Overseas India Card to replace OCI/PIO

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By Rajeev Sharma & Neeraj Nanda

New Delhi/Melbourne: The Indian government is all set to create a new status for non resident Indians (NRIs) abolishing the current Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and creating a new ‘Overseas Indian Card’. The aim probably is to have one status for NRIs instead of the two prevailing.

A story in the Economic Times “Indians overseas upset over government proposal to scrap PIO & OCI cards” By Ishani Duttagupta (8 Feb., 2014) says, “ The Bill, dubbed amendment to Citizenship Act, has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha and is likely to come up before the Lok Sabha for passage in the current parliament session. “

In recent times many Indians who took foreign citizenship but wanted to continue their emotional relationship with India were happy to get an OCI, which essentially was a lifelong visa to enter and exit India but not dual citizenship. Though initially it was thought the OCI was ‘duel citizenship’. But the Indian constitution does not allow ‘dual citizenship’.

Indian missions have been encouraging NRIs to take up OCI to avoid last moment rush for Indian visas which are costly and take time. But the new status one fears may create confusion among those having PIO/OCI and at ports of entry into India. Enough confusion is already there on the meanings of many categories of NRIs.

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Will the conversion to the new ‘Overseas Indian Card’ be free or people will have to dig deep into their pockets remains to be seen. Past experience shows a hefty fee may be likely. This will create unnecessary rush to Indian diplomatic missions with massive paperwork. Naturally, the private companies where diplomatic paperwork for visas etc. is outsourced will have a windfall of income.

– SAT News Service

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Neeraj Nanda

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