CONSIDERRING RETURNING TO INDIA FOR RETIRED LIFE – OCI
STATUS MAY BE YOUR BEST CHOICE Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law, Dallas
If you are considering returning to India to lead
a retired life, OCI status in India would be a
much better option for you if you and your
spouse are U. S citizens. There are so many
advantages in obtaining the OCI status including
increased interest rates for deposits in Indian
banks including nationalized banks. Both State
Bank of India and its subsidiary banks and other
nationalized banks offer interest rates up to 9%
for NRE deposits. You can open an NRE deposit
with any bank in India if you are an OCI status
holder. The good thing is that the deposits are
repatriable and both the deposits and interest are
not subject to Indian income tax. The only thing
you need to do is file a report with the IRS every
year before June 30th informing about your
foreign account with deposits over $10,000. You
income outside United States are also exempt
from U. S taxes up to $80,000 per year. In short,
an OCI card holder has all benefits like an
Indian citizen except couple of things like 1)
OCI card holder cannot contest in both State and
Central elections, 2) OCI cardholder cannot vote
in State or Central elections, 2) OCI card holder
cannot obtain government jobs, 3) OCI car
holder cannot own large agricultural plantations.
The OCI Scheme provides for registration as
Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) of all
persons of Indian origin who were citizens
of India on 26th January, 1950 or thereafter
or were eligible to become citizens of India
on 26th January, 1950, except, who is or had
been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or
such other country as the Government of
India may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, specify. OCI status should not to
be misconstrued as ‘Dual Citizenship’.
Neither India nor U. S. A do not recognize
dual citizenship status for its citizens. OCI
status does not confer political rights, which
means they are not allowed to run for
elections both in State or Central and not
even allowed to vote in any elections. The
registered Overseas Citizens of India shall
not be entitled to the rights conferred on a
citizen of India under article 16 of the
Constitution with regard to equality of
opportunity in matters of public
employment, which means they are not
allowed to apply for jobs both in State and
Central governments. Once the OCI status is
granted, the OCI documents consist of OCI
Registration Booklet and a Universal 'U'
visa sticker on your U. S. passport. It is
mandatory for registered OCIs to carry their
passports containing 'U' visa and the OCI
registration Booklet for entry into/exit from
India.
Please note that OCI registration booklet and
visa are to be reissued each time a new
passport is issued to the applicant till he/she
attains the age of 20 years and also once
after completion of 50 years of age of the
OCI cardholder. For an applicant who is 21 -
49 years of age, there is no need to reissue
OCI registration certificate and visa each
time a new passport is issued. Please note
that while such an OCI cardholder can
request that OCI registration certificate and
visa be reissued so that OCI documents
reflect their current passport number, it is
also sufficient if the cardholder carries his
OCI registration certificate, old passport
carrying the 'U' visa and the current valid
Passport while travelling to India.
A registered Overseas Citizen of India is
granted multiple entry, multipurpose, life-
long visa for visiting India and he/she is
exempted from registration with Foreign
Regional Registration Officer or Foreign
Registration Officer for any length of stay in
India, and is entitled to general ‘parity with
Non-Resident Indians in respect of all
facilities available to them in economic,
financial and educational fields except in
matters relating to the acquisition of
agricultural or plantation properties’.
Specific benefits/parity is notified by the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs from
time to time. The Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs has issued notifications
granting registered OCIs further benefits as
under:
1. Parity with Non-Resident Indians
in the matter of inter-country adoption of
Indian children;
2. Parity with resident Indian
nationals in matters of tariffs in domestic air
fares;
3. Parity with domestic Indian
visitors in respect of entry fee for
visiting national parks and wildlife
sanctuaries in India;
4. Parity with non-resident Indians
in respect of:
◦ Entry fees for visiting the
national monuments, historical sites
and museums in India;
◦Practicing the following
professions in India, in
pursuance of the provisions
contained in the relevant
Acts, namely;
◾Doctors, dentists, nurses
and pharmacists;
◾Advocates;
◾Architects; and
◾Chartered Accountants;
and
5. Entitlement to appear for the All
India Pre-Medical Test or such other tests to
make them eligible for admission in
pursuance of the provisions contained in the
relevant Acts.
If any person, seeking to apply for OCI
registration or OCI Miscellaneous service,
had ever held an Indian Passport, he/she
must also simultaneously apply for/or
submit a copy either of the following :-
1. Surrender of Indian citizenship certificate,
or
2. Deemed Surrender of Indian citizenship
certificate, or
3. Renunciation Declaration of Indian
citizenship
For detailed information in this regard,
please visit Renunciation of Indian
Citizenship and for other details at the
Indian Embassy web site at
https://passport.gov.in/oci/
The OCI card and all other visa services
have been outsourced to BLS International
Ltd., by the government of India since July
1, 2013. They have offices in selected cities
in United States, who will help you to apply
for OCI card at a very nominal fee. For
detailed guidelines on submitting the
application, required documentation, fee
etc., please go to the following link:
http://www.blsindia-usa.com/ Please also
visit http://www.cgihouston.org for more
updated information. They have both phone
numbers and e-mail address which will be
answered promptly according to their web
site.
Disclaimer: Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law, with more than 36 (about 21 years in U. S.
Immigration Laws) years of experience as an Attorney, mainly practices in U. S.
immigration law and is located in Dallas, Texas. He does not claim authorship for above
referenced information since it is obtained from several sources including USCIS web site,
AILA and other internet based legal sources, and published for the benefit of the general
public. Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law or the publisher is not responsible or liable for
anything stated above, since it is generalized information about the subject matter collected
from various legal sources. For individual cases and specific questions you are advised to
consult any attorney of your choice or contact your State Bar Organizations or local Bar
Associations or American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA) for finding an attorney
or for any legal help. You can visit our website at: www.indiaimmigrationusa.com or
www.indiaimmigrationusa.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/groups/usattorney for
information about U. S. immigration law related matters. Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law can
be reached at (972) 788-0777 or at his e-mail: [email protected] if you have any questions.