Passport surrender and OCI application in Bangalore

[mandhan]

Hi,

My wife will be travelling to India for a few months in July. She will have enough time to apply for her British passport here in UK before she travels.

I am aware that one can travel on an Indian passport for a period up to 90 days from the day the foreign citizenship is acquired. Hence she can enter India as a British national on Indian passport.

She then plans to surrender her Indian passport at the FRRO in Bangalore. Once she receives the surrender certificate, soon after she will apply for the OCI at the same FRRO office.

Have anyone on this forum had similar experiences? Although I have done fair bit of reading on this, would still like to know if this is completely legal and acceptable way to get the OCI from India.

Regards,
mandhan

[silentreader]

My understanding is that one would need to enter and exit India or any country on the same passport...or else there'll be needless hassle at the airport while coming back (no personal experience just second / third hand information)



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[mandhan]

Thanks silentreder. I have contacted FRRO in Bangalore about the 90 days grace period and they seemed to have no clue.

This is what precisely I want to know.

If one travels to India immediately after getting the British passport (taking advantage of 3 months grace period to travel on Indian passport) and uses her Indian passport to enter, can she surrender her Indian passport and apply for OCI in India as long as its all done within 3 months?

I guess part of the question also is whether 90 days is allowed only for travel or also for stay in India.

I also called HCI London today and they just asked me to refer to the web site which is not of great help.

Please can someone also suggest some solicitors in London who can help on these matters?

Regards,
mandhan

[silentreader]

A solicitor in London can only give you a UK perspective not an Indian one ...I'd be happy for you if you found an exception but not surprised if otherwise

Check out the UKResident.com forum. I've seen a few experts there. Never had to use them but no harm is having a discussion

That being said, why not look at the most straight forward option. Surrender the Indian passport here AFTER you get your British passport and apply for the Indian visa to travel.

Back in the first week of May, Indian passport surrender process took me 2 days which I guess is quite efficient

[mandhan]

Thanks again silentreader.

Just a couple of questions.
Do you know if I can I apply for both surrender of passport and an indian visa at the same time to VFS so that I dont have to apply them separately one after another. I guess this should save some precious time in my case.
And after wife has entered India with the visa (5 year multiple entry for ex-Indians), I think it should not be an issue to get her OCI from FRRO in Bangalore immediately afterwards. It sounds silly but do you think there will be issue with changing to OCI so soon after she had got her 5 yr multiple entry visa.

Thanks.

Regards,
mandhan

[silentreader]

Re long term Visa...this is what the folks say on VFS site

A Long term entry visa is issued to people of Indian origin only and hence appropriate documentation is required to substantiate Indian origin e.g copy of surrender certificate of Indian passport or any document issued in the name of the applicant by the Government of India.

which in turn implies, you need to surrender first.

Even if you put in say your PAN card or some voter id card which was issued by the Govt along with the receipt of passport surrender, someone having a bad day can delay your case...a risk not worth taking in my opinion

For your own satisfaction, you should call up the VFS in London and ask if they'll accept such a Visa application along with a surrender application....

here's the link from which i pasted the above information:
http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/longterm.html

As for putting in an OCI application soon after a Visa stamping, I don't see that as an issue...Indian authorities say there is no emergency service for OCI and
"
If you are travelling in the near future and have an emergency, please apply for visa.
"
doesn't matter how soon or later you apply for the same. If you are still unsure, just ask the folks directly in Bangalore and even after that if you don't feel comfortable then apply when back in London. Doesn't change anything.

In nutshell, the more we complicate things, the worse it'll become ....all the aspects you raised are grey areas where those folks behind the counter have the authority to apply their own judgement...we all know what happens when that happens
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[mandhan]

thanks silentreader. I am going to send an email to vfs about the possibility to make simultaneous application for surrender and visa. Lets see what they come back with.

As for OCI application soon after getting a 5yr visa, the statement that you have underlined does make it really clear. However you never know what to expect with the local authorities - i might call FRRO to confirm.

cheers. mandhan