OCI - Overseas Citizenship of India
The Government of India has decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), which most people refer to as 'dual citizenship.'
Benefits for an OCI application holder:
An OCI application holder gets the following benefits:
i. A multiple entry, multi-purpose life-long visa for visiting India.
ii. Exemption from registration with local police authority for any length of stay in India.
iii. Parity with Non-resident Indians (NRIs) in respect of economic, financial and educational fields, except in relation to acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
iv. OCI can be used as identity proof for the application for a PAN Card and driving licence as well as for opening a bank account if the OCI application holder is residing in India.
Under what conditions should one apply for a New OCI application and Sticker:
(i) In case of issuance of a new passport.
(a) For an applicant who is 20 years of age or younger, OCI documents must be re-issued each time a new passport is issued.
(b) For an applicant who is 50 years of age or older, OCI documents must be re-issued once after the issuance of a new passport.
(c) For an applicant who is 21 to 49 years of age, there is no need to re-issue OCI documents each time a new passport is issued. However, if the applicant desires, he/she can request that the OCI documents be re-issued so that the OCI documents reflect the correct passport number.
(ii) In case there is a change in personal particulars.
(iii) In case of loss/damage of passport and/or OCI booklet.
(iv) For correcting personal particulars entered wrongly while submitting online applications e.g name, father’s name, date of birth etc.,
(v) In case of change of address/occupation.
In case of emergency, the applicant can continue to carry the old passport wherein OCI 'U' visa sticker is pasted along with the new passport and the OCI booklet for visiting India.
It is important for the OCI application holder to carry the OCI booklet along with the passport having a U visa sticker. Both these documents should always be in the possession of the OCI application holder while travelling to India.