OCI application with second citizenship anticipated

[coolak2007]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nri/comments/1i9wqa4/do_i_need_to_reissue_oci_when_nationality_changes

 

[coolak2007]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nri/comments/1ky03hi/oci_card_and_dual_citizenship

as well as https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-i...s-dual-citizenship-and-oci-card.768378/page-2

 

[Wacky1.nash]

One of my friend faced same issue.
For changing OCI, apostilled documents from USA were needed like Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate etc to get a fresh new OCI issued with US passport.
Simply put - If decide to Use CAN Passport - You have OCI associated to-date.
If want to use US Passport only - get an e-Visa associated with US Passport as Plan B and carry both passports, that way you are covered.

The whole point of having OCI is not needing to apply for e-visa.

I actually have my USA citizenship interview coming up in a little over a month, so I think I will wait for the US citizenship and then apply for OCI on US passport. It is more likely I will use US passport to travel to India.

Thanks for your inputs and for sharing the links. All very helpful.

 

[905Mississauga]

I am a naturalised Canadian citizen, living in USA, expecting to obtain US citizenship in the coming months.

I was an Indian citizen before becoming Canadian, and have already completed the surrender/ renunciation process in 2022. I would like to apply for OCI now, and after that apply for OCI for my foreign-origin spouse.

My questions are:

1. If I were to apply for OCI now before becoming US citizen, my citizenship on OCI will be recorded as Canadian. If I later use a US passport to travel to India will I have any issues using my OCI to enter? (US citizens are required to use their US passport when leaving and entering the US, so travelling on the Canadian passport is not an option).
2. Is there a requirement to update OCI after acquiring US citizenship.
3. If I do update it, would two citizenships (US and Canada) be printed on my OCI information page?

I have tried to ask these questions through Pramit of Consulate of India (NY) website, but ofcourse, they do not answer (despite a promise of answering within 1 working day).

If you apply now, your OCI will show Canadian nationality. That works today, but once you also hold a U.S. passport and live in the U.S., all your flights will be booked on your U.S. passport. Airlines and Indian immigration will then expect your OCI to match the passport you’re traveling with. Since OCI can only be tied to one nationality at a time, you’d eventually have to reissue it to your U.S. passport. To avoid doing the whole process twice, it’s usually simpler to just wait until your U.S. citizenship is finalized and then apply for OCI once with your U.S. passport.

 

[Wacky1.nash]

If you apply now, your OCI will show Canadian nationality. That works today, but once you also hold a U.S. passport and live in the U.S., all your flights will be booked on your U.S. passport. Airlines and Indian immigration will then expect your OCI to match the passport you’re traveling with. Since OCI can only be tied to one nationality at a time, you’d eventually have to reissue it to your U.S. passport. To avoid doing the whole process twice, it’s usually simpler to just wait until your U.S. citizenship is finalized and then apply for OCI once with your U.S. passport.

Thanks for that input. I think it makes sense to get the OCI associated with US citizenship as USA requires its citizens to travel to and from it using US passport, while Canada has an exception for American Canadians, where they can use their US passport to travel to and from Canada. I will wait for US citizenship and passport and then apply for OCI.