People of Indian origin living all over the world no longer need to bring their old passport along with OCI i.e. Overseas Citizen of India card holders during the journey.
On the occasion of Holi, the central government has decided to give big relief to citizens of Indian origin. Now the OCI i.e. Overseas Citizen of India card holders do not have to bring their old passport with them during the journey. According to the news of news agency PTI, the central government has released new guidelines regarding OCI. The Center has removed the old passport mandatory clause in the new guideline, extending the period of renewal of OCI card till 31 December 2021. Millions of Indians will benefit from this decision. Now, foreign nationals of Indian origin will not have to return the passport after reaching the airport, nor will they have to bother even for an emergency visa. In such a case, the additional cost incurred on it will also be saved. Also, time will also be saved.
First of all, know what OCI is
Under the Constitution of India, Indians get dual citizenship. But Section 7B of the Citizenship Act 1955 provides certain facilities to a particular type of group, this particular group is called the OCI Overseas Citizens of India card holder.
In simple words, the OCI card holder is a person of Indian origin. Anyone who has obtained citizenship of another country. The holder of the OCI card is valid for all countries, except our neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh.
India does not provide dual citizenship, so the OCI card holder is not a citizen of India. This facility is for citizens of the same countries, where there is a provision of dual citizenship.
Here a question may be arising in your mind that what is the difference between NRI and OCI?
Let us tell you that any Indian person who has been abroad for at least 183 days in a financial year is called NRI. The OCI card holder is not a citizen of India, while the NRI is a citizen of India.
The OCI card holder does not have the right to cast a vote in India. The NRI has the right to cast votes. The OCI card holder cannot participate in any election. While the NRI can do it.
OCI card holder cannot buy any agricultural land. While the NRI can buy agricultural land. The OCI card holder does not have a passport from India, whereas the NRI holds an Indian passport.
Now let us know about the new decision of the government…
According to PTI, the OCI card contains the passport number of the citizen’s own country. Due to this, citizens of Indian origin OCI card holders had to keep a passport along with the card so that the number could be mixed. Earlier, all OCI card holders had to carry passports as well. Now it has been finished.
For the past several years, these people were constantly complaining about changing it. Because at the end of the passport of these citizens, their new passports were created.
Now people usually do not even keep old passports. While the government did not abolish the mandatory to keep the old passport with the OCI number.
Usually, hundreds of Indian origin citizens had to return from the airport due to the mandatory passport. The cancellation of tickets, the cost of commuting, then the waste of time and extra money in the emergency visa application also became a big problem for those passengers.
That is why the Central Government has taken a big decision and issued new rules. Also, it has now been decided to extend the period for renewing OCI cards till December 31, 2021.
