Bad Experience - OCI stamping on new passport

singhisking · Post by **singhisking** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:54 am

I sent an application to Indian Consulate for stamping my kid's new passport with OCI visa (she already has OCI), they say come and give back the OCI. According to them my kid should not have OCI because none of the parents is US citizen. When my kid was issued OCI (first year OCI was launched) there was no such rule that one parent has to be US citizen and I think NY Indian consulate forgot about it and not ready to listen to me. They are threatening me that they will cancel OCI for my kid.
My question is can they really cancel the OCI when I have it physically. Did anyone else have this bad experience. I am just cursing myself why did I even bother to get it stamped on new passport, kid can still travel carrying old passport. This is so insane to me.

vsudhu · Post by **vsudhu** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:07 am

They are right in asking for the OCI back. You should get a PIO instead. Do you have any concerns with that ?

hitraj · Post by **hitraj** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:43 pm

I was also in same boat where my daughter had OCI in 2006 when we were still india citizens.Now when I did renewal this y ear for her , we had become US citizens so we didnt had any issue.

singhisking · Post by **singhisking** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:45 pm

vsudhu;382734They are right in asking for the OCI back. You should get a PIO instead. Do you have any concerns with that ?

Yes dear I have concerns, could you justify your statements - unless you work for Consulate. I would like to tell one more thing I paid double for OCI when I could have paid only half of it for PIO. If they change requirements it does not mean they can go back in past and force it on existing OCI holders. Also can anyone explain the logic behind one parent being non-citizen of India.

singhisking · Post by **singhisking** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:33 pm

hitraj;382800I was also in same boat where my daughter had OCI in 2006 when we were still india citizens.Now when I did renewal this y ear for her , we had become US citizens so we didnt had any issue.

So did they ask you to surrender OCI when you tried earlier (before becoming US citizen) if yes then what did you do?

hitraj · Post by **hitraj** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:48 pm

Nope they never contacted me for her OCI .I had got my daughter a new US Passport recently after the first one expired at 5 yrs and so I just applied for OCI stamping on new PP.They never went back and validated her old OCI .

But i thought in this year's Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, it was decided to merge OCI and PIO cards !!!

OCI and PIO cards will be merged
January 8, 2011

NEW DELHI: India has decided to merge the two visa facilitation cards that are issued to PIOs and register NRIs in the electoral rolls to let them exercise their franchise, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday.

"We recently reviewed the Overseas Citizenship of India Card and Person of Indian Origin Card. We have decided to merge them into one," the Prime Minister observed while inaugurating the Ninth Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas.

rajaR2I · Post by **rajaR2I** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:38 am

singhisking;382820Yes dear I have concerns, could you justify your statements - unless you work for Consulate. I would like to tell one more thing I paid double for OCI when I could have paid only half of it for PIO. If they change requirements it does not mean they can go back in past and force it on existing OCI holders. Also can anyone explain the logic behind one parent being non-citizen of India.

Will you ask the same question to USCIS where they accidentely approve some GC prior to the candidate's priority date is being current and ask them to surrender their GC when USCIS finds about it later?

singhisking · Post by **singhisking** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:47 am

rajaR2I;382924Will you ask the same question to USCIS where they accidentely approve some GC prior to the candidate's priority date is being current and ask them to surrender their GC when USCIS finds about it later?

Did it happen to anyone? If yes then he should ask. BTW my kid's OCI was not accidently given, it was as per the law.

rajaR2I · Post by **rajaR2I** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 1:03 am

singhisking;382928Did it happen to anyone? If yes then he should ask. BTW my kid's OCI was not accidently given, it was as per the law.

This is happening all the time and people being asked to surrender their GC and yes people questioning them and they don't have any chance to argue with USCIS. Infact USCIS expecting people surrender their GC volunteerly to avoid any further complications. If you need further info you can search in murthy dot com.

What I am trying to say is, the consulate is trying to correct their mistakes like USCIS doing it all the time. As per the rule, OCI is issued for the people who are Overseas Citizenship of India. If you believe that they issues as per the law, you may have to show them the document where it was stated.

vsudhu · Post by **vsudhu** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:06 am

singhisking;382820Yes dear I have concerns, could you justify your statements - unless you work for Consulate. I would like to tell one more thing I paid double for OCI when I could have paid only half of it for PIO. If they change requirements it does not mean they can go back in past and force it on existing OCI holders. Also can anyone explain the logic behind one parent being non-citizen of India.

Unfortunately I do not work for the consulate. I have also been on the receiving ends with the Indian consulate on similar issues.

The consulate logic is simple - you paid the fee effective on that date. Rates may increase or decrease later.

That Indian consulate bungled on the criterion for OCI and that they would correct when people go back for future services is public knowledge.

My point is, what difference does it make if you get a PIO card instead , other than the fact that you have to go once every 15 yrs for renewal.

OCI, as the name implies , is only when at least one parent is Indian origin non-citizen. If both parents are Indian citizens, then the kid does not qualify as a OCI. Period.