India - Apply for Overseas Citizen of Card (OCI Card)

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Procedure

Foreign citizen of Indian origin shall apply for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) to facilitate his/her immigration status to live and work in India indefinitely.
Apply Online - India Apply for Overseas Citizen of Card (OCI Card) Online with Images

1. Please go to the online portal. Link for online portal : online portal
   1. There will be an announcement from government. Please go through the details and please click “Close” button.
2. In the home page, please click “Click Here To Proceed” button at the bottom.
3. In the resulting page, read the guidelines and click “Proceed” button as “New OCI Registration” option is selected.
4. A new screen with instructions will be displayed. Go through the details and click on the “Accept” button. A check box with “I have read the instructions” will be provided. Please select the check box and click “Accept” button at the bottom to reach next page.
5. Here, please enter the captcha as appropriate in the given space then click “Enter” button.
6. In the resulting page, please select “Fresh Application” option to reach a new page.
7. In the new page, please complete the page prompts with relevant details as appropriate for “OCI Registration Form” and click “Save & Continue” button.
8. Applicant shall follow the rest of the steps as applicable by following the prompted requirements including photo and document uploading.
9. Once the online application is successful, Applicant gets Acknowledgement. Please save it for future reference.
10. Please follow the notification to meet the designated officials at Indian mission/Post/FRRO concerned. Submit the originals of the documents that were submitted online for cross verification.
11. Once the documents are verified, appropriate action from the official will get “Uploaded documents verified with originals and found to be correct” option check box with tick mark in applicant’s online application.
12. Applicant gets appropriate notification and acknowledgement in their email id.
13. The rest of internal process grants OCI card as per notification.
    
    

Note: Please provide additional documents or details as online procedure demands and also as authority quote.

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Required Documents

• Proof of present citizenship
• Copy of present valid passport (applicable in all cases), with validity of minimum 6 months at the time of submission of application.
• Evidence of address of the place of application (Electricity bill / Telephone bill)
• In case application is submitted in India, copy of any type of Visa (other than Missionary Visa and Mountaineering Visa)/ Residential Permit with 3 months validity as on the date of application.
• Evidence of self or parents or grandparents or great grandparents-
  • Being a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after the commencement of the Constitution i.e. 26.01.1950 or
  • Being eligible to become a citizen of India at the time of commencement of the Constitution i.e. 26.01.1950 or
  • Belonging to a territory that became part of India after 15th August, 1947.

• These could be:

(i) Copy of the Indian Passport or

(ii) Copy of the Domicile Certificate issued by the Competent Authority or

(iii) Copy of Nativity Certificate from the competent authority or

(iv) OCI Card/ PIO card of parents/ spouse along with the base papers/ documents upon which the OCI/ PIO card was issued or

(v) Any other proof substantiating the request. Usually applicants are able to submit a certificate of residence or place of birth of self/parents/grandparents from First Class Magistrate/District Magistrate (DM) of the concerned place.

• Evidence of relationship as parent/grandparent/ great grandparent, if their Indian origin is claimed as basis for registration as OCI Cardholder:
  • The document of relationship could be “Birth Certificate” issued from competent authority mentioning both parents‟ name.
  • In case the birth certificate is issued by a foreign authority, it is to be Apostled or endorsed by the concerned Indian Mission abroad.
• In case of minor child whose both parents are citizens of India or one of the parents is a citizen of India –

(i) Copy of child’s birth certificate

(ii) Copy of Indian passport of the parents / one of the parents or copy of the Domicile Certificate or Nativity Certificate issued by the Competent Authority in respect of the parents/ one of the parents or any other proof substantiating the status of the parents/ one of the parents as being Indian citizen(s).

(iii) If the parents are divorced, court order of dissolution of marriage, which specifically mentions that the legal custody of the child is with the parent who is applying for the OCI card.

• Evidence as spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an OCI Cardholder –

(i) Registered marriage certificate; and

(ii) In the case of spouse of an Indian citizen - copy of the Indian Passport of the spouse or copy of the Domicile Certificate or Nativity Certificate issued by the Competent Authority in respect of the Indian spouse or any other proof substantiating the status of the spouse as being an Indian citizen.

(iii) In the case of spouse of an OCI Cardholder - Copy of the present valid Passport of the spouse and copy of the OCI Card of the spouse and copies of the documents upon which the OCI Card was issued to the spouse

• In case of applications of Canadian nationals for registration as OCI cardholder, following documents should also be submitted:-

(a) Landing paper/ Work Permit of applicant/ sponsor

(b) If landing paper at Column 19 shows FC (Family Class), then-

(i) Letter from Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board

(ii) A notarized affidavit pleading that neither the applicant nor the sponsor has sought Refugee status in Canada

(c) Last Canadian address

(d) Last Canadian Visa copy

• Aadhaar card (as per requirement)
• For minors
  • Passport of Parent or guardian
  • Affidavit as per requirement

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of Home Affairs,
North Block, New Delhi – 110001, India.
Telephone No: 23092392

Link for contact information:link

Eligibility

• Who was a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after the commencement of the Constitution i.e. 26.01.1950.or
• Who was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26.01.1950.or
• Who belonged to a territory that became part of India after 15.08.1947 or
• Who is a child or a grandchild or a great grandchild of such a citizen or
• Who is a minor child of such persons mentioned above or
• Who is a minor child and whose both parents are citizens of India or
• One of the parents is a citizen of India or
• Spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder registered under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application.
  
  

Note : No person, who or either of whose parents or grandparents or great grandparents is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, shall be eligible for registration as an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder.

Fees

• Please pay as authorities quote.
• Till such time, the online payment facility is introduced
  • In case of application submitted in Indian Mission / Post abroad - By way of Demand Draft for US $275 for each applicant or equivalent in local currency.
  • in case application is submitted in India - a fee of Rs.15,000/- by way of Demand Draft drawn in favour of “Pay and Accounts Officer (Secretariat), Ministry of Home Affairs” payable at New Delhi. :Note:

• In case of applications filed in India, get demand draft for the said amount drawn in favour of

“Pay and Accounts officer (Secretariat), Ministry of Home Affairs” payable at New Delhi.

Validity

• Valid lifelong.
• But..
  • For anyone under 21 years of age and over 50 years of age, they have to apply for new OCI all over again every time they get a new passport.

Documents to Use

Please attach documents which can be used by people who would like to follow this procedure.    

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents which would help other people who would like to follow this procedure.    

Processing Time

3 to 4 months

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M".

Instructions

Please provide other instructions related to the certificate/documents.
e.g. The state office holds birth records since january 1908.

Required Information

• Applicant details.
• Date of Birth and age.
• Address details.
• Signature/thumb impression.
• Photograph

Need for the Document

• The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is an immigration status permitting a foreign citizen of Indian origin to live and work in India indefinitely.
• The OCI was introduced in response to demands for dual citizenship by the Indian origin.

Information which might help

• There will be a personal interview at the time of document verification.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

More information related to OCI Card : OCI Card

Others

More information which might help people.