OCI Card
OVERSEAS CITIZEN OF INDIA
(OCI Card)
A foreign national, - (i) who was a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after 26th January, 1950; or (ii) who was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26th January, 1950; or (iii) who belonged to a territory that became part of India after 15th August, 1947; or (iv) who is a child or a grandchild or a great grandchild of such a citizen; or (v) who is a minor child of such persons mentioned above; or (vi) 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 registration as OCI cardholder. Besides, spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder and 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 also eligible for registration as OCI cardholder. However, no person, who or either of whose parents or grandparents or great grandparents is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, shall be eligible for registration as an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder.
Foreign nationals cannot apply for OCI in India while on Tourist Visa, Missionary Visa and Mountaineering Visa. Moreover, the foreigner has to be ordinarily resident of India to be eligible to apply for OCI registration in India.
Note: 'ordinarily resident' will mean a person staying in a particular country or in India for a continuous period of 6 months.
In order to apply for OCI Card Service of the Government of India, please proceed to https://ociservices.gov.in/ and follow the guidelines.
OCI-Registration is an online process. Eligibles are supposed to register through the appropriate link given. Only after complete successful registration, an applicant will be considered as an OCI-Card Applicant.
Steps for successful Registration
1. Start registration from Part-A, then upload Image and signature; and finally complete Part-B.
2. Documents supporting your application have to be uploaded in PDF format at the end of Part-B.
3. After completing application, hard copy has to be be submitted to the selected mission's office.
Before you start:
CHECK your eligibility before you start your registration.
IF YOU are already an OCI Card Holder, kindly use OCI Miscellaneous Services.
IF YOU are an PIO Card Holder, kindly register through OCI Registration (In Lieu of Valid PIO-Card).
IF YOU are an PIO Card Holder and card is in lost state, kindly register through OCI Registration (In Lieu of Lost PIO-Card).
TO REPRINT your already registered application, kindly use 'Re-Print Submitted Application' service.
IN CASE of urgent travel, applicants may apply for appropriate visa.
Pre-requisites:
KINDLY be ready with Applicant's image and Applicant's signature image (Max size 500kb).
THE HEIGHT and width of the Applicant Photo must be equal.
THE MINIMUM dimensions are 200 pixels (width) x 200 pixels (height).
THE MAXIMUM dimensions are 1500 pixels (width) x 1500 pixels (height).
THE HEIGHT and width of the Signature Photo must have aspect ratio 1:3
THE MINIMUM dimensions are 200 pixels (width) x 67 pixels (height).
THE MAXIMUM dimensions are 1500 pixels (width) x 500 pixels (height).
KINDLY be ready with supporting documents in PDF format (Max size 1000kb).
After Registration:
AFTER submission of online application, a copy of the application form will be printed with an Online Registration Number.
APPLICATION form, complete in all respects, along with all relevant enclosures and requisite fee may be submitted to the Indian Embassy/High Commission/Consulate in whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily residing irrespective of the fact whether the same Indian Embassy/High Commission/Consulate has issued the original OCI documents or not.
Applicants applying for OCI-Card, please read
PLEASE fill the fields in BLOCK LETTERS.
A PERSON who has not attained the age of 18 years is considered as minor. In case of minor who cannot sign, his/her left thumb impression may be placed in the signature box. Parents should not sign on the behalf of the children.
SIGNATURE/Thumb impression should be confined to the prescribed box. In case of minor applicants, parents should NOT sign in the box.
PHOTOGRAPH to be affixed on the application should be a square shape of size not less than 51*51mm (with 80% coverage of face). It should have plain light color background (not white) without the border with front view of person's head and shoulders showing the full face in middle of the photograph. It should not be stapled and not have any signature.
PHOTOGRAPHS that do not conform to these standards will be rejected and may cause a delay in processing the applications. Please see standards of acceptable photographs as Photo Link.
IF THERE are any objections while processing the applications, the same will be displayed on the Online Status Enquiry. Please follow the instructions and send requisite documents to the Indian Mission/ Office where you have applied quoting the File (or Acknowledgement) Number.
AFTER successful registration, copy of Part A and Part B with an online registration number will be printed. Application form on Parts A and B, complete in all respects, along with all relevant enclosures may be submitted to the appropriate office.
ENCLOSURES to be attached with the application:
In case of applications for registration as Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder in lieu of PIO card, only copies of the following documents to be attached:-
Valid passport of the applicant.
Valid PIO card of the applicant.
ENCLOSURES to be attached with the application:
In case of fresh application for registration as OCI Cardholder, following documents are to be attached:-
Proof of present citizenship – Copy of present valid passport (applicable in all cases), with validity of minimum 6 months at the time of submission of application.
In case application is submitted in India, copy of any type of Visa (other than Missionary Visa and Mountaineering Visa)/ Residential Permit with 3 months validity as on the date of application.
Evidence of self or parents or grandparents or great grandparents being a citizen of India at the time of, or at any time after the commencement of the Constitution i.e. 26.01.1950 or being eligible to become a citizen of India at the time of commencement of the Constitution i.e. 26.01.1950 or belonging to a territory that became part of India after 15th August, 1947. These could be:
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Copy of the Indian Passport; or
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Copy of the Domicile Certificate issued by the Competent Authority; or
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Copy of Nativity Certificate from the Competent Authority; or
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OCI Card/ PIO card of parents/ spouse along with the documents upon which the OCI/ PIO card was issued; or
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Any other proof substantiating the request. Usually applicant does submit a certificate of residence or place of birth of self/parents/grandparents from First Class Magistrate/District Magistrate (DM) of the concerned place.
