delivered to the embassies or was it just an eyewash? As per that post 1000 OCI should be sent out this week. Has anybody on this forum received any call from their respective embassies?
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The article wasn't clear on whether these OCI cards were blanks or already filled in for the 2004 applicants.So the 2005 applicants shouldnt be holding their breath waiting for the phone call to come.
One other point to note is we dont know how the embassies have progressed on OCI applications-Have they done the checking for adverse information or are they just collecting the documents and waiting ?
So even though there are 374 OCI cards out there i would wait for 2 weeks before expecting anything.
 
$15 for each applicant?...isn't it robbery!!

When a family group applies for OCI, why should the fee for mailing has to be $15 for each document?

They accept OCI application only by mail and may be documents sent by mail only. No in-person drop off or pick up of the document. With the Indian software industry claiming to be on top of the world, the Indian government wants to be at the bottom of the heap with their operational procedure.

Our Australian passport expires next January. DOes CGI accepts the passport for U1 visa sticker? Is there a charge for transferring the sticker to new passport?

For a minor it costs 155 for PIO, and if a PIO wants OCI the difference is US$25. Can I beat the system by applying for my son's PIO card and later upgrade to OCI (thus saving about $100). May be there is a fine print!! :)
 
rajudm said:
When a family group applies for OCI, why should the fee for mailing has to be $15 for each document?

They accept OCI application only by mail and may be documents sent by mail only. No in-person drop off or pick up of the document. With the Indian software industry claiming to be on top of the world, the Indian government wants to be at the bottom of the heap with their operational procedure.

Our Australian passport expires next January. DOes CGI accepts the passport for U1 visa sticker? Is there a charge for transferring the sticker to new passport?

For a minor it costs 155 for PIO, and if a PIO wants OCI the difference is US$25. Can I beat the system by applying for my son's PIO card and later upgrade to OCI (thus saving about $100). May be there is a fine print!! :)
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I believe it is probably cheaper to go via the PIO - OCI for a minor (it will cost you less). Eventhough your passport expires, the U visa is valid for life and you can carry your expired passport with your new passport (assuming you can keep your expired passport?). If you want to transfer your U visa to the new passport, I believe they will charge you around $25.
 
US Consular Protection

Because MHA is liberally using the term Dual Citizenship, do you think we will loose the US Consular Protection coz, Indian Govt. is counting us in as DUAL.Link "the Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) commonly known as 'Dual Citizenship'. "
 
needurhelp said:
Because MHA is liberally using the term Dual Citizenship, do you think we will loose the US Consular Protection coz, Indian Govt. is counting us in as DUAL.Link "the Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) commonly known as 'Dual Citizenship'. "
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Read this article
http://www.hicomind.org.nz/OCI_Dual.htm

This clarifies that OCI is not Dual citizenship
 
OCI and Minor Child, you may want to know

I sent an email to CGiSF today and here is the reply.

---------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have already applied for OCI for myself and one minor child. When I applied about 10 days ago, your website did not have the information about what to do for signature box for the minor child who can't sign. However, I found Indian Embassy website of Sydney and it clearly said to leave it blank in that case. Today I found from your website that there must be thumb impression for the minor child who can't sign. I am dissapointed that these information are not presented clearly from the begining.

reply from cgiSF
-------------
Dear Sir,

We began accepting applications for OCI only from 9th Jan 2006. and since the process is in nascent stage, there are some teething problems.

Regarding your child's thumb impression, we'll get back to you once the application is processed.

Thank you for your cooperation.


Yours Sincerely,

OCI Team
Consulate General of India
540 Arguello Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94118
 
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Pardon my ignorance

qwert97 said:
Read this article
http://www.hicomind.org.nz/OCI_Dual.htm

This clarifies that OCI is not Dual citizenship
Click to expand...

I'm very much clear about the fact that OCI is not Dual Citizenship. My only concern is the Consular Protection. None of the literature that I read has talked about it. Hence I have to post it here as I've noticed some of you guys have done plethora of research in this subject.

Mangal9
PIO1
QWERTY
to name a few... :)
 
needurhelp said:
I'm very much clear about the fact that OCI is not Dual Citizenship. My only concern is the Consular Protection. None of the literature that I read has talked about it. Hence I have to post it here as I've noticed some of you guys have done plethora of research in this subject.

Mangal9
PIO1
QWERTY
to name a few... :)
Click to expand...
Thanks needurhelp, glad to be of help ...There is an international convention on citizenship.

Where a person is of dual or plural nationality (given OCI is not citizenship) you are considered to be a citizen of the country you have most connection with.

Say, you are an Egypt-US citizen. If you find yourself in need of help, say in Egypt, the US will most definately try. The Egyptian authorities will argue that you are Egyptian, and therefore may not provide normal consular access to the US. If this is the case, there is not much the US can do, and international courts will find in favour of Egypt.

If on the other hand, you are an Egypt-US who is resident for the last 30 years in US and you get into trouble in Germany (for example). You can successfully argue for consular assistance from the US rather than from Egypt, because you have the most connection with the US.

Now back to the OCI. There is some confusion. However, you can I think argue that as OCI is not nationality, you are technically a foreigner, and can access consular assistance freely in India.
 
go_cp said:
May be the Babu's of India are thinking into the future. With this kind of language they could easily make the OCI's citizens if they and the applicant wants to without the chance of the OCIs loosing their foreign citizenship.

With my creative thinking cap: OCI is eligible to become a citizen of India in 5 yrs after one year of residence in India. If an OCI applies for Indian Citizenship, its still up in air on how they will cancel the foreign citizenship (eg US Citizenship) without they having the authority to do so. Does this mean a potential dual citizenship ?
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I too thought like you ...

Mangal is correct - basically if you hold a second passport including Indian, you are breaking practiced law in India. This is known as "The passport test".

However if you are prepared to rot in jail as your case makes its way to the Supreme Court - i.e. years - Post #625 has some loopholes you might want to try!

P.S. OCIs need only wait 1 year, not 5. CCI (Commonwealth Citizens of India e.g. UK, Australia, NZ) need not wait at all!
 
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OCI: Questions on holding properties in India

I am not sure whether this question is asked before in this forum.

Currently I am in the process of becoming US citizen. I have one property in India( Residential ) which I inherited from my parents. What will happen if I became US citizen but not yet got the OCI card. For example I will get my citizenship in May 2006 and OCI card somewhere in January 2007. Here are the questions

1. Am I legally eligible to hold the properties without a OCI card ?
2. Do I need to transfer these properties to a trusted relative and get back the same after getting the OCI card ?

Can you pl. let me know if you or someone you know faced the same situation.

Thanks,
V
 
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