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 .
Action

So far I have been complaining to myself. I agree with qwert97 - lets do something.

I have just written to the local and national level consulates, and once I have an articulated story, will write to the paper and minister because clearly the minister and media have no idea about the sham. The fact is that the OCI gives you few if any rights as a citizen. Even if it implemented, this is not what we wanted. It is not in any way to be compared to dual citizenship.

Compare OCI with Citizenship (in some ways it is worse than PIO - which you could renew every 15 years):

Valid Forever: Sort of - need to get renewed passport stamped for fee.
No Police registration: Yes, not required
Separate Passport: No
No Visa: No. A visa is still required
Hold Official post: No
Visit scheduled areas: No
Vote: No
Own ordinary property: In some cases
Own Agricultural/scheduled property: No
Rights guaranteed by consititution: No (parliament/govt can revoke at any time)
Click to expand...

Overseas Indians, we have been cheated. Let's not take this lying down!

P.S. If someone knows a lawyer we have grounds for putting the bureacracy up to the supreme court ... for not implementing this fast enough, and for calling this dual citizenship when it is not.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Apply for PIO ?

Hello folks

Thanks for your discussion and valuable insights on this subject.

I just got my US citizenship and my US passport is on its way. I am kind of wondering whether to wait until OIC or go ahead and apply for PIO. We are a family of four, so it does become cheaper to go for PIO given the watered-down-version of OIC. But there is one feature of OIC, i.e., no need to report to police station if the visit is greater than 6 months, is something very compelling. Is it worth to wait for OIC ? or go ahead and apply for PIO ?

One more factor is that it is always comforting to be "travel ready" given the aging parents back home. So it does weigh in favor of going for PIO for now ?
What do you guys suggest ?
 
gaurav2005 said:
I just got my US citizenship and my US passport is on its way. I am kind of wondering whether to wait until OIC or go ahead and apply for PIO. We are a family of four, so it does become cheaper to go for PIO given the watered-down-version of OIC. But there is one feature of OIC, i.e., no need to report to police station if the visit is greater than 6 months, is something very compelling. Is it worth to wait for OIC ? or go ahead and apply for PIO ?
Click to expand...

It is tricky one ... These days most Indian Consulates take 2-3 days to give you a standard visa. I am sure your parents will be Ok for at least the next six months or so - a lot of us are in the same boat! Just wait it out. PIO takes too long to apply anyway, and 5 year Long term visas are too expensive.

If you need to go, just go for the shortest visa practical. The consulate here has an emergency number, that you can call and there is someone who can stamp your passport if there is an emergency. I think similar facilities should be available in your country.

As soon as you hear of the first Indian getting his/her OCI, I think on balance the OCI is the most cost effective "visa" (that's what it is) available. If you are a citizen on the list of 16 countries including US, the PIO will become redundant I think.
 
gaurav2005 said:
Hello folks

Thanks for your discussion and valuable insights on this subject.

I just got my US citizenship and my US passport is on its way. I am kind of wondering whether to wait until OIC or go ahead and apply for PIO. We are a family of four, so it does become cheaper to go for PIO given the watered-down-version of OIC. But there is one feature of OIC, i.e., no need to report to police station if the visit is greater than 6 months, is something very compelling. Is it worth to wait for OIC ? or go ahead and apply for PIO ?

One more factor is that it is always comforting to be "travel ready" given the aging parents back home. So it does weigh in favor of going for PIO for now ?
What do you guys suggest ?
Click to expand...

If you have properties and other items in India, go for the PIO. You can always get the OIC later on by paying the $25 fee if and when it is implemented...
 
action

qwert97 said:
I think the applciation money that I paid with my application is a write off. Can we sue them for a refund? :mad:
Click to expand...
We were promissed Dual citizenship, and the legislation could have delivered us full dual citizenship. What we got was PIO version 2.0, delayed for 3 years. I think there is grounds for supreme court action. So if you know an Indian lawyer, put me down.
 
Pio

I was under the impression that PIO is cheaper. But it is 310$ for adults. :mad:

fitness99,
If you have properties in India, is it preferable to get PIO as soon as possible ?
 
gaurav2005 said:
I was under the impression that PIO is cheaper. But it is 310$ for adults. :mad:

fitness99,
If you have properties in India, is it preferable to get PIO as soon as possible ?
Click to expand...

I applied for and received a PIO card within one month after becoming a USC. I would recommend you to get one, if you have properties in your name. I think it is definitely cheaper for kids to get a PIO instead of the 10 year multiple entry visa.
 
