Permanent Residency

Nick-H

About the nri stuff... True. I missed that bit. Past my bed time

A lot of countries do allow dual citizenship. UK does. So a lot of people quite legally hold and travel with more than one passport.

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eater

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H That is very typical, which is why you have to go to the source to check out the law. Eater, what is it you are talking about here for 2011? OCIs do have restrictions,but I'm not aware of anything about to change in 2011?

I was just two days ago looking at the India Govt website and I re-read it there....I will look for the link shortly and pass it on.....

I came up with 2011 because it takes minimum five years for an OCI to apply for full Indian Citizenship and he/she does not have to give up their foreign citizenship (as long as the foreign country allows dual citizenship as well as India).

Five years from 2006 because OCIs were approved in Parliament as of January of 2006.

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GoanCanuck

An OCI who decides to take Indian citizenship in 2011 will have to give up his foreign citizenship at that time. Know one individual who was an Indian citizen then surrendered his Indian citizenship to take British citizenship and now he has retired to India and again taken Indian citizenship after surrendering his British one.

eater

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoanCanuck An OCI who decides to take Indian citizenship in 2011 will have to give up his foreign citizenship at that time.

Quote: Nick-H: The fact that they refer to OCI as 'dual citizenship' in many of their own doccuments really adds to the confusion. You can find 'Dual citizenship is not allowed' and 'how to apply for dual citizenship' ---really close.

I bow to the Maha Guru and to the Grumpy one !!

You guys are right !!......

There is no such thing as Dual Citizenship for Indians, to-date for sure (or in 2011 for that matter, the choice at the time will be Indian or the other country citizen or keep the OCI and call yourself dual citizen as India seems to call it).

http://india.gov.in/overseas/dual_citizenship.php
Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

Based on the recommendation of the High Level committee on Indian Diaspora, the Government of India decided to grant Overseas
Citizenship of India (OCI) commonly known as ‘Dual Citizenship’. Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) of certain category as has been specified in the Brochure who migrated from India and acquired citizenship of a foreign country other than Pakistan and Bangladesh, are eligible for grant of OCI as long as their home countries allow dual citizenship in some form or the other under their local laws.

Persons registered as OCI have not been given any voting rights, election to Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/Legislative Assembly/Council, holding Constitutional posts such as President, Vice President, Judge of Supreme Court/High Court etc. Registered OCIs shall be entitled to following benefits:

Multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to visit India;
Exemption from reporting to Police authorities for any length of stay in India;
Parity with NRIs in financial, economic and educational fields except in the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
A person registered as OCI is eligible to apply for grant of Indian citizenship under section 5(1)(g) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 if he/she is registered as OCI for five years and has been residing in India for one year out of the five years before making the application.

Nick-H

Welcome to the confusion!

And I certainly do make mistakes on this stuff, and get corrected here

PIO and OCI have a certain symbolic value, but are really little more than long-term visas.

I would have thought that surrendering British Citizenship would mean giving up stuff like pension rights. Be interested to know what your friend has to say on this one, as I guess he would have researched it.

Mind you, I guess I have a certain sentimental attachment to being British! Even if I do choose to live somewhere else.

It has been commented by others in other threads that keeping a British or US passport and combining it with OCI has many advantages. It's a pain to have to go through the visa-application process to visit your own (or your spouse's) country.

Unless a person really wishes to get involved in Indian politics or own agricultural land.

eater

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H Welcome to the confusion! Unless a person really wishes to get involved in Indian politics or own agricultural land.

That's true.....how many OCIs would be wanting to become farmers...

Just that it irks me not having the same rights as any Indian...feels like a second rate citizen, feel "cheap".

Like you, if you were born in France of British parents but then denied British citizenship but are gived a D Passport !!!

I don't know if you know about the D British Passports that were issued to British citizens born in the colonies, they used to call it the D = Devalued British Passport !!

Anyway, that's another story....

Nick-H

I didn't know about the name, but my country's hobby is taking rights away from people.

edwardseco

Some people do retain their passports after taking another country's citizenship, claiming it was lost, and skirt the problem that way. Alas, my spouse was too honest..

Nick-H

I met a guy at the London High Commission applying for PIO. He still had his Indian passport, although he had renounced his citizenship when he became British. He said that it is still by far the easiest way to prove that one was once an Indian citizen, if you need to, and most people keep theirs for that purpose.

GoanCanuck

The person I was referring to is involved in both. The British pension has no meaning for him because this individual is very rich.

anar

in my case, having an oci would mean (please correct me if i am wrong - i'd hate to go through the hassle and expense of applying for one and finding out it is of no real gain after all):

not having to apply for a five year visa each time it was due to expire (and all the anxiety connected with that);

not having to carry my residential permit with me each time i leave the country or even travel within india (after seven years, now in tatters but they refuse to issue me with a new set); and

above all, not having to collect said residential permit from the police station after each trip abroad (they retain the rp at immigration when i leave india and yet, almost without fail, on my return, the immigration man at the desk will ask, "where is your residential permit?").

a little more than 'symbolic value' i think!

Nick-H

Then citizenship would be the priority No offence to your friend, who I don't know of course, but it is often the very rich who are most fussy about loosing small amounts of money! That's one way they get and remain rich

Never, in fact, having to apply for another Indian visa for the rest of your life!

You won't need a RP/RC. You won't even have to register at all!

You can also study, buy residential property, take employment...

This are visa/immigration issues; in terms of "citizenship" it is symbolic. In terms of utility it is what's called a no-brainer

Ms Princess W

What a fascinating, if confusing, thread!!! My fiance' has held the status of "resident alien" in the US for 20 some odd years because he absolutely refused to relinquish his Indian citizenship. That's about as much as I know about it from his side of things. From mine I know even less. We will be married here in the USA before going to India, but will have a ceremony for the family after we arrive. Since we're holding off on my passport application until after we're married, his name will show as my spouse on the passport and visa. So couldn't I go for an entry visa from the start? That would make things a whole lot easier, I'd think, without the hassle of the 180 day limit as it is on the tourist Visa.

Now, how about the children, who are my biological kids and his stepchildren?

Dilliwala

Princess W,
U will be entitled to a PIO card one year after marriage (some folks have got it after 6 months, but the rule is 1 year). What do u mean by an 'entry' visa? Are u intending to stay for more than 6 months, and then return to the U.S.? Are u and hubby moving to India? If u are, then u will be entitled to a res. permit. Please provide more details in order to enable a better answer.

I'm not exactly sure about the case of step-kids, but my gut feeling is they wud be eligible after a year as well for PIO cards. Don't remember any specific exclusion on the govt. websites. Otherwise your nearest consulate can clarify.

Nick-H

An Entry visa is what is often called an "X" visa, and yes, that is what she should apply for until she can get PIO.

It will permit (unless otherwise endorsed) stay of longer than 180 days.

Your advise about resident's permit, DW, is a bit confusing, as RP doesn't even come into the picture until she has a visa which allows/requires her to register.