India Dual Citizenship Mega Thread (Merged)

[fitness99]

You have to submit all the reqd documents + the PIO card,as far as i know.
i.e
US Passport,Indian passport (yours or parents) with evidence if required,PIO card.

Correct. I submitted notarized copies of the US Passport, cancelled Indian Passport and PIO card. Part B of the OIC application also lists all the documents required.

 

[atlantathrasher]

this is what is put up on the website of the Indian embassy, wellington, NZ
APPLICATIONS ABOUT OCI WILL BE ACCEPTED IN HCI WELLINGTON. AS PER NEW GUIDELINES, OCI APPLICATIONS WILL BE PROCESSED AND OCI CERTIFICATES WILL BE ISSUED FROM INDIA. HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA WELLINGTON WILL THEREFORE, NOT BE IN A POSITION TO INDICATE TIME FRAME FOR GRANT OF OCI CERTIFICATES. APPLICANTS ARE ADVISED TO PLAN THEIR TRAVEL ACCORDINGLY.

I thought the applications are processed in the embassies and not in India!!!!

 

[atlantathrasher]

while the GOI website brochure for OCI states:

After preliminary scrutiny, if there is no adverse information available
against the applicant, the Indian Mission/Post shall register a person as an
OCI within 30 days of application and the case shall be referred to MHA for
post verification of the antecedents of the applicant. If during the post
verification, any adverse information comes to the knowledge of the MHA,
the registration as an OCI already granted by the Indian Mission/Post shall
be cancelled by an order under section 7 D of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

it clearly states that the Indian mission does the registration. so now we have conflicting opinions. nothing new!!!

 

[mangal969]

You should e-mail this to the OCI cell at Wellington.
What the MHA says makes more sense.If the form were to be sent to India at the word go,why involve the regional embassies at all ? And sitting in India how can they determine there is no adverse information against the candidate ?The FBI Interpol and other agencies wont be so obliging as to give information of each and every candidate that applies !

 

[mangal969]

I got a reply for my e-mail from CGNY.
According to them the reference nos for online tracking are issued by the MHA ! ! !
Wonder how the people in Chicago applying a week after me got their reference nos from the embassy in Chicago while those applying in NY will get it especially from the MHA ?

I just hope all this confusion doesnt spill over to after the OCI cards are issued

 

[basis]

Is it better to fill online Part A or to print the whole thing and write it. I am thinking of applying from within India - So I can share that experience too. If all the processing happens here then I guess it should be quicker and ofcourse I think there would be very few who are applying from within India - those who are already there on PIO may not bother to apply soon - so do I hope

 

[asecretidnew]

I applied for my minor kid couple of weeks back at Chicago Consulate. Got a acknowledgement y'day along with a File Number. The status on MHA website says 'Granted'. Will post when I get the OCI certificate and U Visa.

 

[mangal969]

Is it better to fill online Part A or to print the whole thing and write it. I am thinking of applying from within India - So I can share that experience too. If all the processing happens here then I guess it should be quicker and ofcourse I think there would be very few who are applying from within India - those who are already there on PIO may not bother to apply soon - so do I hope

If all the processing is in India as they say, then applying from India itself may not make any difference.
I think online would be better because there is a (mild) chance that some amount of pre-processing would be done by the MHA before you submit your physical copy.

 

[basis]

In part A if one is not applying for spouse then the spouse details should not be filled in right ?

And if one is not employed / self employed is there an issue ? e.g. address of employer may not be there.

 

[harry2005]

OCI or PIO?

I'm trying to decide whether to go for OCI or get PIO for the time being. Apparently there is no point in comparing OCI with dual citizenship, so I'm comparing OCI with PIO card. From what I gathered, it looks like PIO may be a better option. I was wondering why so many people are anxious about getting OCI. May be I'm missing something here.

The main differences I saw between the two:
- validity, lifetime vs 15 years
- registration, not required vs 1 time for PIO (Is it one time per visit or one time for life?)
- with OCI, will lose consular protection

And neither seem to give true dual citizenship option in the future. So, what do you guys suggest? Whats your criteria?

Thanks.

 

[mangal969]

I'm trying to decide whether to go for OCI or get PIO for the time being. Apparently there is no point in comparing OCI with dual citizenship, so I'm comparing OCI with PIO card. From what I gathered, it looks like PIO may be a better option. I was wondering why so many people are anxious about getting OCI. May be I'm missing something here.

The main differences I saw between the two:
- validity, lifetime vs 15 years
- registration, not required vs 1 time for PIO (Is it one time per visit or one time for life?)
- with OCI, will lose consular protection

And neither seem to give true dual citizenship option in the future. So, what do you guys suggest? Whats your criteria?

Thanks.

Some points:
1.OCI is cheaper than PIO
2.The registration is once per visit exceeding 6 months.
3.OCI is not dual citizenship so the question of you losing consular protection is not there.However this point is still to be worked out.

OCI and PIO are basically the same other than a few points.The MHA has a comparison chart on their website which you can look at and decide.

 

[basis]

The registration is not per visit. It is once during the validity of the PIO card so once in 15 / 20 years as the case may be.

 

[harry2005]

The registration is not per visit. It is once during the validity of the PIO card so once in 15 / 20 years as the case may be.

