OCI process

[ramkris]

@ramkris What if I plan to stay 6-8 months in India? What would be the procedure then?

This is not sure but according to information from different forums and sources.
1.

• Application form, complete in all respects, along with all relevant enclosures and requisite fee may be submitted to the Indian Mission/Post/Office in whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily residing irrespective of the fact whether the same Indian Mission/Post/Office has issued the original OCI documents or not.

This is from https://ociservices.gov.in/welcome
where they say you can apply oci from place you normaly reside.

2. If you still wanted to apply from india. you need to take an x-visa or entry visa on which you can stay 6 months and it can be extended with in india as many times. then you need to establish your address everything in India as if you are residing there then apply for oci after applying it may take more than 6 months also no one knows.

In your case if you are saying 6 to 8 months. If Iam in your place I would go for a short trip to nepal or srilanka at the end of 6 months and come back for next 2 months or more.

 

[ramkris]

If you want everything clean and no hassle, here is a plan. There could be different plans too -

Plan A
1) Surrender passport in Canada
2) Get 1 yr visa from Canada (faster processing than OCI)
3) Travel to India on Canadian passport and India visa
4) Come back
5) (Optional) Apply for OCI

Plan B
1) Travel to India on Indian passport (3 month grace period)
2) Surrender passport
3) Apply for OCI
4) Travel back on Canadian passport and OCI

Plan A is cleaner because you are not in any pressure to get paperwork done. For plan B to work, your trip needs to be longer. 6-8 months is good time for plan B too. But dont delay too much, apply soon. If you are going for 4 months, then you are really in pressure waiting for your paperwork done. If I am on vacation, I would want to have a relaxed mind where I can enjoy with my friends and family and not worry about paperwork.

The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, does not allow dual citizenship. It is a punishable offence under the Indian Passport Act, 1967, to apply for an Indian passport, continue to hold an Indian passport, get an Indian passport re-issued or travel on an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship. Extant rules prescribe penalties for holding Indian passports by foreign nationals.

CLARIFICATIONS

1. Surrender Certificate cannot be issued if the last held Indian passport is not physically produced.
2. Penalty, if applicable, cannot be waived or reduced.
3. There is no penalty in cases where the PIO opted for foreign nationality before 1.1.2005 and the last held Indian passport also expired before that date.
4. There is a grace period of three months after acquisition of foreign nationality (to be counted from the date of registration / Naturalisation Certificate and not from the date of foreign passport) for using Indian passport for travel.

There was contracting statements from bls website on the same surrender passport section. So I would think we can use indian passport to travel after taking oath and come back to canada before we get canadian passport through US if we have US visa by land.

I asked bls about travelling like that but they suggested not to do so as it was not suggested. (out with indian passport and coming back on canadian)

 

[Krutika]

What if you are in a common law relationship in Canada.. what documents do you have to provide?

Since everyone just ignored this question lets try it again!
It is important, as it pertains to proving a common law relation in Canada for OCI application .. I'm sure there are many out there in Canada who require this answer but it's not addressed anywhere on Google searches, BLS website, Indian govt websites, etc .. there is nothing on how to handle this.

Only found one thread where someone asked this question, but that part of the question was also conveniently ignored, and other aspects answered ..
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/regarding-oci-application-for-my-wife-and-son.427812/

One of the documents required for OCI is a marriage certificate, but in Canada, bonafied Common Law relations are same as marriage .. so what document needs to be submitted in lieu of a marriage certificate, to prove a common law relationship ?
Does India recognize common law relationships for OCI purposes?

After thinking about this, I thought of making an affidavit, run it through a commissioner of oaths, notary, to mention the length of the relationship, if any kids, any other particulars, etc, and attach copies of proof such as ID's, definition of common law relationship as defined by the Canadian government, etc ..

I'll be phoning BLS directly on this tomorrow, but wanted to know if anyone went through same situation, and successfully got OCI ..
Please share your experience/advise/what documents you submitted exactly ..
BTW, I recently became a Canadian citizen this December ..

 

[Nisha91]

If you want everything clean and no hassle, here is a plan. There could be different plans too -

Plan A
1) Surrender passport in Canada
2) Get 1 yr visa from Canada (faster processing than OCI)
3) Travel to India on Canadian passport and India visa
4) Come back
5) (Optional) Apply for OCI

Plan B
1) Travel to India on Indian passport (3 month grace period)
2) Surrender passport
3) Apply for OCI
4) Travel back on Canadian passport and OCI

Plan A is cleaner because you are not in any pressure to get paperwork done. For plan B to work, your trip needs to be longer. 6-8 months is good time for plan B too. But dont delay too much, apply soon. If you are going for 4 months, then you are really in pressure waiting for your paperwork done. If I am on vacation, I would want to have a relaxed mind where I can enjoy with my friends and family and not worry about paperwork.

