{"id":1837,"date":"2018-03-08T22:57:13","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T17:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antworksmoney.com\/blog\/?page_id=1837"},"modified":"2018-06-28T16:50:08","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T11:20:08","slug":"overseas-citizen-india-oci-card","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.antworksmoney.com\/blog\/overseas-citizen-india-oci-card\/","title":{"rendered":"Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card"},"content":{"rendered":"

People of Indian origin living across the world, the Government of India has two definitions entitled for them- Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO).\u00a0in 2015, the Indian\u00a0Government merged both the PIO and OCI schemes to form one streamlined option<\/strong>\u00a0that serves as the Government’s outreach to Indian origin people with foreign citizenship.<\/p>\n

What is a PIO Card & why was is it discontinued?<\/h2>\n

Essentially, a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card is an identity document that identifies the owner as a foreign-based citizen of Indian origin.<\/p>\n

Salient Features of PIO Cards-<\/strong>\u00a0Allows PIO cardholders to stay in India for a duration of 15 years without any Visa requirements, no need to register with Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) through the first 180 days stay in India- post that registration must be completed in 30 days, provision of all educational, financial and economic benefits that are commonly bestowed upon NRIs.<\/p>\n

Why Discontinued?-<\/strong>\u00a0Technically, the PIO card hasn’t been terminated but merged with the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme, a plan similar to PIO that came into existence in 2006. The Indian Government is a fan of the terminology Overseas Citizen of India’ as compared to Person of Indian Origin’ that sounds overtly foreign.<\/p>\n

What is an OCI Card?<\/h2>\n

As mentioned above, the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card is bestowed upon people of Indian origin who also own a foreign citizenship. To qualify for an OCI status, the applicant must satisfy the following criteria:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Foreign nationals who earned the eligibility for Indian citizenship as of 26th January 1950.<\/li>\n
  2. Foreign nationals who were designated as Indian citizens at any point after 26th January 1950.<\/li>\n
  3. Foreigners of Indian origin who previously were residing in a territory that seceded to the Indian sovereign Government after India\u2019s independence on 15th August 1947.<\/li>\n
  4. Minor children with parents\/guardians who qualify per any of the conditions listed above.<\/li>\n
  5. However, OCI Application forms can never be processed for foreign nationals from Pakistan and Bangladesh.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The OCI card can be considered as a vital identity document if you are a foreigner of Indian origin. The OCI card application process is a simple procedure that has been sufficiently explained in the section below.<\/p>\n

    Eligibility for OCI Card<\/h2>\n

    Before you can fill up the OCI application form, consider the following criteria that must be satisfied for your application to be successful. You must either be a,<\/p>\n

    Foreign national,<\/strong><\/p>\n