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 .
picture of the U visa sticker or OCI card

[
does anybody know of a site which has the actual closeup or photos of the OCI card or U sticker. Do they have some sample versions anywhere?!!
 
Dunno if you can assume that. I became a US citizen in July and got a 10yr visa to India soon after. Regardless I applied for OCI on Wednesday just so that I could get it out of the way. I expect that at the minimum it will take a 3 months or so before I hear back from CGISF.

Rajax said:
1) The initial load @CGISF should not be high (say max 2000 apps in next 30 days) - remember that many citizens who have PIO cards /long term visas won't be in a rush - rather new US citizens with short term visas or no visas to india (like me), or those moving soon to india will want to apply rightaway.)
Click to expand...
 
malgudi said:
This article says "scrutiny of the 8000 applications will take place within a month". I take this to mean the processing will start within the next month, not the issuance of 8000 OCIs.


8000 OCI applications received
Click to expand...

These guys have no idea what they are doing. They are going to scrutinize the application within 30 days; I wonder that they have been doing with the applications for the last 13 months. When are they going to process them ..within 90 days of scrutiny??? That takes it well into April before anybody will see the OCI card. Seems to me like another eyewash. These guys have no intention of issuing any in the next 6 months... :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
Gadhaes or not gadhaes - that is the question.

malgudi said:
This article says "scrutiny of the 8000 applications will take place within a month". I take this to mean the processing will start within the next month, not the issuance of 8000 OCIs.


8000 OCI applications received
Click to expand...


how about a healthy dose of positive speculation as follows?

1) n delhi periodically scrutinizes the data already available to them online (say every week in batches) and (i) notifies any suspect cases to the respective consulates, (ii) also sets up a centralized web form in n delhi for rest of approved applicants (read: 99%) to check status confidentially by Part A form id number

2) based on this, OCI cells at the local consulates use the 3rd photo to make the booklet and notify approved applicants to send the passport for the sticker. (I doubt any special equipment should be needed to print, other than the GOI released U visa stickers and booklet stock, otherwise it would be centralized MAYHEM worldwide)

3) consulates complete hauskeeping tasks in the background (like sending one copy of the application for archiving at n delhi, keep the other locally), take up quarantine suspect cases for further work etc.

problems with this speculation:
a) booklets are made in n Delhi! (50000+!!!!) MAYHEM.
b) n delhi needs the physical application with photo for inspection. MAYHEM.

As long as N Delhi scrutinizes the online data for approval and consulates do the actual work, I'll still hold on to my optimism :D :D

I m taking a clue from the pains taken to create a "centralized website for Part A" (otherwise they may have as well had a static pdf to fill and send like OCIv1?) Also when there is a consulate or embassy in every country why would anyone want to centralize the work unless they are donkeys :D?

unfortunately the dilli babus love to be donkeys :D


-Rajax
 
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atlantathrasher said:
[
does anybody know of a site which has the actual closeup or photos of the OCI card or U sticker. Do they have some sample versions anywhere?!!
Click to expand...

I haven't found one on a closed view!!
 
boggavarapu said:
I haven't found one on a closed view!!
Click to expand...
The one they gave out at PBD is either a one-off or a PIO card - that's my bet. The U visa is similar to your standard visa sticker, just in type it says "U" instead of "X" or whatever.
 
OIC application

Hello everyone

I am getting ready to apply for OCI. I have read the past discussions on this issue but I still have the questions on problems I encountered while filling up the form:

1. I filled the form online and it gave some reference numbers. While printing, my printer had a problem. I wanted to reprint using the reference numbers, I found to my astonishment, I just cannot do it. Do I need to refill the form and keep doing it until I get successful prints ? What happens to the reference numbers ?

2. Any resolution on where we can get 35x35mm photographs ?

3. I have to get my Indian passports cancelled as I acquired US citizenship recently. Can they be sent along with OCI application ? Or do they need to be sent separately ?

Thanks a lot
 
I never understood why visas have to have a photograph,they dont trust the one on the passport ?)

mangal

The photo on the passport may be 10 or 20 years old but the photo on the visa will be more or less current particularly for temporary visas.
 
