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: attylal@aol.com if you have any questions.