Now a US Citizen - India Visa / OCI question

[phx_user]

Hello,

I have recently got my US Citizenship through naturalization process and received the US Passport. I delayed applying for OCI. Now due to some unexpected situation, I would need to make a quick visit to India in the first week of August.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t give me enough time for me to apply for OCI (80 day turnaround time) or PIO (45 day turnaround time) and forcing me to apply for the Indian Tourist Visa first (and then later apply for OCI).

My question is, if I apply for the India Tourist Visa now (which is asking me to surrender my India Passport and sign the "relinquish India citizenship" form), will there be any issues later when I apply for the OCI or PIO?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Amicus]

The simplest way to go about this would be to apply for OCI right away; OCI only requires photocopies of your Indian passport. If you don't finish OCI by end of July, then you can apply for Indian tourist visa (while your OCI is in process). If you are under CGI, SF then you can expect to finish the process by end of July (as it is taking about 6 weeks now).

Even if you were to apply for tourist visa (and cancel your Indian passports), that would have no bearing on your eligibility for OCI. Technically, your Indian passport became invalid the day you naturalized.

 

[phx_user]

The simplest way to go about this would be to apply for OCI right away; OCI only requires photocopies of your Indian passport. If you don't finish OCI by end of July, then you can apply for Indian tourist visa (while your OCI is in process). If you are under CGI, SF then you can expect to finish the process by end of July (as it is taking about 6 weeks now).

Even if you were to apply for tourist visa (and cancel your Indian passports), that would have no bearing on your eligibility for OCI. Technically, your Indian passport became invalid the day you naturalized.

Thanks Amicus. Since I planned on buying some property in India during this visit, I need either OCI or POI. Since I am not confident of getting the OCI in such short timeframe, I am opting for POI...I was also told they cancel the Indian passport and return.