Consulate General of India

Dubai

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

1. In the year 2005, Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) to Persons of Indian Origin (PIO). PIOs of certain categories who migrated from India and acquired citizenship of a foreign country other than Pakistan and Bangladesh, are eligible for grant of OCI as long as their home countries allow for dual citizenship in some form or the other under their local laws.

2. Persons registered as OCI have not been given any voting rights, they cannot contest election to Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/Legislative Assembly/Council, hold Constitutional posts such as that of President, Vice President, Judge of Supreme Court/High Court etc.

3. Registered OCI shall be entitled to following benefits:

• Multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to visit India;
• Exemption from reporting to Police authorities for any length of stay in India; and
• Parity with NRIs in financial, economic and educational fields except in the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
• Any further benefits to OCIs will be notified by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) under section 7B (I) of the Citizenship Act 1955.
• OCI card can be used as a document for identification for any services rendered in India. OCI card holders can submit an affidavit attested by a notary public stating that a particular/specific address may treated as their place of residence in India and may also give their overseas residential address as well as e-mail address if any.
  
  4. A person registered as OCI is eligible to apply for grant of Indian citizenship under section 5(1) (g) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 if he/she is registered as OCI for five years and has been residing in India for one year out of the five years before making the application.

Application Procedure

5. The application form for OCI is available online and online registration may be done by logging on to website: https://ociservices.gov.in . After online submission of application form and uploading of photograph & relevant documents, no changes can be made manually. In case of any error / changes, please fill a fresh new online application form. The detailed process related to uploading of photographs and documents can be enquired by sending email to visa2.dubai@mea.gov.in.

6. Fee for Registration as OCI will be AED 1020/-. However, fee for conversion of valid PIO card to OCI is AED 370/-. An additional amount of AED 12/- is charged per application as ICWF.

After Registration:

• The applicant needs to take printouts of Part A and Part B. The photograph to be uploaded on the portal should be of 51mm x 51mm size without border and with light color background (Not White). Photographs that do not conform to these standards will be rejected and may cause a delay in processing the application. Applicants can come with all documents in original and copies and form at the allotted time to get the documents verified to CGI, Dubai (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Consulate+General+of+India/@25.2542736,55.305957,17z/data=!3m1
  !4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3e5f432e6036a207:0xaf7d312b32c5804d!8m2!3d25.2542123!4d55.3082525).Fees can also be deposited along with documents.

• In case the applicant is minor, father and mother should accompany the child. All relevant documents should be provided along with the application. Original passport and receipt is mandatory to collect the card.
• All visits to the Consulate in connection with submission of OCI application or receipt of OCI card should be made after seeking appointment by sending us email on visa2.dubai@mea.gov.in

• Indian passport/ travel document of the applicant or either of his/her parents or grandparents. Please remember that in case applicant was holding an Indian passport prior to his/her foreign citizenship, you will have to renounce the Indian citizenship by filling online form at https://www.indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in. For detailed process related to surrender of Indian passport, please visit our website or write to visa2.dubai@mea.gov.in.
• If the applicant is applying on the basis of his/her parents being Indian citizen, the ‘date of birth’ (DOB) certificate should invariably be one attested by the concerned authority. This concerned authority in India will include the home department of the concerned State as well as the Ministry of External Affairs of India at New Delhi. For DOB certificates issued from other countries, these should be Apostilled by the Foreign Ministry of the concerned country and should submit this document in original after its attestation. Please note that any document attested only by a Notary will not be accepted. Some other documents which can prove residence/ nationality as an Indian include revenue records/ domicile certificates/ school/college leaving certificates etc. However, these will be considered only as supplementary proof of Indian origin of an applicant. Also, these should be attested by competent authorities as mentioned above.
• If the applicant was holding Indian passport he/she must bring the original passport after getting it cancelled. If the passport was surrendered, the original surrender certificate should be produced at the time of interview.
• Granting OCI card to spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder may take some time pending clearances. The marriage should have been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application. Apostilled Marriage Certificate and Birth Certificate has to be produced in original after uploading the same on the portal along with declaration from Indian spouse or OCI cardholder spouse. For OCI card holder spouse, he/ she will have to furnish original documents on the basis of which he/ she was granted OCI.
• In case of minors (below six years) the thumb impression of the child should be placed in the given signature box. Parents should not sign in the box meant for their children/ applicant. However they have to sign in Part-II of OCI application in parent’s column.
• An applicant may claim to be a person of Indian origin on the basis of a Nativity certificate issued from village officer /patwari of the place to which his parents belonged and should submit this document in original after its attestation by the First Class Magistrate of that place. Entries made in the foreign passports or foreign origin documents are not accepted as proof of Indian origin.
• Resident Visa page of the applicant and spouse’s passport copy is also mandatory even if spouse is not applying, as it is required for records’ sake.
• All documents should be self-attested by the applicant. In case of a minor applicant, the parents should attest the documents.
• Please remember that all the documents being produced at the time of interview should be in original. The required documents listed above are indicative in nature and an attempt has been made to cover majority of the cases. However, the Consular Officer may ask for additional documents after examining the application.
• In case of any queries, please mail us at visa2.dubai@mea.gov.in.

• In case of change of personal particulars viz. marital status, name, father's name, date of birth, nationality etc. (Fee: AED 112/- including ICWF)
• In case of loss/damage of OCI registration certificate/visa (Fee: AED 382/- including ICWF)

• Copy of passport and UAE Resident Visa is to be furnished along with the application.
• Original OCI registration certificate and a copy of the same.
• In case of loss of OCI Card, copy of the complaint lodged with Police authorities (to be legally translated in English and attested) and copy of OCI to be enclosed.
• In case of change of personal particulars e.g. marital status, wrong filling of particulars by the applicant, attested document (s) relevant for affecting the requisite changes viz. Attested Marriage Certificate in case of change of marital status etc. to be enclosed.