Overseas Citizen of India
— benefits and applications.

The merger of PIO into OCI

The PIO card was the predecessor of the OCI card. Under the PIO Card scheme of 2002, a Person of Indian Origin could obtain a card that gave them a long-term visa status in India. That scheme has now been superseded.

By a Gazette Notification published on 9 January 2015 (Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India), all existing PIO cardholders registered under the PIO Card scheme of 2002 were deemed to be Overseas Citizens of India cardholders. In effect, the PIO card was retired and its holders were absorbed into the OCI regime.

Further, by an earlier Gazette Notification published on 30 September 2014, a PIO card issued to an applicant was made valid for the applicant's lifetime, provided the applicant held a valid passport. That lifetime validity has carried over into the OCI regime.

The formal notification of the merger of the PIO and OCI cards is available on the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

What the OCI card is — and what it is not

The OCI card is a lifetime visa status. It is not citizenship. An OCI cardholder does not hold an Indian passport, does not have the right to vote, does not have the right to hold constitutional office, and is not, in Indian law, a citizen of India. The card is issued to a foreign national, and the holder remains a foreign national for the purposes of Indian law.

That is the correct frame for reading everything that follows. Every benefit the card confers is a benefit conferred on a foreign national by notification — and every limitation arises from the same fact.

Who can be an OCI

The list of persons eligible for OCI was expanded with effect from 9 January 2015. In summary, the following persons are eligible:

• A person who used to be an Indian citizen.
• A person who has at least one parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent who is, or was, an Indian citizen.
• A person married to an Indian citizen, or to an existing OCI cardholder, for at least two continuous years.

The following categories of persons cannot hold OCI status:

• Anyone who has ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh.
• Anyone whose parents or grandparents were citizens of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, or Sri Lanka.
• Anyone who has served in a foreign military, or who has worked in a foreign defence department.

The eligibility conditions are specific, and the disqualifications are absolute. Where there is any question about eligibility — particularly where the applicant's parents or grandparents were citizens of one of the listed countries — the position should be checked before an application is made.

Benefits of the OCI card

The Government of India, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, issued a Gazette Notification dated 4 March 2021, which restated and expanded the benefits available to OCI cardholders. The benefits fall into four groups.

1. Multiple-entry lifelong visa — and exemption from FRRO registration

An OCI cardholder is entitled to a multiple-entry, lifelong visa for visiting India for any purpose. This is the core of what the card does. The holder may travel to India as often as they wish, and remain as long as they wish, without applying for a fresh visa.

An OCI cardholder is also exempt from registration with the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) or the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) for any length of stay in India. This exemption is significant: it removes the 14-day registration obligation that applies to most other foreign nationals on long-stay visas, and it removes the ongoing reporting requirements that go with it.

There are, however, four activities for which special permission or a special permit is required from the competent authority, the FRRO, or the Indian Mission concerned:

• Research. To undertake research in India.
• Restricted activities. To undertake Missionary, Tabligh, Mountaineering, or Journalistic activities.
• Internships and employment in foreign missions. To undertake an internship in a foreign diplomatic mission or foreign government organisation in India, or to take up employment in any foreign diplomatic mission in India.
• Protected, restricted, or prohibited areas. To visit any place that falls within the protected, restricted, or prohibited areas notified by the Central Government or a competent authority.

An OCI cardholder who is normally resident in India is required to intimate the jurisdictional FRRO or FRO, by email, whenever there is a change in their permanent residential address or in their occupation.

2. Parity with Indian nationals

In two specific respects, an OCI cardholder is treated on a par with Indian nationals:

• Domestic air fares. Tariffs in air fares in the domestic sectors in India.
• Entry fees. Entry fees charged for visiting national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, national monuments, historical sites, and museums in India.

These are comparatively narrow, but they are the areas in which the cardholder is treated, in the Gazette's own words, on a parity with an Indian national.

3. Parity with Non-Resident Indians

In a further four respects, an OCI cardholder is treated on a par with a Non-Resident Indian:

• Inter-country adoption. Inter-country adoption of Indian children, subject to compliance with the procedure laid down by the competent authority for such adoption.
• All-India entrance tests. Appearing for all-India entrance tests — such as the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the Joint Entrance Examination (Mains), the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced), or such other tests — to become eligible for admission only against a Non-Resident Indian seat or a supernumerary seat. An OCI cardholder is not eligible for admission against any seat reserved exclusively for Indian citizens.
• Immovable property. Purchase or sale of immovable property — but other than agricultural land, farm house, or plantation property. The exclusion is significant, and should be checked before any property transaction is entered into.
• Professions. Pursuing the following professions in India, subject to the provisions of the applicable statutes:
  • Doctors, dentists, nurses, and pharmacists;
  • Advocates;
  • Architects;
  • Chartered accountants.