Evidence of relationship as parent/grandparent/ great grandparent, if their Indian origin is claimed as basis for registration as OCI Cardholder: The document of relationship could be “Birth Certificate” issued from competent authority mentioning both parents’ name. In case the birth certificate is issued by a foreign authority, it is to be Apostilled or endorsed by the concerned Indian Mission abroad.
In case of minor child whose both parents are citizens of India or one of the parents is a citizen of India:
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Copy of child’s birth certificate
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Copy of Indian passport of the parents / one of the parents or copy of the Domicile Certificate or Nativity Certificate issued by the Competent Authority in respect of the parents/ one of the parents or any other proof substantiating the status of the parents/ one of the parents as being Indian citizen(s).
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If the parents are divorced, court order of dissolution of marriage, which specifically mentions that the legal custody of the child is with the parent who is applying for the OCI card.
Evidence as spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an OCI Cardholder:
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Registered marriage certificate; indicating that the marriage has taken place before 2 years on the date of application.
AND
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In the case of spouse of an Indian citizen - Copy of the Indian Passport of the spouse or copy of the Domicile Certificate or Nativity Certificate issued by the Competent Authority in respect of the Indian spouse or any other proof substantiating the status of the spouse as being an Indian citizen
OR
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In the case of spouse of an OCI Cardholder - Copy of the present valid Passport of the spouse and copy of the OCI Card of the spouse and copies of the documents upon which the OCI Card was issued to the spouse.
THE APPLICANT can verify the status of his/her application online by quoting the online Registration Number or File (or Acknowledgement) Number.
PLEASE contact Indian Embassy/High Commission/Consulate where you have applied for OCI Card, after 10 days from the date of despatch of documents from India or any day after receipt of documents at the Mission/Office whichever is earlier.
FOR COLLECTION of OCI document, the applicant is required to be present at the concerned Indian Embassy/High Commission/Consulate/FRRO Office in person or he/she can send a duly authorized person, along with his/her passport & PIO card (if applicable) and the original documents for which self-attested copies were attached at the time of submitting application, for verification purposes.
PLEASE check that all fields in the form are filled in and all necessary enclosures are attached before submission of the form to Indian Mission/Post abroad or FRRO in India.
CONCEALMENT of any material fact or false representation etc. will lead to cancellation of registration as Overseas Citizen of India (Please refer to section 7D of the Citizenship Act, 1955).
Streamlining of Some Provisions of the OCI Scheme
With a view to streamline some provisions of the OCI Scheme and ease travel of OCI cardholders to India, the GoI has taken following steps recently:
(i) Revised instructions/guidelines on re-issuance of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards due to renewal of their passports:-
The Online OCI web-portal has been suitably modified under “OCI Miscellaneous Services” to facilitate OCI cardholders to update details of new Passport (each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age) and reissue of OCI card once a new passport is issued after completing 20 years of age. A detailed instruction in order to fill Online Application form and requirement may be accessed at https://ociservices.gov.in/welcome.
(ii) Specified rights of the OCI cardholders through Gazette Notification dated 04.03.2021:-
As per Gazette Notification dated 04.03.2021 on rights and privileges, OCI cardholders are required to obtain Special Permission from concerned authorities to undertake certain activities in India. In order to make it convenient to such OCI cardholders, a separate sub-portal under the name “Apply for Special Permission (Only for OCI cardholders)” has been created in the Online OCI web-portal at https://ociservices.gov.in/welcome. The link has detailed instructions as well as documents required to be submitted. The link would facilitate such OCI cardholders to apply for Special Permission.
REVISED FEE STRUCTURE WITH EFFECT FROM
APRIL 01, 2023
(only cash accepted at present)
Please Pay:
Pula 3695/- for an OCI Card
Pula 1370/- for a Duplicate OCI Card (in case of loss/damage)
Pula 1370/- for Conversion of PIO Card to OCI Card
Pula 375/- for Miscellaneous Services for OCI Card
(in case acquisition of new passport, change in the personal particulars like nationality, name, father’s name, etc.)
Useful Information Points:
High Commission accepts all fees in Pula only.
Fees once paid are non-refundable.
HCI Contact Number: + 267 – 391 2240
HCI List of Holidays:
High Commission of India
Gaborone
May 2021
Re-issuance of OCI cards - On issue of new foreign passports to OCI cardholders.
(i) The requirement of re-issue 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 has been dispensed with.
(ii) OCI cardholder is now required to get the OCI card re-issued only once when a new passport is issued after completing 20 years of age. Please submit online application at https://ociservices.gov.in under OCI Miscellaneous Services. After online submission, visit the High Commission of India, Gaborone for verification of documents and submission of fee of BW Pula 310-).
(iii) OCI cardholder is required to upload on the ONLINE system a copy of the new passport (containing the photo of the passport holder) 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 may be done within three months of receipt of the new passport. This service will be provided on Gratis basis.
(iv) Those OCI Cardholders who have been registered as Spouse of foreign origin of an Indian Citizen or spouse of foreign origin of an OCI cardholder are required to upload a copy of the new passport (containing the photo of the passport holder) and also a latest photo on the ONLINE system each time a new passport is issued. A declaration that their marriage is still subsisting, copy of the Indian passport of the Indian spouse / passport & OCI card of the OCI cardholder spouse shall also be uploaded. These documents should be uploaded by the OCI cardholder foreigner spouse within three months of receipt of new passport. This service will be provided on Gratis basis.
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