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 .
mangal969 said:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1404116,00050001.htm

Looks like dual citizenship is not going to happen till Sept-Oct.This is just too bad.I seriously doubt if this is ever going to happen if at all.
They should ATLEAST start it IMMEDIATELY for the 16 countries already approved on the list.
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mangal969,

I feel exactly the way people quoted in this article feel. I am no longer excited about the OIC, and I will evaluate what they offer, whenever Indian bureaucrats can get their act together, if they ever do. There is apparantly no desire to implement this. It seems that the bureaucrats are just dragging it along for as long as they can. If they make it too cumbersome and don't spell out the details clearly, I am afraid not too many people will go for it. This may be one of the things that you may not want to the first one in line. I would rather wait for some time and have them smoothen out the process so that I know what I am getting.
 
pareshshenoy said:
Hi,

I am a US citizen (born in New York, nov. 1982). My family moved to India in 1985, and we have been residing here ever since.

I am currently on an X-visa (multi entry, valid upto Sept. 2006). I am also a PIO card holder (I had applied for the card in feb 2005, and got it a month later).

I will be leaving for Chicago to pursue graduate studies this July. Since this is the first time that I will be going out of India, I have a few queries:

1. Do I need to take any exit permit fron the local FRO, i.e, do I need to have take any permission to leave India? If yes,
(i) what is the process,
(ii)how long does it take and
(iii)what are documents required?



Dont' know.


2. What immigration checks will be done at the airport (I'm in Bangalore, leaving for Chicago on Air India -> Bangalore-Mumbai-Frankfurt-Chicago ) ?


Nothing special. Just give them your ticket and valid US passport at the airling counter to take your baggage. Indian immigration authorities will look at your boarding pass and stamp you US passport with the date you are leaving India.


3. What are the documents that I must show at the immigration counter?


U.S. Passport, boarding pass ONLY, if asked show them the PIO card.


4. Also , I have read that there are separate immigration counters for PIO card holders. Is this correct?


Not sure. There was some talk in the news articles. I haven't seen while departing India. May be they were talking about opening a separate counter for PIO's for the arrival immigration formalities.


Awaiting replies at the earliest.

Regards,
Paresh.
Click to expand...
 
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=80548

Now the NRI minister (awaking from his slumber) is talking about taking between one to three months.
And can you believe some of the ststements he makes-"We cannot distinguish between PIO's ????" What a lousy excuse ! ! ! If the current law says that it is to be given to 16 countries the process should be implemented for 16 countries ! !If the law states(for example) that all school children are to get Hindi textbooks free of cost, you cant hold them back saying we will soon pass a law giving all textbooks free of cost ! ! !
It is the job of the government to formulate AND implement laws governing the country.Too bad this government doesnt seem to realise this.
 
mangal969 said:
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=80548

Now the NRI minister (awaking from his slumber) is talking about taking between one to three months.
And can you believe some of the ststements he makes-"We cannot distinguish between PIO's ????" What a lousy excuse ! ! ! If the current law says that it is to be given to 16 countries the process should be implemented for 16 countries ! !If the law states(for example) that all school children are to get Hindi textbooks free of cost, you cant hold them back saying we will soon pass a law giving all textbooks free of cost ! ! !
It is the job of the government to formulate AND implement laws governing the country.Too bad this government doesnt seem to realise this.
Click to expand...

All I see is that the Indian government likes to talk talk...and is not acting on this fast enough. I would not be surprised if they still keep talking after three months!
 
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Fitness99,

You're probably right. We will still be talking about this even after 3 months. One thing they need to do is STOP calling this a dual citizenship. Basically, there really are no citizenship rights. This is nothing more than an enhanced PIO status or so Overseas Indian Citizenship (OIC) is more appropriate.
 
I checked back this thread after reading news that Govt is again talking about this. You just hope one of the babu/b-cat (drafting the document) has his folks also in similar situation as everyone here. May be he is doing all the running now that this will finally happen someday. Govt always moves very slowly on most things and sometimes one arm does not know what other is talking about....
 
This is a great article and so true. With Indian bureaucrats, if you leave something for too long in their hands, they will make it utterly useless and so difficult to get. I guess that's where they find their satisfaction by handing out so little, and making everyone feel that they have the ultimate power.

I have always questioned why India needs to issue tourist visas to people from countries such as US, Canada, EU countries, Japan, etc. This is just to make the bureacrats feel powerful. If India were to stop requiring the tourist visas from these countries, just imagine the kind of tourism and economic development India can witness. If they still want to insist on issueing visas, why issue the visa's for 30 or 60 days when people land in India. This will really cut down on Indias expenditures to maintain big staff (babus) and expensive office spaces at the foreign missions.

But no, Indian bureaucrats feel slighted because these other countries don't offer the same priviliges to the indian citizens. I guess in order to think along these lines, India will have to "stop thinking like a small country."
 
Overseas Indian citizenship

I called the embassy in Toronto and was informed that the government is thinking of resuming the overseas Indian citizenship for 16 countries by July/Aug.

When the overseas Indian citizenship was introduced , I was stupid enough to apply for the citizenship. So once in a while I keep on checking with the empbassy about the status of my application which by far seems to have fallen in limbo. The embassy has assured me that the applications received will be processed soon (there are about 2000 applications in process) . I am unsure what soon means since it can easily mean 5-6 months. Are there any other members of this forums who have applied for the OIC and are waiting for the result?

