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PROCESSING TIME FOR OCI APPLICATIONS
1. It takes about 12 weeks for OCI applications to be
acknowledged.
2. OCI applicants are requested to kindly check the status of their application at
http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp by using the
web file number. When the last column of the status page indicates “Documents Received at
Washington, DC on (date indicated), the applicants are requested to immediately send their original US
passport(s) for stamping the “U” Visa by mail. In case the applicant is a PIO cardholder, PIO card should also be sent for cancellation. This will facilitate immediate delivery of OCI cards to the applicants.
PLEASE DO NOT COME PERSONALLY AS THERE IS NO COUNTER SERVICE FOR OCI
3. Applicants can ascertain the status of their applications on the website We regret that it will not be possible for us to give the status of the application on telephone. Applicants are requested to bear with us and avoid enquiry until after 12 weeks of submission of application through email.
4. Queries at email
giving details will be replied only after 12 weeks.
5. Please do not send the original US Passport with the application.
6. Please send
the original Indian Passport with the application.
7. If you are traveling in the near future and have an emergency, please apply for visa.
OVERSEAS CITIZENSHIP OF INDIA (OCI)
Based
on the recommendation of the High Level committee on Indian Diaspora, the
Government of India decided to accord Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI). OCI
scheme is operational from December 2, 2005.
Please Note:
Persons registered as OCI have
not been given any voting/political rights. The Constitution of India does not
allow holding Indian citizenship and citizenship of a foreign country
simultaneously
.
A. Who is eligible?
-
Who
was eligible to become citizen of India on January 26, 1950; or
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Who
was a citizen of India on or at any time after January 26, 1950; or
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Who
belonged to a territory that became part of India after August 15, 1947; and
-
His/her
children and grand children including minors, provided foreign national or
his/her children and grand children’s country concerned allows dual
citizenship in some form or other under the local laws.
B. Who is not eligible?
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Any
foreign national who has earlier been a citizen of Pakistan of Bangladesh.
-
Any
foreign national who has an adverse record;
-
Foreign-born
minor children are not eligible for OCI if both the parents are Indian
citizens holding Indian Passports.
C. Cancellation of
OCI Registration
-
If
during post verification, any adverse report is discovered against the
foreign national, registration as OCI already granted by the Indian
Mission/Post shall be cancelled by an order under section 7D of the
Citizenship Act, 1955.
-
If
it is subsequently discovered that a foreign national has obtained OCI by
fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact or he/she
has demonstrated disaffection towards the Constitution of India or is
covered under any of the provisions of section 7D of the Citizenship Act,
the registration of such foreign national shall be cancelled
immediately. In addition, he/she shall be debarred from
visiting India in the future.
D. Privileges
(a) Parity with non-resident Indian in respect of:
1. Entry
fees to be charged for visiting the national monuments, historical sites and
museums in India;
2. Pursuing the
following professions in India, in pursuance of the provisions contained in the
relevant Acts, namely: Doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists; Advocates;
Architects; and Chartered Accountants.
(b) Appear for the All India Pre-Medical Test or such other tests to make
them eligible for admission in pursuance of the provisions contained in the
relevant Acts.
E. Restrictions
Persons registered as OCI:
o Cannot acquire agricultural or plantation properties in India;
o Do not enjoy any voting rights;
o Cannot contest selections to Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/ Legislative
Assembly/Council;
o Cannot hold Constitutional posts such as that of President, Vice
President, Judge of Supreme Court/High Court etc.
F. Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction of the Embassy of India, Washington DC are:
Bermuda, Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky,
Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia
G. Guidance
for completing online application:
(a) You must register and complete the form
(Part-A) ONLINE (link
mentioned at the end of these instructions).
(b) When you have completed filling in Part A, click save. A Print
Window would appear. Click “OK” to print out the application form consisting
of Part-A and Part-B will be printed.
(c) You must then complete Part-B, preferably
TYPED. It may also be handwritten but in CAPITAL
LETTERS with Blue
or Black
Ink.