Thats what I thought. Though wording in that pdf from mha website got me confused. Has anyone confirmed this? If it is true, I'm not going to bother with OCI and get PIO for now. If OCI ever becomes anything of substance, I'll convert. The thing that bothers me about OCI is the requirement that 'host country should allow dual citizenship in some form or the other'. With this, you are not actually getting dual citizenship in any form but the side effects of it. Until they get some clarity on this matter, I'm going to stay away from it.

 

[fitness99]

The registration is not per visit. It is once during the validity of the PIO card so once in 15 / 20 years as the case may be.

The wording used on the website is a bit confusing. I thought it is per visit if the stay exceeds 180 days.

 

[basis]

There are various places where it has been clearly specified that registration is needed only once during the validity of the PIO card. e.g. look at the sites below. I have confirmed this with FRRO Mumbai.

Look at http://mha.nic.in/oci-chart.pdf

9.Is he required to register with local police authorities in India?
Yes, one time when the stay in India exceeds 180 days for the first time.

http://www.hcilondon.net/visa/visa-formalities.html

Registration is required to be done only once during the validity of a visa irrespective of the number of times the foreigner leaves/re-enters India on a multi entry facility.

 

[basis]

Actually in that case one does need even PIO card. One can go just for multi-entry visa. PIO / OCI are really useful for those who want to return to India. The economic / financial benefits are extended to Persons of Indian Origin irrespective of the fact whether they have the PIO card or not. The FEMA act defines NRI as a citizen of India or a Person of Indian Origin who resides out of India. And a PIO is a PIO whether one takes the card or not. The whole drama of PIO / OCI for so many years is utter waste of time and money for every hopeful PIO. In my opinion if a person wants to go for PIO / OCI should go for OCI just because it is lifelong, no need of registration. You just save yourself even one hassle to go to FRRO and register. And as I posted last time you are also exempted from having to register Form C ( Rule-14, Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992) if you stay in hotels, boarding-house, club, dak bungalow, rest house, paying guest house, sarai and other premises of like nature. So the OCI is better of two and in future would get more privileges. and the cost of conversion to OCI for PIO holders is not much. But as I say that's my view.

 

[fitness99]

Actually in that case one does need even PIO card. One can go just for multi-entry visa. PIO / OCI are really useful for those who want to return to India. The economic / financial benefits are extended to Persons of Indian Origin irrespective of the fact whether they have the PIO card or not. The FEMA act defines NRI as a citizen of India or a Person of Indian Origin who resides out of India. And a PIO is a PIO whether one takes the card or not. The whole drama of PIO / OCI for so many years is utter waste of time and money for every hopeful PIO. In my opinion if a person wants to go for PIO / OCI should go for OCI just because it is lifelong, no need of registration. You just save yourself even one hassle to go to FRRO and register. And as I posted last time you are also exempted from having to register Form C ( Rule-14, Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992) if you stay in hotels, boarding-house, club, dak bungalow, rest house, paying guest house, sarai and other premises of like nature. So the OCI is better of two and in future would get more privileges. and the cost of conversion to OCI for PIO holders is not much. But as I say that's my view.

Thanks for the information Basis

 

[harry2005]

Actually in that case one does need even PIO card. One can go just for multi-entry visa. PIO / OCI are really useful for those who want to return to India. The economic / financial benefits are extended to Persons of Indian Origin irrespective of the fact whether they have the PIO card or not. The FEMA act defines NRI as a citizen of India or a Person of Indian Origin who resides out of India. And a PIO is a PIO whether one takes the card or not. The whole drama of PIO / OCI for so many years is utter waste of time and money for every hopeful PIO. In my opinion if a person wants to go for PIO / OCI should go for OCI just because it is lifelong, no need of registration. You just save yourself even one hassle to go to FRRO and register. And as I posted last time you are also exempted from having to register Form C ( Rule-14, Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992) if you stay in hotels, boarding-house, club, dak bungalow, rest house, paying guest house, sarai and other premises of like nature. So the OCI is better of two and in future would get more privileges. and the cost of conversion to OCI for PIO holders is not much. But as I say that's my view.

Thanks for the links/info.

My reason for preferring PIO over a regular visa is that PIO is multi-purpose (student, work, business, visitor etc.). If I end up taking a job in India, I don't want to apply for work visa again. Also, I read that you can use PIO card to establish utilities accts, bank accts etc. or wherever a ration card is needed. My reason for PIO over OCI is mainly the confusion over OCIs duality and its consequences. If it ever offers anything substantial, I'm open to converting PIO to OCI.

 

[boggavarapu]

OCI Card/Sticker

I wonder if anyone has so far received the OCI Card/Sticker in the USA.
I have contacted Chicago Consulate this morning. They informed me that they received nothing so far from India!!

As a 2004 Applicant, I am looking forward to receiving the card asap.
Few days ago, when I contacted OCI Section (Mr. Sharma) in New Delhi - they have confirmed that all the 2004 applications have been already processed and the cards should be handed over soon by the respective consulates. I am just wondering if the cards are still in transit!!

 

[mangal969]

The economic / financial benefits are extended to Persons of Indian Origin irrespective of the fact whether they have the PIO card or not. The FEMA act defines NRI as a citizen of India or a Person of Indian Origin who resides out of India. And a PIO is a PIO whether one takes the card or not. .

Are you sure about this ? The MHA meakes clear distinctions between PIO's and PIO card holders.Look at their comparison chart.

The cost of conversion to OCI for PIO holders is not much. But as I say that's my view.

In my opinion if you are going to convert might as well get the OCI card.You'll save $60 v/s taking a PIO card first.