4. What remains foreign

In respect of all other economic, financial, and educational fields — and in respect of any rights and privileges not covered by the notifications made by the Reserve Bank of India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 — an OCI cardholder has the same rights and privileges as a foreigner.

This is the correct default position. The benefits listed above are the exceptions. Everything else is governed by the position of a foreign national, and by the notifications made under FEMA and other applicable statutes. Where a matter does not fall within one of the listed benefits, the OCI cardholder should not assume parity with an Indian national or an NRI — the assumption should be the opposite, and the position should be checked.

The explanation — two definitions worth remembering

The March 2021 notification closes with two definitions that are worth keeping in mind:

• OCI cardholder. Including a PIO cardholder, is a foreign national holding a passport of a foreign country, and is not a citizen of India.
• Non-Resident Indian. Has the same meaning as assigned in the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations, 2018 made by the Reserve Bank of India under FEMA, and who fulfils the "Non-Resident Indian" status under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The two definitions matter because the benefits of the OCI card are, in several respects, defined by reference to them. An OCI cardholder is not an NRI by the card alone — the NRI status is a separate question, determined by the FEMA regulations and the Income Tax Act.

Where the difficulties usually arise

In our experience with OCI matters, the points that most often cause difficulty are these:

• The assumption of citizenship. An OCI cardholder treating the card as equivalent to Indian citizenship, and discovering only later that the card does not carry the right to vote, to hold constitutional office, or to hold an Indian passport.
• Restricted activities. Undertaking research, missionary or journalistic work, or visiting a protected area, without obtaining the special permission that the notification requires.
• Property. Purchasing agricultural land, a farm house, or plantation property in the belief that the OCI card permits it. The notification expressly excludes these categories, and the exclusion is enforced.
• Entrance tests. Applying for admission against a seat reserved exclusively for Indian citizens, on the basis of an OCI card. The notification expressly excludes this.
• Change of address or occupation. An OCI cardholder resident in India failing to intimate the FRRO or FRO of a change in residential address or occupation, as the notification requires.
• Eligibility and disqualification. Applying for OCI where the applicant's parents or grandparents were citizens of one of the listed countries, or where the applicant has ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh. These disqualifications are absolute.
• Lapse of eligibility on marriage. Where OCI status is held by reason of marriage to an Indian citizen or an OCI cardholder, the status may be affected if the marriage comes to an end. The position should be checked, particularly before a matter is planned on the assumption that the card will continue indefinitely.

How Kavao Law can assist

We advise NRIs, foreign nationals, and their families on OCI eligibility, applications, and the rights and limitations that the card carries. Our work typically includes:

• Advising on eligibility for OCI, and on whether any of the disqualifications apply.
• Assisting with the preparation and filing of the OCI application, and with the supporting documentation.
• Advising on the position of PIO cardholders following the merger of the PIO and OCI cards.
• Advising on the use of the OCI card — in relation to travel, residence, employment, education, and admission to educational institutions.
• Advising on the acquisition and transfer of immovable property by an OCI cardholder, including the categories of property that the card does not permit.
• Advising on the NRI status under FEMA and the Income Tax Act, and on how it differs from OCI status.
• Advising on changes in circumstances — change of address or occupation, marriage, divorce, or the acquisition of a new passport — and on any consequential intimation to the FRRO or FRO.

For more on this service, see our OCI & Overseas Citizenship practice-area page and our Property & Land Records practice-area page.

A closing note

The information in this article is drawn from the Gazette Notifications of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India — in particular the notification of 4 March 2021. It is general in nature and is intended to give OCI cardholders and prospective applicants a clearer sense of what the card does and what it does not do.

The principal point to remember is that the OCI card is a lifetime visa status, not citizenship. The card confers a substantial set of rights, and those rights are defined by the notification. Beyond the notification, the cardholder remains a foreign national. Where a matter depends on a right or privilege not listed in the notification, the position should be checked before it is relied on.