(d) The completed application form (Part-A & Part- B)
along with the following documents must be
submitted in TWO
SETS for each applicant to the Embassy;
(1) Photographs-
·
You must also paste Two PHOTOGRAPHS of 2 inches x 2 inches IN
COLOR FOR EACH APPLICANT on the space provided on the PART A. DO
NOT STAPLE the photographs. Attach third photograph in an
envelope with name written on the back of photograph. [Photograph should be
sufficiently bright color with frontal view of full face against a light
background.] We follow US Passport specification.
*As your photograph is scanned
and printed on the OCI card and lifelong visa, it should be of a high quality
for reproduction and conform to International
Civil Aviation Organization specifications (pdf file)
(2) Notarized copy of
first 2 and last 2 pages of US/ foreign passport.
(3) Indian passport in Original and self attested copy of first two
and last two pages of Indian Passport.
In case, the Indian passport is not
available notarized copy of
Copy of domicile certificate, or any photo ID issued by the
Government of India
or of a State of India such as Voter ID,
or
Notarized Copy of Indian Birth Certificate
or
Notarized Copy of Indian Educational certificates,
and
Copy of Naturalization certificate issued by the country of
current nationality of
the applicant, and
Affidavit certifying Indian Origin
(4) Notarized
copy of the birth certificate for foreign-born
children as a proof of
relationship with the child.
(5) PIO card in Original and self- attested copy of PIO card, if
applicable.
(6) If holding non US Passport, please attach notarized copy of visa.
Important:
*All documents should be
submitted in two individual sets for all the applicants. Each set should
comprise of Part A, Part B and supporting documents.
Signature- The signature of the applicant should be
WITHIN AND IN THE CENTER of the Signature box of Part A of the
OCI Application form. Place thumb impression in signature box in BLUE INK ONLY
(right thumb for female and left thumb for male), if the applicant (including
minor children) can’t sign. Make sure it is a DARK PRINT. Parents should not
sign for children in the signature box.
· Save a copy of the OCI Applications for your records.
. The entire process of OCI applications is handled via postal mail.
Please, therefore, refrain from making personal appearance for handing over
applications; making enquiries/seeking status; or collection of the finished
documents.
If you have understood the
instructions properly and are ready to apply for OCI, please click “Online
Registration” to
continue
Name Change
IF YOUR NAME IN YOUR US PASSPORT
IS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE IN THE INDIAN PASSPORT:
a. In case of name change due to
marriage please submit notarized copy of the marriage certificate and first 2
pages of spouse passport
b. Otherwise YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ADVERTISE
CHANGE OF NAME IN A NEWSPAPER IN YOUR LOCALITY IN USA, AND IN INDIA.
c. In both a and b cases please COMPLETE
AND NOTARIZE THE CHANGE
OF NAME (pdf file) AFFIDAVIT.
H. Fee:
Application fee: Cashier check/Postal Order of $ 275 (two hundred and seventy five
only) per new application and $145 for each MINOR PIO Card holder and $25
for each adult PIO Card holder.
Mailing Fee: $20 or SELF ADDRESSED
STAMPED UPS ENVELOPE
Please make payable to “Embassy of India, Washington DC”. One Cashier check/Postal Order for entire amount for a family is
accepted
Cash, Personal Checks, credit
cards or any other form of banking instruments are not accepted.
I. Where to apply:
Mail the above documents to-
OCI Cell, Embassy of India,
2536 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
NOTE: Applications for OCI are
accepted by mail only. OCI cards and the passports are dispatched
also by mail only. We earnestly and humbly request you not to make
personal appearance at the Embassy.
J. Applying in India or
elsewhere
· If the applicant is in India, he/she
can apply to the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) at Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata or Amritsar or Chief Immigration Officer (CHIO) Chennai or to
the Under Secretary, Citizenship Section, Foreigners Division, Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA), Jaisalmer House, 26 Mansingh Road, New Delhi-110011.
·
If the applicant is abroad, he/she should submit the application
to the Indian Mission/Post of the country of applicant’s citizenship, or ;
where he/she is not in the country of citizenship, to the Indian mission/post of
the country in which he/she is ordinarily resident.
Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) On Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme
K. Instructions regarding
online status checking and Dispatch of OCI cards
1. OCI Cards
OCI cards and lifelong visa
stickers are printed in Delhi. Please check the status at http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp
Note:
Reference or online registration number begins with "USAWI......"
(alphabetical I) and not "USAS1.." (numeric one). OCI File number will
begin from "USAW00...." (numeric zeroes)
As
the Embassy processes a large number of OCI applications, it will not be
possible to provide individual interim Status/ Acknowledgement/File number to
applicants. Cooperation of applicants is,
therefore, solicited to refrain from making interim status enquiries and calls.
Enquiries and status calls will be attended to only after 45 business days of
acceptance of the application.
2. Submission of US and Indian passports in original
Please send the original Indian Passport with the application. Mail your US passport only after seeing status "OCI Card is printed and received"
in the following link http://ociindia.nic.in/ociindia/OnlineOCIenquiry.jsp.
3. Incomplete applications
If any
application/information is incomplete, your application will be sent back or you
will be contacted by email provided on the application.
4. Dispatch: We are required to affix the U-visa on your US/foreign
passport and also deliver the OCI card to you (and your family, if applicable).
In order to complete the work, you are requested to:
Step 1: When you see the status as "DOCUMENTS
PRINTED AND RECEIVED IN WASHINGTON", Send your and your family member’s US passport/s
and PIO card/s, if any, to us by mail marking attention to OCI Cell (Dispatch),
Embassy of India, 2536 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 20008.
Step 2: Kindly quote applicant’s/applicants file number
and current address in a cover letter along with the passports.
Step 3: In Case return mail charges, or pre- paid envelope
was not sent earlier, enclose a self addressed stamped Prepaid UPS Mail
envelope for returning the passport. Please ensure that the complete current
mailing address is mentioned on the UPS Mail envelope.
Step 4: In case you have acquired a new US/Foreign
passport since you applied for OCI, kindly send Expired US/Foreign passport in
original and a photocopy of first page of new US/Foreign Passport. The U visa
sticker has to be pasted on the Passport with which application was made.
Important:
There is no option for personal pick-up. US/Foreign
Passport should be sent by MAIL only. It will take 20-25 working days for the OCI
Cell to mail back the passport and OCI card.
L. OCI Miscellaneous Services
(i) OCI Miscellaneous Services are available in the event of:
issuance of new passport;
change of personal particulars viz. nationality
loss/damage of OCI registration certificate/visa.
erroneously entering wrong personal particulars while
submitting online applications;
change of address and occupation.
(ii)
Process
Registered OCI shall make the application online
selecting the requisite service(s).
Hard copy of application along with copy of old lifelong
visa, old and new US/foreign passport and new enclosures to be submitted to the
concerned Indian Mission/Post/Office.
Application can be submitted in Indian
Mission/Post/Office in whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily residing
irrespective of the fact whether the same Mission/Post/Office has issued the
original OCI documents or not.
Fee for re-issuance of OCI documents is US$ 25 (twenty
five).
Fee for issuance of duplicate OCI documents is US$ 100
(one hundred).
OCI Miscellaneous Form:
OCI Miscellaneous form is available on the following link-
https://passport.gov.in/oci/OnlineOCIMiscMain.jsp
(iii) Enclosures
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Application form
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One 2’x2’photograph
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Notarized coy of New US/ foreign passport
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Old US passport
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Old OCI card
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Photocopy of New US passport, OCI card and lifelong visa
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Requisite Fee in the form of postal money order
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Self addressed pre-paid UPS mail envelope
(iv) Fee
US$ 25 for re-issuance of OCI documents in case of
issuance of new passport, change of personal particulars, wrong filing of
particulars , payable to “Embassy of India, Washington DC”
US$ 100 for issuance of duplicate OCI documents in
case of loss/damage, payable to “Embassy of India, Washington DC”
· Fee should be paid in the form of postal money order
(v) Mailing Address
If residing under the jurisdiction of Embassy of India,
Washington DC, mail your application to:
OCI Cell, Embassy of India, 2536 Massachusetts Ave NW,
Washington DC 20008
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