I found out on other online forums that the GRACE PERIOD does not apply once Canadian passport is issued. GRACE PERIOD is only so that people can travel if they haven't acquired new nationality's passport yet.

So best way is to get e-Visa on Canadian passport and surrender Indian passport in india but that is only for 60 days and cannot be extended so you cannot apply for OCI while in India, so for Plan B is a no go and if you anyway have to apply a 1 year visa, it's better to wait and apply for surrender and OCI and then go to india if going for more than 2 months.

 

[Nisha91]

In the checklist for "OCI it says that "Ensure that you register for the OCI in the current year. Forms completed in previous years will not be accepted". What does that mean?

https://www.blsindia-canada.com/CanadaVisaCCT/Toronto-OCI-Checklist-Rev-11-0-Oct-2018.pdf

 

[Nisha91]

"Unmarried Applicants: For both minors and adults: In the online form, please fill in ‘unmarried’ in the online form and submit a written declaration to the Consulate General of India, stating that they are single and that they have never been married."

Can somebody share the format of the declaration?

 

[Nisha91]

For Online Document Upload for OCI, Do I first have to
1. Scan the original documents
2. printout the copies of the original documents
3. sign the copies
4. Rescan them into single PDF file

then send?
Or simply scan and send?

 

[homecanada]

For Online Document Upload for OCI, Do I first have to
1. Scan the original documents
2. printout the copies of the original documents
3. sign the copies
4. Rescan them into single PDF file

then send?
Or simply scan and send?

The steps you provided 1-4 are correct. Only follow the documents scan list given at the end of the check list to scan one or multiple documents into one pdf.

 

[amitdi]

I found out on other online forums that the GRACE PERIOD does not apply once Canadian passport is issued. GRACE PERIOD is only so that people can travel if they haven't acquired new nationality's passport yet.

So best way is to get e-Visa on Canadian passport and surrender Indian passport in india but that is only for 60 days and cannot be extended so you cannot apply for OCI while in India, so for Plan B is a no go and if you anyway have to apply a 1 year visa, it's better to wait and apply for surrender and OCI and then go to india if going for more than 2 months.

Thanks for shedding light. So yes, plan B is not feasible. Whether you go for OCI or visa really depends on how much time you have between Canada passport and flying. Look at this post where I summarized the options -

OCI process

 

[mohd000]

Applied OCI and surrender: 23 Nov
Got surrender nd cancelled passport
on 7th Dec
OCI acknowledgement: 8th Dec
Status: In process
Not processed yet
Waiting :??

 

[mohd000]

Please share OCI processing timeline from acknowledgement until approved

 

[Nisha91]

How can I check the status of my Surrender and OCI application?

 

[mr.maple]

Do you mean go to "Canada" and re-enter India? I dont think so thats required. As long as she has valid paperwork for that day, she can continue to stay in India as long as she wants. Even if her status expires, there are ways to report and make amends. But lets not get into that for now.

Thanks amitdi for the reply!

Now we parents are in Canada and daughter (with grand parents) is in India on tourist visa and staying for 6 months on tourist visa by March 2017 ( Visitor visa expiring on Jul 2019).
We applied OCI for her in Canada already and we received it.

Do we need to travel from Canada to India and re enter her before she completes legal time of stay for tourist ( 6 months until Mar 2019) or she can stay after six months since she already have a valid OCI.

I am worried on the sake of the records with immigration. Is there any way we can go to immigration in an airport without exiting the country ? or any other means to update immigration on the new status in India ?

 

[ramkris]

19. What will be issued after registration as an OCI?

After grant of registration, a registration certificate in the form of a booklet will be issued. This will serve as a life-long multiple entry visa to visit India. The OCI booklet can be collected by the person or by an authorized person. The condition is that the applicant should be physically present in the country of issuance of OCI cardholder registration booklet when it is collected through an authorized person. If a person is not in a position to travel to the country of issuance of the OCI cardholder registration booklet, he/she could procure it through the concerned Indian Mission/ FRRO of their present place of stay by making a formal request to the office issuing the OCI Cardholder registration booklet.

 

[amitdi]

Thanks amitdi for the reply!

Now we parents are in Canada and daughter (with grand parents) is in India on tourist visa and staying for 6 months on tourist visa by March 2017 ( Visitor visa expiring on Jul 2019).
We applied OCI for her in Canada already and we received it.

Do we need to travel from Canada to India and re enter her before she completes legal time of stay for tourist ( 6 months until Mar 2019) or she can stay after six months since she already have a valid OCI.

I am worried on the sake of the records with immigration. Is there any way we can go to immigration in an airport without exiting the country ? or any other means to update immigration on the new status in India ?

So your plan is to that you will travel to India and take her OCI with you. Why didnt you apply in India where she is staying currently?

I dont have authentic info. But if I were in your position, I wouldnt worry too much. I would let her stay in India. The question will only come up when she is leaving India and has to show her OCI booklet to the officer. I will explain the situation.