OCI process

[cprak0]

@SSV70
For most people, coming to Canada is for better education for kids and stuff...
Interesting that you would have kids study in India, but be Canadian Citizens.
Doesn't make much sense to me. Why lose Indian Citizenship if studying in India
is important? Just curious. And yes, there is no grace period, it's not legal to travel
on Indian passport after having acquired Canadian citizenship (regardless of
whether you have a Canadian passport). Not sure if and how the law is implemented,
though...

 

[SSV70]

Hi cprak0, gjp,

This is what I found in the Indian consulate website Vancouver, //www.cgivancouver.org/pages.php?id=47

------------------------------------------------------------
CLARIFICATIONS

Surrender Certificate cannot be issued if the last held Indian passport is not physically produced.

Penalty, if applicable, cannot be waived or reduced.

There is no penalty in cases where the PIO opted for foreign nationality before 1.1.2005 and the last held Indian passport also expired before that date.

There is a grace period of three months after acquisition of foreign nationality (to be counted from the date of registration / Naturalisation Certificate and not from the date of foreign passport) for using Indian passport for travel.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secondly about the citizenship; Very valid question, but we are in a difficulty;

My children were studying here till this summer before moving to India on July2015. Reason: Two folds one is my –laws sickness (they did not want to come, wife is a single child), other is children’s interest in Studies deteriorated (partly to blame me) over the past 5years. My wife felt they needed a bit more of a guided education (books, home work etc) for few years may be 2-3years before they come back. Higher studies are good here, so citizenship and their future. Probably we may end up not taking the citizenship and the debate is on.... I realy do not know what is good in the future, so we are trying to think about the present and have options

Hope this helps, I may be around here...

Cheers;

 

[gjp]

SSV70,
That is for those who became Canadian citizens before 1.1.2005

For you, the following is the rule (from the same link you provided):
Penalty for travelling on Indian Passport after acquiring Canadian citizenship is C$ 343 for each time, subject to a maximum of C$ 1711

 

[mehtapr]

Hi All,

I will be applying for surrender/OCI very soon. My wife is not applying for this (not canadian yet) but i believe they still need to see her her passport ? Do they keep it for few days or will return immediately? (we are planning to travel to USA right after applying)

Also, I don't have her name in my passport (although she has mine in her passport). however me being the applicant I might need the joint affidavit/attestation from notary public that we are married, as mentioned on website. anyone have experience with that ? Do we need to type this or notary takes care of all content ?

lastly, i assume when traveling to usa for example, for first time with new canadian passport, they dont ask you for your old indian passport right ? (as i had traveled there recently before getting cdn citizenship)

Thanks

 

[gjp]

mehtapr,

1. One of my friend applied for his PIO late last year (same case like yours - he is a Canadian citizen, but his wife is a PR). They returned his passport immediately, but took his wife's passport for verification and it was returned later. But, you never know with BLS. It all depends on the guy/girl you deal with that day.

2. As long as the spouse name is there in one of the passports, you do not need a joint affidavit. Even if you need one, there will be a lawyer very close to BLS office and they have the format. You just have to go with your wife to take picture.

3. They will not ask for your Indian passport.

 

[mehtapr]

Thanks GJP, that's what I was worried about , they might keep her passport for few days , so I guess I will apply after my US trip.

If you are certain about #2, I will just skip the Notary step.. Btw, is this some joint photo to be taken ? I was just thinking of affixing 2 individual psprt size pics of us and signing across as per whatever notary suggests incase we use one. I will be going alone to the BLS office so preplanning it, else an extra trip . As u said never know with them lol

Do I need to carry some authorization letter from my wife as I will be submitting her passport ? ( even though she is not applying for anything?.

 

[gjp]

mehtapr,

I am sure about point #2 because when I applied, the lady asked whether spouse name is present in any ONE of the passport. With BLS, do not spend money unless they ask for additional documents. If they still want an affidavit, the photo has to be a joint photo, not individual one. If you are going to the BLS office in Brampton, there is a lawyer in the same complex and he charges $70 for the affidavit. Again, do this only if BLS asks you to do.

No authorization letter needed.

 

[mehtapr]

Awesome , thanks ($70 what a ripoff lol, heard some Missisauga notary does affidavits in less than $25 )

 

[sweeteldora]

Hello everyone,

I am hoping your collective expertise can answer this question. I am looking to surrender my Indian Passport and apply for an OCI. I have misplaced my Citizenship Certificate. The timeline to apply for a new one from CIC is 5 months.

Does anyone have experience with this situation? Do you know if Indian office will accept alternatives to the Citizenship Certificate? I do have a photocopy of my Certificate but they wanted to see the original when I went to drop off the application at the office.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mehtapr]

Hello everyone,

I am hoping your collective expertise can answer this question. I am looking to surrender my Indian Passport and apply for an OCI. I have misplaced my Citizenship Certificate. The timeline to apply for a new one from CIC is 5 months.

Does anyone have experience with this situation? Do you know if Indian office will accept alternatives to the Citizenship Certificate? I do have a photocopy of my Certificate but they wanted to see the original when I went to drop off the application at the office.

Thanks in advance!

Not sure on the answer, but have a vague memory while browsing through the bls or MHA site recently I read about some alternate options, just check the ministry of home affairs site (i know its not easy to locate info there).

 

[mehtapr]

For new OCI applicants , just a tip that may save you another trip to BLS.

They (Brampton BLS atleast ) now ask you to upload the relevant documents on the ministry site as well, before you goto BLS (After you done with Part A and B you will see this option on the site to upload OCI documents). When done with upload take a print screen of that page, and then print it out, add it to your application.

Ofcourse , first you will need to scan those documents to be uploaded (mentioned in the dropdown list but mostly canadian passport, indian passport (front and back), mrrg certificate). It is a pain because site will only accept pdf scans and less than 500 kb size for each (goto scan settings for your printer and reduce the resolution if needed). Scan them as "documents", not image (site doesnt accept image files, only pdf)

I believe this is something new they are trying to enforce without much info/instructions (how predictable) and depending on officer you may still get away without it, but well i didnt and had to make an extra trip.

And whatever documents belong to your spouse, make sure the spouse attests (signs) those (as i was told). Saturdays at brampton are horrible btw, weekday 8 am works much better.

 

[NewCanadian2015]

Hi Mehtapr,

Thanks for the information given on the new OCI requirement.This is very useful. I plan on submitting my documents for OCI shortly. Can you please let me know that after having done the online upload, did you have to submit to BLS the photocopies of all documents as per their checklist?

Thanks a lot for your help.

NewCanadian2015

 

[mehtapr]

Hi Mehtapr,

Thanks for the information given on the new OCI requirement.This is very useful. I plan on submitting my documents for OCI shortly. Can you please let me know that after having done the online upload, did you have to submit to BLS the photocopies of all documents as per their checklist?

Thanks a lot for your help.

NewCanadian2015

Yes, follow the checklist . this online upload is just something additional. Maybe in future they replace this requirement but for now they need the photocopies.

 

[harry_aussie]

Hello Everyone,

Is it possible for me to apply for OCI here in Canada on the basis of being an Australian Citizen. I hold Canadian PR.

 

[chikloo]

Hello Everyone,

Is it possible for me to apply for OCI here in Canada on the basis of being an Australian Citizen. I hold Canadian PR.

You should be able to all you need is you Australian citizenship certificate, passport and your surrender certificate. Its Indian consulate that provides you OCI. No matter where you are you can still apply if you have proof of Indian origin or Indian passport surrender certificate.