Thanks
 
Another day another article on this topic...interesting though that they will convert PIO Card status to OIC with an additional $25 fee. As usual there is a confusion about what documents they will issue to the OIC. It's neither a registration certificate nor a full OIC passport. It looks like it will be passport type booklet with a multiple entry visa sticker for life. Essentially, that's what we are getting with an OIC...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...l~citizenship~is~not~any~more~a~distant~dream
 
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sg_orl said:
Another day another article on this topic...interesting though that they will convert PIO Card status to OIC with an additional $25 fee. As usual there is a confusion about what documents they will issue to the OIC. It's neither a registration certificate nor a full OIC passport. It looks like it will be passport type booklet with a multiple entry sticker for life. Essentially, that's what we are getting with an OIC...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...l~citizenship~is~not~any~more~a~distant~dream
Click to expand...

It would be good if a PIO needs to only pay $25 to convert to an OIC, especially when it takes $310 for a PIO card (more like a dang book!). Reading the article it talks about a OIC passport (which is a book), and what is up with the visa sticker? and then it talks about a "smart card" again....

It proves that the idiots do not know what the heck they are doing? maybe they should outsource the job of coming up with a plan to a private company!
 
From what i understand all approved OIC candidates get a passport type booklet (presumably like the PIO card) and a permanently valid visa sticker (with all thos fancy things) on your primary (foreign) passport.Smart cards are to come later.
 
I read the samachar.com article and frankly i'm confused.To quote the article :
So, what do the PIOs and NRIs get out of this huge, expansive and seemingly endless exercise that began with the lollypop of dual citizenship. According to Gupta, the Minister of Community Affairs in the Indian Embassy in Washington, “ an Overseas Citizen of India will enjoy all rights and privileges available to NRIs, including investment in agriculture and plantation properties, which is currently not available to PIO cardholders. There would be no visa requirement for travel to India. The person would have to carry his/her existing foreign passport along with Registration Certificate. The person so travelling would not be required to complete registration formalities for his/her stay in India. All facilities as available to children of NRIs for getting admission to educational institution in India including Medical and Engineering Colleges, Management Institutes etc. under the general category and membership of various housing scheme etc. will be open to holders of Certificate of Registration.”

Now the catch here is once the overseas citizens are placed in general category, they will have to forfeit their special category privileges, like the NRI special quota for flats and houses or NRI quota for admission to professional institutions. One can guess at some stage the priority banking benefits such as higher interest rates on NRI deposits will be withdrawn and the NRI tax benefits also might vanish. So, it’s a give and take process

What is the writer taking about ?From what i know :
NRI=An Indian citizen living abroad i.e The person has an Indian passport and is a resident of a foreign country.They are already Indians and dont need OIC.

PIO=A foreign citizen who has indian origins i.e the person does not have an Indian passport.The facilities available to NRI's are generally not available to a PIO-The person is a "foreigner" for all practical purposes

And what "general category" does the writer refer to ? My interpetation of Gupta's statement leads me to believe that the "general category" refers only to the admission processes preceeding it and not to the whole thing.
 
I am travelling in about two months to India and need to apply for some travel document (visa or PIO). In light of the news that is coming out lately, what do you suggest I apply for? I was thinking of applying for PIO and later when the air clears on OIC, convert to OIC for $25. I am interested in your suggestions. Thanks
Mahesh
 
Mr Maheshgajanan,
I would suggest you just go for a visa.
PIO to OIC looks more expensive in the short term vis a cis visa to OIC.And having a PIO doesnt seem to garuntee an OIC
 
maheshgajanan said:
I am travelling in about two months to India and need to apply for some travel document (visa or PIO). In light of the news that is coming out lately, what do you suggest I apply for? I was thinking of applying for PIO and later when the air clears on OIC, convert to OIC for $25. I am interested in your suggestions. Thanks
Mahesh
Click to expand...

Go for a tourist visa for now and see how this OIC shpaes up in the future. Indian ministers and bureaucrats have said so many things about OIC in the past few years that I don't know what to believe in. With OIC possibly coming up, I would not want a PIO card. It's more expensive and it takes longer to get. If you plan to visit just once in the next year, then just get a 6 mos tourist visa.
 
found the official press release, and they mention smart card will be an option soon

According to the official press release.., the bill will be introduced in the monsoon session. I am confused about the procedures.. i thought the bill was already approved. but anyways... they plan to introduce the smart card also.. so maybe the monsoon session will approve smart cards..
here is the press release.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=9729&kwd=overseas+citizen
and here is the previous press release given by Jagdish Tyler illustrating the advantages of the OCI...
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=2529&kwd=overseas+citizen
here is the snippet from the 1st press release:

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955; and amend Allocation of Business Rules and to allow Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) to issue notifications under Section 7B(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and issue smart cards to registered Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).

The Bill will be introduced before the Parliament in the coming Monsoon Session.

YSR/DS/HS/LV

and here is the snippet from content of the 2nd press release..

The PIOs get many benefits from Overseas Citizenship. These include:

o Issuance of a registration certificate on being granted Overseas Citizenship;

o Issuance of overseas citizen passport;

o No requirement of visa for travel to India (both passports will be required to be presented while travelling to/from India);

o No registration formalities for staying in the country up to 180 days;

o No separate documentation required for admission in colleges/institutions or for taking employment;

o Parity with non-resident Indians in respect of facilities available to the latter in the economic, financial and educational fields;

o Facilities as available to children of NRIs for obtaining admission to educational institutions in India, including medical colleges, engineering colleges, institute of technology, institute of management etc. under the general category.

Shri Tytler said that the benefits accruing to India by providing dual citizenship are:

o Strengthening of emotional and cultural ties with India

o Important role of PIOs in the development process

o Foreign investment in various sectors

o Transfer of technology

o Greater coordination with motherland
 
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