Embassy of India

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Public Notice

 Extension of last date for acceptance of Handwritten travel documents/PIO cards till 31 December’ 2023.

1. Government of India has decided to accept handwritten travel documents/ PIO cards as valid travel document along with valid foreign passport at all Indian Immigration Check Posts till 31 December’ 2023. This extension of timeline us subject to the condition that if in the meantime any deadline is notified by the ICAO thereby making hand written PIO cards invalid then PIO
cardholders may have to obtain appropriate visa from India Missions/ Posts.

2. All PIO card holders are hereby advised to apply for conversion of PIO card to OCI card as soon as possible.

Febuary 13, 2023

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

(i). Government of India vide Gazette notification Dt. 09.01.2015 has announced that all the existing Persons of Indian Origin cardholders registered as such shall be deemed to be Overseas Citizens of India cardholders.
(ii). Government of India has decided to dispense with the requirement of ‘U’ visa stickers on the foreign passports of OCI card holders with effect from 29.01.2015. Issuance of ‘U’ visa stickers is being phased out gradually. Instead of ‘U’ visa stickers, OCI form booklets will be issued with an endorsement of “Visa validity – Lifelong”.
(iii). A person, who is a minor child and whose both parents are citizens of India or one of the parents is a citizen of India is eligible for OCI under the new scheme.
(iv). Spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an OCI card holder, whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application, is eligible to apply for OCI card. Provided that, no person, who is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as notified by Govt. of India, shall be eligible for registration as OCI. Such spouse shall be subjected to prior security clearance from a competent authority in India.

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme:

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme

The Constitution of India does not allow holding dual citizenship simultaneously. Based on the recommendation of the High Level committee on Indian Diaspora, the Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) for certain category who migrated from India and acquired citizenship of a foreign country other than Pakistan and Bangladesh and some other countries as notified by the Government. of India time to time. The Government of India has now announced that all the existing Persons of Indian Origin cardholders registered as such shall be deemed to be Overseas Citizens of India cardholders.

Eligibility criteria

A foreign national, who was eligible to become citizen of India on 26.01.1950 or was a citizen of India on or at any time after 26.01.1950 or belonged to a territory that became part of India after 15.08.1947 and his/her children and grand children, provided his/her country of citizenship allows dual citizenship in some form or other under the local laws, is eligible for registration as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI). Minor children of such person are also eligible for OCI. However, if the applicant had ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh or any such other country, he/she will not be eligible for OCI. Foreign Diplomats and Defence personnel – serving or retired - are not eligible for OCI.

Revised guidelines for re-issuance of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards.

Government of India has revised instructions/guidelines on “Re-issuance of OCI cards due to Issuance of new foreign passports to OCI cardholders.

1. Mandatory requirements of re-issuance of an OCI card each time a new passport is issued to a foreigner upto 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age is dispensed with.

1. OCI cardholders is required to get the OCI card re-issued only once when a new passport is issued after completing 20 years of age so as to capture his her facial features.

• OCI cardholders is required to upload ONLINE a copy of the new passport and a latest photo each time a new passport is issued upto 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age. The uploading of these documents on the OCI portal may be done within three months of receipt of the new passport. The service will be provided on Gratis (no cost /free)

1. Foreign Spouse of an Indian Citizen or spouse of foreign origin of an OCI cardholder are required to upload a copy of the new passport and also a latest photo ONLINE each time a new passport is issued along with a declaration on subsisting of marriage, copy of the Indian passport of the Indian spouse /passport & OCI card of the OCI cardholder spouse.

2. Necessary changes to upload documents in the OCI portal to facilitate above services to OCI cardholders will be done soon.

3. In the meanwhile, the timeline for re-issuance of OCI card in respect of OCI cardholders who may be required to get their OCI card reissued has been extended till 31 December, 2021. The OCI card holders travelling on the strength of their existing OCI card bearing old passport number are not required to carry their old passport. However, carrying of new passport is mandatory.

Application form and procedure

OCI is registered on-line, in the web address https://ociservices.gov.in/ and two copies of the registered application is down loaded, affixed with latest photographs, signed and submitted alongwith all the requisite and relevant documents, in person, to the Indian Mission/Post of thecountry in which he/she is ordinarily resident. After preliminary scrutiny and verification of documents and particulars given in the OCI application, the applicant is informed to pay the fees in cash only at the Embassy counter between 1200hrs to 1300hrs on all working days. On receipt of the OCI form booklet from India, the applicant is informed to collect the OCI booklet in person, from the Embassy.

Biometrics Capturing

With effect from 15th December 2018, capturing of biometrics for OCI applicants has been made compulsory. It shall be done at the documents verification stage. The biometrics of existing OCI cardholders shall be captured at the Immigration Check Points during their entry/exit whenever they travel to/from India.

Procedure for granting registration

After preliminary scrutiny, if there is no adverse information available against the applicant, the Indian Mission/Post shall register a person as OCI within 15 days of application and the case shall be referred to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), New Delhi for post verification of the antecedents of the applicant. If during the post verification, any adverse information comes to the knowledge of the MHA, the registration as OCI already granted by the Indian Mission/Post shall be cancelled by an order and the fees already paid by the applicant will not be refunded. After preliminary scrutiny, if there is any adverse information against the applicant, prior approval of MHA, New Delhi shall be required before grant of registration. MHA may approve or reject the grant of registration. If the grant of registration as OCI is approved by MHA, the Indian Mission/Post shall register the person as OCI. The OCI form booklet is received from India, for issuance.

OCI for PIO card holders

PIO card holders who are otherwise eligible for registration as OCI may follow the procedure explained above. PIO card holders are required to pay a fee of Saudi Riyals 376 + SAR 12 (ICWF fee) only instead of Saudi Riyals 1,032 collected from normal OCI applicant. PIO card holders will have to surrender his/her PIO card after acceptance of application and before grant of OCI registration certificate.

Cancellation of OCI registration

If it is found that the registration as an OCI was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact or the registered OCI has shown disaffection towards the Constitution of India or comes under any of the provisions of section 7D of the Citizenship Act, the registration of such person will not only be cancelled forthwith but he/she will also be blacklisted for visiting India. In the cases of OCI obtained on the strength of Indian/Indian origin spouse, the OCI status will be cancelled if the marriage has been dissolved or has not been dissolved but during the subsistence of such marriage, he/she solemnized marriage with any other person.

Benefits to OCI

Following benefits will accrue to OCI:
1. Multiple entry, multi-purpose lifelong visit to India;
2. Exemption from reporting to Police authorities for any length of stay in India;
3. Parity with NRIs in financial, economic and educational fields except in the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
4. Any further benefits to OCIs as will be notified by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) under section 7B(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, time to time.
5. A person registered as OCI is eligible to apply for grant of Indian citizenship under section 5(1)(g) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 if he/she is registered as OCI for five years and is ordinarily resident in India for twelve months out of the five years before making the application.

Benefits to which OCI is not entitled to:

The OCI is not entitled to vote, be a member of Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council or Parliament, cannot hold constitutional posts such as President, Vice President, Judge of Supreme Court or High Court etc. and he/she cannot normally hold employment in the Government.

Help Desk

For any clarification/query on the scheme, please visit the website www.mha.nic.in or contact the Indian Mission/Post or Citizenship Section, Foreigners Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.For FAQs on OCI Card, please visit the link http://mha1.nic.in/pdfs/oci-faq.pdf