+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

OCI process

ironhead

Full Member
Jun 8, 2023
28
10
Folks! Sorry if this has been asked before! Can i surrender my India passport and apply for OCI while being in India? I have an e-visa now! Thanks a lot!
 

kurtrules

Star Member
May 6, 2016
122
33
Another issue that I did not face with my younger daughter's OCI that was born here in Canada is the discrepancy between the Place/State/Country of birth on the Indian passport vs only the Place/Country of birth on the Canadian passport. E.g I am born in Delhi. On the Indian passport, it is mentioned "Delhi, Delhi" and on the Canadian passport it is mentioned "Delhi, IND".

On the completed form the name comes out to be "Delhi, Delhi, India".

There is no way to fix this discrepancy because the OCI form explicitly asks for both state & place and the Canadian passport only mentions Place.

Another e.g. - my daughter is born in Gurgaon, Haryana. On the completed form PDF it comes out as "Gurgaon, Haryana, India" vs Canadian passport "Gurgaon, IND"

Talk about pain in the a**!

I did read about your Delhi vs New Delhi concern @abbas.pasha Glad that it did not matter at the counter even though you were prepared with an affidavit.
 
Last edited:

kurtrules

Star Member
May 6, 2016
122
33
Folks! Sorry if this has been asked before! Can i surrender my India passport and apply for OCI while being in India? I have an e-visa now! Thanks a lot!
You can't apply for surrender and OCI at the same time. You need the surrender cert/cancelled passports back to apply for OCI, and that will be delivered to a Canadian address.
 

shiremag

Champion Member
Jun 14, 2022
1,328
895
Folks! Sorry if this has been asked before! Can i surrender my India passport and apply for OCI while being in India? I have an e-visa now! Thanks a lot!
You can NOT change your status or extend your stay while you are in India on an e-visa. You are allowed to apply for OCI in India only if you are ordinarily resident of India (6 months of residence on a proper visa e.g. entry visa). Also you need to surrender your passport before you apply for OCI as posted above. Your best bet is to return to your ordinary place of residence, surrender your passport first (2-5 weeks), and then apply for OCI (2-3 months). Timelines are dependent on location where you apply in Canada.

If you wish to relocate to India sooner, apply for surrender certificate first and apply for entry visa. You may be able to apply for both concurrently - check with BLS. On an entry visa, once you enter India, register at FRRO for more than 180 day stay and once you establish residency, you can apply for OCI within India and change your status to indefinitely remain in India
 
Last edited:

swar12894

Star Member
Aug 8, 2014
67
41
Has anyone done seprate pickup + seprate drop off for postal applications?

Combined pick up and drop off also charges additional $30 for original drop off which doesn't appeared to be required for Toronto.
I ended up calling BLS and they generated pick and drop off lable and sent me link and then I paid. Saved $30 for original drop off charges.
 

rohit007

Newbie
Aug 26, 2023
3
0
We applied for OCI walk-in last week. Status for me and my wife showing incomplete/incorrect data, for kids this its showing processing at consulate general. Not sure as it does not provide much information. Do I need to call the BLS call center to find the issue / re-submit the application again? Anyone had this experiance? Thanks!
 

Meetamera naam

Full Member
Aug 16, 2023
40
20
We applied for OCI walk-in last week. Status for me and my wife showing incomplete/incorrect data, for kids this its showing processing at consulate general. Not sure as it does not provide much information. Do I need to call the BLS call center to find the issue / re-submit the application again? Anyone had this experiance? Thanks!
When i applied the oci for the first time of my minor child it got rejected because some signatures were missing and got the email as well. Maybe in your case if they are returning your application you will get the email. I called them as well and they told me the same thing. So you can try to call them
 

abbas.pasha

VIP Member
Sep 17, 2016
3,607
2,024
We applied for OCI walk-in last week. Status for me and my wife showing incomplete/incorrect data, for kids this its showing processing at consulate general. Not sure as it does not provide much information. Do I need to call the BLS call center to find the issue / re-submit the application again? Anyone had this experiance? Thanks!
Did you check the status on the OCI website ?
https://ociservices.gov.in/statusEnqury
 

rohit007

Newbie
Aug 26, 2023
3
0
When i applied the oci for the first time of my minor child it got rejected because some signatures were missing and got the email as well. Maybe in your case if they are returning your application you will get the email. I called them as well and they told me the same thing. So you can try to call them
Thanks! Did you have to re-submit new application with draft and everything with pictures?
 
Last edited: