OCI Card or Indian tourist visa – what is better? Which one is easier to obtain, OCI card or Indian visa, for foreign-born minors of Indian origin? What are the advantages of an OCI card and the disadvantages of an Indian tourist visa? What will help me with hassle-free multiple entries to India, a 5/10-year-old Indian visa or a life-long OCI card? Indian Diaspora hits Google, Facebook, and visa-related forums with such queries before the time is ripe to search online for best deals for flights to India from USA.

Both OCI Card and Indian tourist visa have their own pros and cons. If you don’t have either one, you can obtain a tourist visa faster than an OCI card for emergency travel to India. However, OCI cardholders were allowed to enter India, whereas the tourist visa (both electronic and paper) was banned and tourist visa holders were restricted from traveling to India during the pandemic. Inarguably, the OCI Card is given preference to the tourist visa in the event of international travel restrictions.

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Good news! The deadline for foreign citizens of Indian origin to convert their PIO cards to OCI cards has again been extended. Earlier, the government of India had set December 31, 2023 as the deadline. 31 December 2024 is the new deadline for the Person of Indian Origin cardholders to acquire the Overseas Citizen of India card, according to the latest press release by Indian Missions worldwide. Precisely, all PIO cards including the handwritten ones will remain valid travel documents for one more year.

All PIO cards including the handwritten ones will be accepted by the Indian immigration authorities at all airports until December 31, 2024, in compliance with the extended deadline for PIO card to OCI card conversion. All PIO cards will continue to be a valid travel document for entry into and exit from India. But, Indian Immigration Check Posts will not accept any PIO card, machine readable or handwritten, without a valid foreign passport.

The latest extension of the PIO to OCI card conversion deadline is subject to a condition for the handwritten PIO cardholders. If the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issues a new deadline any time before December 2024, the validity of handwritten PIO cards will expire, thereby making it compulsory for them to get converted into machine-readable cards. Or else, the handwritten PIO cardholders will have to get an appropriate visa from Indian Missions.

To be precise, the deadline extension for conversion of handwritten PIO cards to OCI cards is conditional. All Indian-origin foreign citizens holding PIO cards, machine readable and handwritten, make sure to convert their PIO card to an OCI card in the meantime. Since the process takes 3-4 months, the sooner the better.

Also Check: Everything about Travel to and from India in 2024

Is it mandatory to convert PIO card to OCI card?

Yes, it is. All Person of Indian Origin Cardholders are deemed to be OCI Cardholders in India’s Citizenship Amendment Bill 2015. Hence, you need to convert your PIO card to OCI card before or by December 31, 2024. Until then, your PIO card is valid for travel to and from India.

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Recently, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman concluded her state visit to the United States where she attended the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. During her official trip to the US, she also had bilateral meetings with leaders from the corridor of influence, power and politics, including high-rank officials of the Biden-Harris administration, and representatives of the Indian community in America.

PC: Track2media.com

While addressing the Indian American leaders in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, she invited the US-based Indian Diaspora to help accelerate the socio-economic growth of their native country as partners until the 100^th year of India’s independence, which is only 25 years away from now. She urged them to be a part of India’s epic journey towards achieving greater milestones in the next 25 years. During the climax of her address to the diaspora, she highlighted their stellar contributions to various drivers of growth in the US, including innovation and research.

In response to FM Nirmala Sitharaman, a US-based Indian Diaspora body of international repute proposed for NRIs and OCIs to be allowed to make direct investment in the Indian stock market. FIIDS – Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies – conducted a survey that has seen 88% of NRIs and OCI/PIO cardholders supporting the proposal.

Currently, the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) of RBI is the only route through which NRIs can be Indian stock market investors. They can also invest in India’s mutual funds from abroad, but the investment is subject to certain regulations. OCI cardholders can also stay invested in the companies listed on India’s stock market, at the cost of high currency exchange rates.

The removal of certain blocks by allowing direct investment from overseas Indians will lend a stimulus to the Indian economy, said FIIDs USA.

FIIDS USA also requested India’s Finance Minister to expand the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), so that NRIs and OCI cardholders will not be required to file taxes in the US for the income or investment taxed in India. This will lessen the pain of filing taxes in two countries for the same investment or income. This proposal has been thumbed up by 84% of the survey participants.

Last but not least, the proposal submitted to the Finance Minister seeks an agreement with the US government on the social security program. Many Indian professionals who worked in the US on various employment visas including H1B have returned to India in the last few years. Whereas US citizens of Indian origin continue to receive the social security benefits even after they move to India or any other country, NRIs are likely to lose their contribution to the social security fund if they return to India before fulfilling the payout eligibility requirements. As per Indian government’s estimates, NRI have contributed over $25 billion to the social security fund held by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the US. As many as 80% of the survey participants have supported this in the proposal submitted by FIIDs USA.

