Applicants residing any part of the country can file with Foreigners regional Registration Offices (FRRO), Delhi at the following address:

FRRO,
East Block-VIII, Level-2,
Sector-1, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi-110066.
Phone: 011-26711384.

Applicants in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Amritsar can also filewith the respective Foreigners Regional Registration Officers (FRROs) at the following addresses:

• FRRO, East Block-VIII, Level-2, Sector-1, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110066. Tel. No. 011-26711384.
• FRRO, Badruddin Tayyabji Marg, Mumbai-1. Tel. No. 022-26571998.
• FRRO, Shastri Bhavan Annexe, 26, Haddows Road, Chennai. Tel. No. 044-28232642.
• FRRO, 237, A.J.C. Bose Road, Kolkata. Tel. No. 033-22900549.
• FRRO, D-123, Ranjeet Avenue, Amritsar. Tel. No. 0183-2508250.
• FRRO, Office of the FRRO, SBI Hyderabad, Beside Kendriya Sadan Hyderabad (AP)
• FRRO, Office of the FRRO, SBI Hyderabad, Beside Kendriya Sadan Hydrabad (AP)
• FRRO, Office of the FRRO No-55, Double Road, (Near ESI Hospital) Indira Nagar, Bengaluru-560038
• FRRO, Trivandrum SIB Trivandrum 572 Montfort House Thycand, Trivandrum Tel. 0471-2320162
• FRROCochin, 2ndfloor, Airlines Building, Cochin International Airport Cochin – 682111, Tel. 0484-2611277
• FRRO/BOI, Calicut International Airport, Malappuram Kerala Pin- 673047 Tel. 0483-2717198
• FRRO Goa, Near Hotel International Escola Building, ToncaCaranzalem, Goa Tel. 0832-2462202
• FRRO Lucknow, CCS Airport, Lucknow Tel. 0522-2439786

Further details are available at: https://indianfrro.gov.in/

No. If the applicant, or his/her parents or grand-parents have ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh, he/shewill not be eligible for an OCI card.

Applicants outside Indiacan file applications to

• The Indian Mission /Post having jurisdiction over the country of which applicant is a citizen; or
• If he/she is not living in the country of his/her citizenship, to the Indian Mission/Post having jurisdiction over the country of which the applicant is ordinarily residentIrrespective of the fact that the same Indian Mission/ Post issued the original OCI documents or not.

For details of the documents required, please refer to the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs:http://mha1.nic.in/foreigDiv/OCI.html. It normally takes about 6-7 weeks for issue of an OCI Card.

It is not compulsory to convert your valid PIO Card to an OCI Card, as all PIO Cards are deemed to be equivalent to OCI Cards and have been declared valid for lifetime. However, you are advised to convert your PIO Card to an OCI Card in order to avoid any potential inconvenience at immigration check points, as all instructions and updates in the future will only relate to OCI Cards. PIO Card holders have been advised to apply for conversion of their PIO Cards to OCI Cards by June 30, 2017.

Please apply online for conversion of your PIO Card to OCI Card at https://passport.gov.in/oci/capchaActionPIO for applicants already in India. In the case of applicants staying abroad, please apply at the concerned Indian Embassy/Consulate either directly or through the outsourced service provider, with the documents prescribed by the Embassy. It should be noted that this service will be rendered by the Embassy/Consulate free of charge (in the case of outsourced service providers, the service fee will apply).

Yes, a Renunciation Certificate (renouncing your Indian nationality and surrendering your Indian passport) is compulsory before applying for an OCI card. It takes 3-4 working days for a Renunciation Certificate to be issued.

Vide circular No. 26011/06/2015-OCI dated 29th January, 2015 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, all immigration authorities in India will not insist on production of the foreign passport containing the 'U' Visa Sticker in the case of OCI Cardholders while they enter/exit India and the immigration clearance will be granted based on production of just the OCI card, accompanied by a valid passport (which may not have the U visa sticker).

Yes, the spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder registered under section 7A 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, can apply for an OCI card.

Minor children whose both parents are citizens of India or one of whose parents is a citizen of India are eligible to apply for an OCI Card.

No, foreign military personnel either in service or retired are not entitled for grant of OCI. No person who has earlier served in a foreign military organisation is eligible for an OCI card.

• In case of issuance of new passport:
  • For an applicant who is 20 years of age or younger, OCI documents must be re-issued each time a new passport is issued.
  • For an applicant who is 50 years of age or older, OCI documents must be re-issued once after the issuance of a new passport. (If the OCI card is issued for the first time after the age of 50 years, then there is no need for re-issuance of OCI.)
  • For an applicant who is 21 to 49 years of age, there is no need to re-issue OCI documents each time a new passport is issued. However, if the applicant desires, he/she can request that the OCI documents be re-issued so that the OCI documents reflect the correct passport number.
• In case there is a change in personal particulars
• In case of loss/damage of passport and/or OCI booklet
• For correcting personal particulars entered wrongly while submitting online applications e.g. name, father’s name, date of birth, etc.
• In case of change of address/occupation

Please view the full requirements for OCI Re-issue for more information at the following link:http://mha1.nic.in/pdfs/GuidelinesOCI.pdf

An OCI card holder gets the following benefits:

• A multiple entry, multi-purpose life-long visa for visiting India.
• Exemption from registration with local police authority for any length of stay in India.
• Parity with Non-resident Indians (NRIs) in respect of economic, financial and educational fields as per the relevant Acts, except in relation to acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
• OCI can be used as identity proof for application of PAN Card and driving licence as well as for opening a bank account if the OCI card holder is residing in India.

The OCI Card holder is not entitled:

• to vote;
• to be a member of a Legislative Assembly or of a Legislative Council or of the Parliament of India;
• to hold Indian constitutional posts such as that of the President, Vice President, Judge of the Supreme Court or High Court etc.;
• He/she cannot normally hold employment in the Government

Yes. He/she has to declare their intention of renunciation in Form XXII to the Indian Mission/Post where OCI registration was granted. After receipt of the declaration, the Indian Mission/Post shall issue an acknowledgement in Form XXII A. A separate application form is available for this purpose.

You will be allowed entry into India if you have a valid OCI Card and a valid foreign passport, with a minimum remaining validity of six months. You do not need to carry the old passport on which your "U” (OCI) Visa was stamped, if that happens to be different from your current passport.