OCI Experience...lessons learnt

OCI - Overseas Citizen of India. OCI is a privilege granted by government of India to people of Indian origin who have become foreign nationals. OCI brings foreign nationals of Indian origin on par with NRIs (Non Resident Indian). OCI allows the holder to travel freely to India, stay as long as one wants, take up private jobs, invest, buy property (except agricultural land) etc.

Earlier, once you gave up the Indian citizenship, you were treated purely like a foreigner without any consideration to your Indian origin. You had to get a tourist visa like any other foreigner to visit India. Length of the stay was limited and there were regulations like having to register with local police authorities if the stay exceeded certain number of days etc.

OCI is a good measure from the government of India for people who want to have flexibility about their visit to and stay in India. Earlier it started as PIO (Person of Indian Origin) scheme and now has become OCI. It is a lifelong visa to visit and stay in India. (Technically not lifelong as one has to renew it at least once after reaching 50 years of age. Other than that it is a permanent Indian visa.)

Probably all this is known to most of the people. There is plenty of information available on websites both in India and abroad. If you are interested to apply and get OCI for yourself, please visit them and follow the instructions accurately and you should get your OCI without any problem.

Here I want to let you know about a few points, which if ignored even if unintentionally, can cause some problems and thus delay the processing of your OCI card.

1) The passport size photographs that you need to attach to the OCI application have to be different than the one on your passport. This requirement is found only on CKGS's website, the company which verifies your documents before forwarding your application to the Indian government.

Glad I noticed this rule before finalizing my OCI application. Otherwise I would have sent the same photos that I had used to get my recent US passport as I had a few extras.

So, always get a new set of photos when you send your OCI application and make sure it is different than the one in your passport.

2) Variations in name. In India, it is common to write your full name as 'your name' 'father's name' 'surname'. In US, unless you have a real middle name, you simply write 'your name' and 'your surname'.

All my Indian documents have my father's name and US documents like naturalization certificate, US passport etc. don't have it.

So, they flagged my OCI application for inconsistency in name and put it on hold. Options given were 1) if you have changed your name, send the name change court order or 2) send an affidavit stating that both the names belong to one and the same person.

I am glad that they provided option #2. I also searched on the web and found that many people had similar problem. Some people had shared what they had done, type of affidavit they had used etc. Using such information, I also prepared a simple affidavit, got it notarized and sent it following the instructions given by CKGS, the outsourced company which handles all the paperwork. Once they reviewed and accepted the affidavit, everything went smoothly. OCI card was processed in India, sent to the Indian consulate here in San Francisco and after the local consular officer signed it, it was delivered to me. Total time taken was one month and ten days. If not for the glitch with the name, probably it would have been taken a month. Thankfully the delay was not really very long.

So if you are applying for OCI, make sure that your name is written exactly same in all the documents you are sending along with your application like your old passports, birth certificate, US naturalization certificate, US passport etc. If you have really changed your name, no worries. It is straight forward. Just attach the name change documentation. If you have NOT changed the name but your name is written DIFFERENTLY in different documents then you are better off sending a notarized affidavit clearly explaining different variations of your name, why they exist and how they are one and the same and most importantly belong to you only. There is no one affidavit format which may work for all situations. Just type up a simple but accurate document, take its printout, sign it before a notary and include it with the application right in the beginning. That way your application probably will not be put on hold and you can save pain and cost later.

If I had understood this sooner, I could have definitely saved a few dollars of having to rush the affidavit by overnight courier later and the stress involved in searching for information on the web, coming up with the right affidavit, going to a notary etc. because when they put the application on hold, you need to resolve the issue within seven days. Otherwise the application may be cancelled. That's not something you want as it takes a lot of time and effort in putting together the application.

For all other instructions, just accurately follow the procedure you find on the official website. Read the instructions multiple times. Before sending, check the documents multiple times for correctness. Exercise maximum care and due diligence. It should all be just fine and you should get your OCI without any problem.

If I can answer any related questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Good luck in getting your OCI!