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On the eve of the New Year 2022, the government of India announced the extension of the deadline for reissuance of OCI cards through December 2022 given the current emergence of COVID-19 cases. The reissuance of an OCI card, which is otherwise a mandatory requirement for OCI cardholders on renewal of their passports, is relaxed till December 31, 2022. Without worrying about the mandatory reissuance of OCI cards, foreign citizens of Indian origin can travel to and from India through 2022.

The extended deadline relieves OCI cardholders of the need to get the OCI card reissued once they complete 20 years of age and 50 years of age. However, the relaxation being temporary, it is recommended that the OCI cardholders who turned 20 or 50 last year or will do so this year must get the OCI card reissued with the new passport number before the new/extended deadline expires.

“Alongside the reissuance deadline, certain relaxations are also extended for OCI cardholders’ travel to and from India in 2022. The previous mandate for carrying the old/expired passport, the number of which features on their existing OCI cards, continues to be dispensed with through the new year. However, it is still mandatory to carry the new passport while traveling to India. As not all international airlines comply with the relaxations, we recommend our customers to carry the old/expired passport along with the new one,” said the chief travel advisor of IndianEagle.com, a leading air-ticketing agency.

This major relief for the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) with renewed passports but old OCI cards came just before the launch of air bubble flights during the pandemic. The rigid enforcement of the OCI validity and renewal policy by the immigration authorities and airline officials was relaxed to ensure smooth travel and from India until June 30, 2020 – which was extended until June 2021, and then to December 31, 2021. As a result, OCI cardholders below 20 and above 50 years of age travelled on air bubble flights to India without hassles.

The relaxation of the OCI renewal policy allows OCI cardholders to upload online a copy of the new passport and a recent photograph whenever the passport is renewed until they become 20 years old. The same relaxation is extended to them on completion of 50 years of age. OCI cardholders are required to upload only once a copy of the passport and a recent photo online when the passport is renewed after their 50 years of age. The documents must be uploaded online within three months of the renewal of the passport.

“Inadequate awareness about the sudden enforcement of the OCI card renewal rules which have been in place for years had resulted in a mounting number of trip cancellations and cases of harassment at origin airports or during transit at connecting airports before the COVID pandemic brought air travel to a standstill. However, the Government of India has been considerate towards OCI cardholders by not only extending the deadline further, but also allowing them to travel to India,” said the chief customer relations officer of Indian Eagle Travel.

Travel Beats, a leading overseas Indian community portal, is a subsidiary of Indian Eagle Travel. Indian Eagle is a most trusted air travel booking organization with a proven record in booking confirmed air bubble flights to India for cheap fares even in the last minute. Subscribe to Travel Beats’ free newsletter for latest updates on OCI card, Indian passport, Indian aviation, visa and immigration.

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The process is simplified for OCI cardholders below 20 years of age. In a move towards eliminating the hassles of using an OCI card, the Government of India now requires the Overseas Citizen of Indian cardholders to get their OCI cards reissued only once when they turn 20 years old. Until this announcement, Indian-origin foreign citizens below 20 years of age had to get the OCI card reissued each time the passport was renewed.

Foreign citizens of Indian origin, who have registered as OCI cardholders before reaching the age of 20 years, will get the card reissued not more than once only on renewal of the passport after they attain the age of 20 years, so that the OCI card has their new photo capturing their facial features on turning 20.

If Indian-origin foreign passport holders have registered as OCI cardholders after they turned 20, they don’t need to get the OCI card reissued on renewal of the passport unlike before this amendment to the process. The need to get the OCI card reissued with a new photo will arise on their completion of 50 years of age.

“Now OCI cardholders below 20 years of age can travel to India without worrying about reissuance of the document. The decision on simplifying the process and relaxing the rules, which will facilitate entry to India for OCI cardholders below 20 years, is a great move, indeed. The government has issued nearly 37.75 lakh OCI cards so far,” said the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading overseas Indian community portal with focus on travel to and from India.

All that OCI cardholders, who are below 20 years of age, need to do is to upload a scanned copy of the new passport and their latest photo on the OCI portal online whenever their passport is renewed until they complete 20 years of age. They can upload the documents within 3 months of having received the new passport. This requirement is mandatory as the Government of India needs to update the data regarding new passports issued to OCI cardholders prior to their completion of 20 years of age. They will receive an e-acknowledgement upon submission of the documents.

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No new applications for OCI card, Indian passport, visa to India, and Renunciation of Indian Citizenship will be entertained by Cox & Kings Global Services with effect from October 16, 2020. An outsourcing service provider for the government of India, Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) will close its operations at Indian Missions worldwide on October 14. Reportedly, VFS Global will take the charge with effect from November 2, 2020.

Picture Credit: India Abroad | The New York Times

Those having compelling/unavoidable reasons to apply for emergency visa to India, Indian Passport, or OCI card are hereby requested to contact their nearest Indian Consulate/Embassy. From October 19, Indian Missions will directly provide the services, in limited capacity, to applicants with emergency cases. Notably, all OCI card processing services will remain suspended until VFS Global takes over the operations on November 2.

The CKGS website will accept online applications till 5 pm on October 14, 2020. Applicants are required to ensure their documents with pre-paid return envelopes reach CKGS by 5 pm on October 16. Any applications submitted and any documents received after the above-mentioned deadlines will not be processed, according to CKGS.

The websites of Indian embassies and consulates will publish the details of VFS Global, including service fees, operational hours, and contact information in due course. Indian Missions need the applicant with a compelling reason to contact them directly for further information.

The email helplines of Indian embassies and consulates are open for emergency visa applications. Indian Missions will continue to issue emergency visa to applicants in the eligible categories allowed to travel to India. If you are from New York, you can apply for emergency Indian visa to visa.newyork@mea.gov.in. If you reside in Washington DC and its jurisdiction, you can write to asovisa.washington@mea.gov.in explaining the emergency.

Once your email request for emergency visa to India is approved, you will be informed of the steps to initiate the application process. Following the procedure, you may send the completed form along with a pre-paid return envelope by postal mail to your nearest consulate or embassy for further processing.

The procedure for emergency passport applications is as same as the above. However, email addresses of the Indian Embassy and Consulates in the United States and other countries are different for emergency passport applications. If you have any further query, it can be addressed through PRAMIT dashboard available on the websites of Indian Missions.

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In one of our most recent Travel News articles, we disseminated the information about possible lifting of India’s travel restrictions for OCI card holders. Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had written to the Home Ministry seeking to allow certain categories of OCI card holders on repatriation flights to India in the Vande Bharat Mission Phase 2.

This morning the Government of India relaxed visa and travel restrictions for OCI card holders to facilitate their return to India amid the Coronavirus pandemic. The latest directive issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs permits certain categories of OCI card holders, who are stranded abroad, to come to India.

Picture Credit: OCIservices.gov.in

Indian nationals’ (minor) children who are foreign citizens by birth and hold OCI cards can travel to India now. Many Indian nationals abroad were not able to travel to India because their OCI children were restricted from entering India with effect from March 13. However, the relaxation of travel restrictions eases their way to enter India with their minor children on OCI.

The categories of OCI card holders permitted to come to India include those who wish to travel to India and visit their family on account of compelling emergencies like death. Since before 10 days India imposed lockdown resulting in suspension of all international passenger flights, several OCI card holders have lost either of their parents in India and repeatedly urged GOI to lift the travel restrictions on them.

Couples including an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder and an Indian national having a permanent residence in India are in the third category of OCI card holders that the government of India now permits to enter the country.

The fourth category of OCI card holders includes foreign citizens of Indian origin (not legally minors) who study abroad and whose parents are Indian nationals residing in India. Thousands of students holding OCI cards have been stranded abroad with little resources due to the closure of university campuses over the COVID19 crisis. Their Indian parents have tweeted and retweeted their anxieties and concerns to MEA, PMO and the Civil Aviation Ministry of India over the past few weeks.

In the directive, MEA makes it clear that the travel restrictions imposed on OCI cardholders in general, will not apply to any mode of transport deployed for the above-mentioned categories of OCI cardholders to travel to India.

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I am an OCI card holder. Can I travel to India during the Coronavirus pandemic? Is India allowing OCI card holders to travel on inbound repatriation flights? Thousands of weary faces on OCI have been looking forward to the government of India with such queries since the restriction on their travel to India came into effect on March 13 in the aftermath of COVID19. Foreign citizens of Indian origin with or without OCI cards have been kept away from the currently operated emergency flights to India from USA, the UK, the UAE, Singapore, Australia and other countries.

With the mounting of pressure exerted by authorities representing the OCI community in different parts of the world, however, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has hinted at allowing OCI card holders on repatriation flights “at some stage” of the Vande Bharat Mission. The second phase of the operation of bringing distressed Indians back home will be initiated on May 16 and be continued till May 29. An MEA official said that an immediate change in the operation may not be possible on a short notice.