PIO1 said:
We were promissed Dual citizenship, and the legislation could have delivered us full dual citizenship. What we got was PIO version 2.0, delayed for 3 years. I think there is grounds for supreme court action. So if you know an Indian lawyer, put me down.
Click to expand...
Basically OIC, gives you a means to obtain full dual citizenship. If you have an OIC for 5 years and if you reside for 1 year in india then you are eligible to register as an Indian Citizen by Citizenship Act 1955 (check out http://www.indialawinfo.com/bareacts/citi.html#_Toc501347985). I think the govt. is giving what it promised and the expectation of remaining an OIC for 5Yrs and residence in India for 1 yr. is perfectly reasonable.
 
hipka said:
Basically OIC, gives you a means to obtain full dual citizenship. If you have an OIC for 5 years and if you reside for 1 year in india then you are eligible to register as an Indian Citizen by Citizenship Act 1955 (check out http://www.indialawinfo.com/bareacts/citi.html#_Toc501347985). I think the govt. is giving what it promised and the expectation of remaining an OIC for 5Yrs and residence in India for 1 yr. is perfectly reasonable.
Click to expand...
However, once you get Indian citizenship, you need to renounce your foreign citizenship, and you are back where you started - this time without a green card. You could do this without a OCI anyway - even with a long term visa - if you were resident for 5 years. I.e. there is no dual citizenship.

PS I checked that link, it doesn't mention OCI or the 1 year at all, must be the unamended version.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Oh man....things getting worse and worse....
A buddy of mine apparently spoke to personnel concerning his immigration status (I think he spoke to someone in the San Francisco consulate)

And he tells me, the true dual-citizenship will not be offered by India
(I am not talking about the OIC, I am talking about TRUE DUAL-CITIZENSHIP)

Can someone else confirm this?
So I can stop wasting my time and money...
 
While there has been talk of Dual Citizenship for years, there is no proposal I know of for dual citizenship, though people get Dual Citizenship confused with this OCI (partly due to previous promises, spin and misinformation perpetuated by politians and the media).

I have put up a comparison of citizenship with the other visas up on http://misrani.blogspot.com/2005/11/overseas-citizenship-of-india.html

If you read this, and hear anyone claim that there is a dual citizenship, please correct them!!!
 
Has the government developed cold feet over Dual Citizenship? For too long, they have been leading us on a wild-goose chase. Simply pathetic.

Doesn't this strike you as a long-drawn labour process - this govt is unable to deliver the Dual Citizenship baby!
 
If you wait for the Indian government to allow us to have real dual citizenship, you'll be waiting a long time. It may never happen.

Here's how it could happen, though. Here is a link to the articles of the Indian constitution that govern citizenship:

http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p02.html

Note Article 9, which prohibits dual citizenship, and then note article 11, which seems to over-ride any of the preceding articles, as long as the government of the day passes a law agreeing to it. These articles are somewhat badly written, because the purpose of a constitution is to lay down provisions that the government of the day cannot easily change, but there it is.

So, what needs to happen is that someone should bring an action forward to the Supreme Court, and make the argument that Article 9 does not stand, since Parliament has passed (or can pass) a law permitting it. If the court agrees, then that will eliminate all the nonsense that the government has been putting us through, and we'll just be regular, normal Indian citizens, irrespective of our other nationalities.

Dual citizenship would just be a convenience for me personally. However, if any of you feel more strongly about it, and are able to take some action along these lines, I suggest you try to do so. I don't think there is any other way of making the government of India actually do the right thing.
 
Oic

hipka said:
Basically OIC, gives you a means to obtain full dual citizenship. If you have an OIC for 5 years and if you reside for 1 year in india then you are eligible to register as an Indian Citizen by Citizenship Act 1955 (check out http://www.indialawinfo.com/bareacts/citi.html#_Toc501347985). I think the govt. is giving what it promised and the expectation of remaining an OIC for 5Yrs and residence in India for 1 yr. is perfectly reasonable.
Click to expand...

And when is that going to start?????? :confused:
 
OCI Scheme

I do not care if I have the OCI sticker or an Indian Passport as long as I have one. The OCI sticker (like the NRI status) may even become a status symbol.

From my past experience, to obtain things like Passport, Driving License etc. in India you have to pay in "Indian currency" which is a 5 letter nasty word called br**e. Why should the OCI scheme be any exception? I would not be too surprised if there already is a backdoor to get an OCI sticker quietly issued!!

However, it is possible that the OCI scheme may require approval from foreign governments because the OCI sticker deprives a foreign national with OCI from the right to consular protection from the foreign govt when in India.
 
cybergeek75 said:
However, it is possible that the OCI scheme may require approval from foreign governments because the OCI sticker deprives a foreign national with OCI from the right to consular protection from the foreign govt when in India.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't. Where on earth did you get that? It's just another kind of visa. Consular protection is based on your citizenship. Just because you have a visa for one country, doesn't mean that you lose whatever privileges which your citizenship may bestow upon you.
 
PIO1 said:
However, once you get Indian citizenship, you need to renounce your foreign citizenship, and you are back where you started - this time without a green card. You could do this without a OCI anyway - even with a long term visa - if you were resident for 5 years. I.e. there is no dual citizenship.

PS I checked that link, it doesn't mention OCI or the 1 year at all, must be the unamended version.
Click to expand...
Correct, but countries like the US do not recognize this renunciation( since 1990's ), I don't know about UK and other countires but the general principle is that renunciations which are forced are usually not recognized.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top