1. I filled the form online and it gave some reference numbers. While printing, my printer had a problem. I wanted to reprint using the reference numbers, I found to my astonishment, I just cannot do it. Do I need to refill the form and keep doing it until I get successful prints ? What happens to the reference numbers ?
Basically yes.You cannot reprint.What you can do is print it to file/pdf (if you have it) and then reprint it

2. Any resolution on where we can get 35x35mm photographs ?
I dont know where you are located but many studios in New York run by Indians do have that size.

3. I have to get my Indian passports cancelled as I acquired US citizenship recently. Can they be sent along with OCI application ? Or do they need to be sent separately ?
They have to be done seperately.If your embassy is close by i suggest you go in person to have the passport cancelled and then mail in the OCI form.Otherwise send the passport first have it cancelled and then apply for OCI after it comes back.
 
According to Fernandes, the despatch of overseas Indian citizenship cards to the 8,000-odd applicants will begin this month. He said the government was expecting 50,000 more applications soon.

Fernandes admitted there were a few glitches in accepting applications earlier, but said all procedural irritants had been removed and Indian missions abroad and Foreigners Regional Registration Offices in India were geared for the process.

This is from the Times of India.There is another article on Sify.com (and someone also posted a link earlier) according to which the processing will begin within a month.These guys say that despatch will begin within a month.Lets see what happens.
 
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The Indian Diaspora
Updated:2006-01-13 16:25:19 MYT

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has performed a master stroke in tapping the country's considerable human capital overseas by extending dual citizenship rights to all Indians who left after 1950. The only proviso is that their adoptive countries' law permits it.

As the privilege is rarely offered by Asian countries, with their short independence histories and orthodox notions of citizen loyalty, Dr Singh's move could grate among India's tradition-bound constituencies.

As an economic decision, however, it is visionary. The Indian diaspora is 25 million strong, with a sizeable presence in the United States and Western Europe. Their remittances home of USD21.7bn last year were the world's highest, followed by China at USD21.3bn, according to the World Bank.

Indians' money home eclipsed foreign direct investment of USD5bn. But important though inflows have been, the absence of dual citizenship was no bar.

Remittances could now rise further, but Dr Singh clearly had his sights on gains more enduring. These are the technology expertise and billions of dollars in investment funds to be lured home, not just to seed new businesses but also to stimulate economic thinking grown increasingly as bold as China's.

In a symbolic gesture last week, which would have set certain Asian countries thinking, Dr Singh presented citizenship papers to two Indian-Americans working in finance and software engineering. These happen to be industries at which many overseas Indians excel, as entrepreneurs and premium management staff.

Just imagine: More replications of the scale of Infosys and Wipro could set Bangalore alight. It is not widely known that the creator of the Pentium chip and Hotmail's co-founder are Indians (Vinod Dahm and Sabeer Bhatia, respectively).

In finance, an infusion of investment banking brains just could turn Mumbai into something more than a localised financing operation.

Unlike the Jewish and Chinese diaspora, to whom cultural and kinship ties were enough to propel brain power and investments towards Israel and China, ex-Indians abroad need to hold citizenship to own land, residential and commercial property in India. They will also enjoy multiple entry, which can be an ordeal in the land which made an industry of red tape.

This is where the liberalisation holds such promise for a country catching up on its potential
 
1. I filled the form online and it gave some reference numbers. While printing, my printer had a problem. I wanted to reprint using the reference numbers, I found to my astonishment, I just cannot do it. Do I need to refill the form and keep doing it until I get successful prints ? What happens to the reference numbers ?

2. Any resolution on where we can get 35x35mm photographs ?

3. I have to get my Indian passports cancelled as I acquired US citizenship recently. Can they be sent along with OCI application ? Or do they need to be sent separately ?

Mangal, thanks for the answers.

Now that I did not save for the first time, not sure whether I can refill it again and print it. I may get a new reference number or an error because I have already been given a reference number ? I thought once filled, this information is stored and my application may be already in file.

Regarding photos, I live in Florida and I dont have many Indian shops here who do such thing. Also for the same reason, I cannot go to an embassy in person. My consular office is houston, TX.

thanks
 
mangal969 said:
The U visa which Ms Rai shows off seems to be more along the lines of a US visa,digitized photo et al (I never understood why visas have to have a photograph,they dont trust the one on the passport ?)

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/08/stories/2006010804001000.htm

The pictures offer some view if not a complete view
Click to expand...