Picture Credit: New York Consulate General of India | Twitter (right picture)

Reportedly, MEA has written to the home ministry seeking to lift travel restrictions for certain categories of OCI card holders, as distress calls, queries and requests have steadily been pouring in related to special flights to India. Earlier, Indian government justified the repeated suspension of OCI card holders’ travel to India on grounds of limited healthcare resources available for COVID19 patients in the country. It makes the global OCI community question the value of the lifelong visa-free travel facility granted to them.

MEA’s latest annual report indicates at the issuance of nearly 35 lakh OCI cards over the last decade.

Around 2 lakh Indians stuck or stranded abroad have registered for the Vande Bharat Mission flights via Indian consulates and embassies. Among them, students, senior citizens having medical emergency, laid-off professionals and those with “compelling cases” back home have been singled out for special Air India flights to India. In the first phase, some 15000 Indians repatriated to India. In the phase 2, nearly 30000 Indians from 31 countries have been scheduled on 149 special flights to India.

Just like overseas Indian nationals who are shortlisted for repatriation flights on the basis of “compelling cases”, OCI card holders and Indian parents of minor foreign citizens on OCI have compelling reasons to travel/return to India amid the pandemic. Some Indian citizens abroad registered for the Vande Bharat Mission flights and got confirmed, but they stepped back fearing separation from their children who are foreign-born OCI card holders. They have been pleading with GOI to let them travel with their OCI kids.

This is the problem everywhere. Please consider OCIs. I am also facing same issue in Canada. https://t.co/csq9Kzx0z2

— Giriraj Sahu (@BioGiriraj) May 15, 2020

Among the OCI card holders are students whose Indian parents live in India. Since foreign universities closed their campuses in late March, many students with OCI cards have been distressed and stranded the same way as thousands of Indian nationals abroad. Also, many OCI card holders want to catch up with their ailing parents in India or the bereaved family over the recent demise of a dear one.

As per MEA reports, the ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ policy may be revised, by the end of the phase 2, to bring OCI card holders within the ambit of special flights. Currently, all the Air India flights scheduled for repatriation of Indian nationals are fully booked. Notably, Indian Consul General of Atlanta suggested early this month that OCI Card holders may be considered in the future phases of evacuation.

Travel Beats is a subsidiary of Indian Eagle, a leading travel booking partner of NRIs and OCIs. This story is part of our continued effort to report on the latest updates of air travel amid the COVID19 pandemic. Subscribe to Travel Beats’ free newsletter and like our Facebook page for latest OCI news and NRI community stories.

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Picture Credit: ociservices.gov.in

The applicants are required to write in brief about what emergency they do need a passport in. Upon approval of the email application, they will be required to complete the process and mail the requisite documents to the consulate. However, all email applications, in view of some or the other emergency, are subject to approval.

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With India’s total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases having reached 60, the government has revised its travel advisory for overseas Indians, OCI card holders, and foreign nationals. In the sixth meeting held this morning, Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation; Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs; Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and Nityananda Rai, Minister of State for Home have revised the travel advisory and issued a new directive based on it after deliberating on preventive measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID19) infection.

Picture Credit: GNS News

The government of India’s revised travel advisory suspends all visas to India till April 15, 2020, except diplomatic, UN officials, international organizations, project, and employment visas. The suspension of visas to India will be effective from 12 GMT on March 13, at any port of departure or origin, for Indian Diaspora and foreign nationals.

India’s revised travel advisory applies to OCI card holders, too, as the WHO declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic. The visa-free travel facility that OCI card holders are entitled to, is temporarily suspended until April 15 from 1200 GMT on March 13, 2020. Any foreigner or foreign national of Indian origin needs to travel to India for unavoidable reasons are advised to contact the nearest Indian Mission or Consulate.

In its revised travel advisory, the government of India advises all incoming travelers, including overseas Indian nationals, to cancel or postpone non-essential travel to India. They are likely to be quarantined for, at least, 14 days, on arrival in India. Indians at home are strongly recommended to cancel or postpone non-essential trips abroad. On return to India, they can face quarantine for 14 days or more.

Can OCI Card Holders travel to India?

As GOI suspends the visa-free travel facility for OCI card holders, with effect from March 13 till April 15, Overseas Citizen of India card holders cannot make non-essential travel to India without a valid visitor visa. In order to facilitate their travel to India for emergency or other unavoidable reasons during the period of suspension, they can contact the nearest Indian consulate or mission.

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