What is OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India)
OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) is a lifelong visa granted to foreign citizens of Indian origin. If you are an Indian citizen with a child born in a jus soli country, like the USA or Mexico, your child is eligible for OCI card.
OCI gives your child the right to visit, live, study, and work in India for an unlimited time.
Why get an OCI
Many parents thought that an Indian e-visa was enough for their child to visit India.
And that was true, and then came COVID-19.
While OCI holders were allowed in, the visa holders were not.
So, the Indian citizen parents of the minors holding foreign passports with tourist visas,
could not
travel to India, even during a family emergency.
Who knows if it will ever happen again. But applying for OCI simplifies life for your child and you.
Why you (the parent) should apply for OCI for your child
If your child is born with a Western passport, they will never know what visa applications look like. They would have never been exposed to 10-page visa applications, consulate appointments, and other bureaucratic hurdles.
Schengen visa application on Indian passport
So, given how involved the OCI process is, it is unlikely your child would apply for OCI on their own. Therefore, it is best for you, the parent, who has already dealt with such a bureaucratic process, to apply yourself.
Further, the card has to be updated only twice in the child’s lifetime. Once, when the child turns 20, and then again after turning 55.
How to apply for OCI
The process is fairly involved. So, do it only once you have sufficient mental space.
- Bhasha’s blog post is one of the most detailed ones
- Official OCI checklist
- Good Reddit discussion
- You need proof of address for the child, and you can use the parent’s driving license
- The foreign birth certificate of your child must be apostilled
- All other documents are self-attested
- Total fees to VFS are about ~$350
- It takes about 2 months end-to-end after submission.
Some tactical issues with the OCI application website
- Only JPEG files are accepted, and only up to 500KB, so figure out how to shrink them in your favorite image editor
- You need to upload the smudge of a thumbprint of the child, so learn to take one using an ink pad
- If you are re-uploading the thumbprint, then the photo must be uploaded as well to prevent a silent failure
eOCI - since July 2026
One problem with the OCI card is that it is a full-fledged booklet like a passport. Unlike residency cards, for example, a US Green Card, it cannot be easily carried in a wallet.
That problem completely goes away with the eOCI, which is a handy QR code that parents can carry in their phone.