The more I hear about these things, the more I think that the OCI is a long way off. Why didn't they use the standard visa label for the U Visa? It complicates the roll out. It's yet one more new thing the bureaucracy needs to deal with and formulate "modalities" for.

Anyway, the US prints visas with a photo as a standard, including for countries on the Visa Vaiver Programme that do not meet their requirements of a machine readable passport. They have introduced other requirements, such as digital printed pictures (to avoid people sticking their passports in the freezer to peel off the adhesive film and exchange photos), and electronic biometric identifiers (an electronic signature of your face) imbeded in the passport. True, if coutries comply with requirements (and India doesn't) there is no need for a photo on the visa. India is doing it to copy the US (depite the fact that most OCI countries use digital images anyway) - the funny thing is it makes it more secure than an Indian passport!

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/35066.htm
 
Then i can offer you a simpler solution: Do you remember what your reference no was ? In that case just print the PDF form from the MHA website and write in the ref no.If you dont remember go ahead and refill the form.The old ref no will just be on standby and eventually get cancelled.

For the photos find someone who has a nice digital camera and a nice photo printer and ask him to make the 35x35 pictures for you !

Since you are in Florida and the embassy is in texas i do not think you can apply for OCI until you have your passport cancelled.
 
SFO Indian consulate response regarding OCI status

Here is a response I received from SFO Indian consulate regarding the status of the exisiting OCI applications -

--------------------------------------------
From: Commerce [mailto:com@cgisf.org]
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 3:45 PM
Subject: OCI

We have not received any OCI cards for applications submitted last year from the Ministry of Home Affairs. We are sorry that we are unable to provide you with an exact or estimated time frame.

We will contact you once your OCI is received from India.

Thank you for your cooperation.


Yours Sincerely,

OCI Team
Consulate General of India
540 Arguello Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94118
 
SOmeone actually wrote this to either the PM or the MOIA ! !
Bravo ! ! !

Sir,
I would like to know if your government considers OIC and PIO's to be a big joke.Your OIC scheme went operational on December 2 and you formally launched the scheme on January 7.Then why are you not processing applications? Your OIA minister has made a statement that you will begin processing within a month.Why? And if you are not ready then why did you declare the process operational and formally launch the scheme.
This is nothing but inefficiency and/or lethargy on the part of the Government of India.You cannot follow the laws you make-Remember the 15 day processing limit incorporated in the citizenship act ?
 
I can understand the frustration of this person who wrote to the PM/PMO.

But really, what rights do we have (as US citizens and having wilfully given up the Indian citizenship) to demand better service from the GoI ? Lets not forget that we are no longer Indian citizens to demand and scold the Indian Govt officers. Whatever they are trying to offer to the people of Indian origin is a bonus for us. And they dont have to do that. Lets go easy.

When we went through the long, painful process of H1, GC and USC, did someone on the forum write to the President of United States complaining about the delays in the processing ?

Its one thing to complain and another thing to call names like lethargic, inefficient and all that particularly when writing to PM.
 
Regarding photos, I just got them in my local Walgreens photo dept. They have a built in size which automatically prints a pack of 4. This size happens to match what GoI wanted (35*35mm => 1.37 * 1.37 inch) . But this is not very obvious and you need to explain to them. Most of them may just say they cant do it. This is using a digital camera, not using regular polaroid.
 
gaurav2005 said:
I can understand the frustration of this person who wrote to the PM/PMO.

But really, what rights do we have (as US citizens and having wilfully given up the Indian citizenship) to demand better service from the GoI ? Lets not forget that we are no longer Indian citizens to demand and scold the Indian Govt officers. Whatever they are trying to offer to the people of Indian origin is a bonus for us. And they dont have to do that. Lets go easy.

When we went through the long, painful process of H1, GC and USC, did someone on the forum write to the President of United States complaining about the delays in the processing ?

Its one thing to complain and another thing to call names like lethargic, inefficient and all that particularly when writing to PM.
Click to expand...

You are missing the whole point. By this letter someone is trying to inform the PM about the inefficiencies of the system. The person is trying to tell the PM to stop fooling the NRI's or PIO's and that get the modalities worked out before announcing anything. Many dates like August 15th, November 15th, December 2nd and now Jan 7th have been announced by the media and till date only two OCI cards have been issued by the MHA. They need to get their act together. India has made a lot of technological improvements and if they have to lead the world they cannot afford to make these mistakes.
 
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