is oci really required ??

D

desi99

New Member
I live in UK. I have recently got british passport. Do i have to surrender my indian passport ? Can i travel to india on my indian passport.
One of my friends who has british passport still uses indian passport to travel to india and he never had any problems.
Why waste about £200 just to get an oci card while i can keep indian passport. How would the custom at indian airport will know that i have also british passport if i dont carry that with me .
Since even after getting oci you return to india and after 1 year can get the indian citizenship again and will have two passport , so why surrender it in the first place ?
 
You MUST surrender Indian Passport after you acquire

You must surrender Indian Passport after you acquire UK/US nationality.

Your friend could get into trouble. He is doing something that I think is
not legal.

With all the terror stuff, it pays to play by the book.. I would suggest.

-- GM
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gudman said:
You must surrender Indian Passport after you acquire UK/US nationality.

Your friend could get into trouble. He is doing something that I think is
not legal.

With all the terror stuff, it pays to play by the book.. I would suggest.

-- GM
Click to expand...

I am sure you meant "cancel" your Indian passport. Except for one post on the NY forum here wherein the individual's passport was not returned, I believe if you send in the passport for cancellation to the nearby Indian consulate, they will cancel it and send it back to you. (assuming you also send in a prepaid self-addressed envelope).
 
desi99 said:
I live in UK. I have recently got british passport. Do i have to surrender my indian passport ? Can i travel to india on my indian passport.
One of my friends who has british passport still uses indian passport to travel to india and he never had any problems.
Why waste about £200 just to get an oci card while i can keep indian passport. How would the custom at indian airport will know that i have also british passport if i dont carry that with me .
Since even after getting oci you return to india and after 1 year can get the indian citizenship again and will have two passport , so why surrender it in the first place ?
Click to expand...

Indian government doesn't recognize "DUAL CITIZENSHIP" in true sense.

Using Indian passport to enter India while still holding any other non-Indian
passport may be considered as a punishable offense AFAIK.

If you enter India using Indian passport that information is saved in the customs. And now when you are leaving if you are going to use your British passport, this will be automatically flagged as a anamoly. I am sure folks at the customs know this and are aware of this already.
 
My friend uses indian passport to enter and leave india because in indian passport there is british permanent residence stamp and uses british passport for european travel.
he even renewed his indian passport when it expired while holding british passport.
 
My point is if you go back to india permanently one day then you can get indian citizenship after 5 years stay and will end up having two passports
so why not do it from the start and not surrender the indian passport
 
desi99 said:
My friend uses indian passport to enter and leave india because in indian passport there is british permanent residence stamp and uses british passport for european travel.
he even renewed his indian passport when it expired while holding british passport.
Click to expand...


As clearly stated on most Indian Consulate web-sites, this is illegal per Indian passport regulations.
 
desi99 said:
My point is if you go back to india permanently one day then you can get indian citizenship after 5 years stay and will end up having two passports
so why not do it from the start and not surrender the indian passport
Click to expand...


The Indian authorities will not grant Indian Citizenship without documentary evidence from the local (in India) consulate of the applicant's country of citizenship that the applicant has renounced citizenship of said country. This step would involve the surrender/cancellation of the passport issued by said country.

In any case, it would be illegal per Indian laws to use another country's passport while an Indian citizen.
 
To summarize:
OCI is really required, if you hold a non Indian passport, and are eligible for OCI.
To hold another country's valid passport along with a valid Indian passport (and use it) is illegal.
 
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