TORONTO: OCI Card Holders Won’t Need Old Passports Now For India Travel

TORONTO: People of Indian-origin having
the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards are now not required to carry their
old, expired passports for travel to India, as required earlier, according to a
government notification that has been welcomed by members of the community.

The
Overseas Citizens of India or OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin
globally which gives them almost all the privileges of an Indian national
except for the right to vote, government service and buying agricultural land.
The OCI card gives them a visa free travel to India.

In a
March 26 press statement, the Indian missions in the US said that in order to
ease the travel of OCI card holders, it has been decided that the “time
line for re-issuance of OCI cards in r/o OCI card holders, who may be required
to get their OCI card reissued has been extended until 31 December, 2021.”

Further
“requirement of carrying old and new passports along with the OCI card has
been done away. Henceforth, the OCI card holders travelling on the strength of
their existing OCI card bearing old passport number are not required to carry
their old passport. However, carrying a new passport is mandatory.”

New
York-based social activist Prem Bhandari, who has been taking up the cause of
OCI card holders for the past several years, welcomed the announcement. He
expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External
Affairs and the Government of India for not only extending the renewal up to
December 31 this year but also for relaxing the guidelines and not requiring
OCI card holders to carry their old, expired foreign passports.

“The
OCI card holders can heave a sigh of relief worldwide,” with these new
guidelines, he said. He expressed thanks to Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla
for the new guidelines.

Mr
Bhandari said that he had seen first-hand the inconvenience caused to members
of the Indian community due to certain OCI card rules as they undertook travel
to India during the pandemic.

He said some
of the passengers were not allowed to board flights to India and were sent back
from airports as they were not carrying their old foreign passports, which was
required as per government rules.

The OCI
card, among other benefits, allows multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa
to an Indian-origin foreign national to visit India. Under the provisions of
the OCI card, which gives the cardholder lifelong visa to India, those below 20
years and above 50 years need to renew their OCI card every time they have
their passport renewed.

The
Indian government has relaxed the provisions since last year due to the
coronavirus pandemic. The timeline has been extended multiple times so far.
However, this is for the first time that the guidelines have been relaxed for
carrying old passports and the new passports along with the OCI cards for
overseas Indians.

In May
last year, the central government had allowed certain categories of OCI card
holders, who were stranded abroad, to come to the country. Earlier, according
to the regulations issued by the Indian government, visas of foreign nationals
and OCI cards were suspended as part of the new international travel
restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

OCI
cardholders were asked to carry their old passport with them to fly to India.
Now, under the new provisions, OCI cardholders are not required to carry their
old passports but will still need to carry their new passport.

Mr
Bhandari said that Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for OCI card holders to
carry old expired foreign passports had been in place since 2005 but till 2019,
it was not being thoroughly checked or applied.

Mr
Bhandari had previously also requested Indian authorities to initiate measures
such as granting emergency visas on departure to help Indian-origin families
travel to their homeland for health or other emergencies amid the COVID19
pandemic.

Bhandari,
Jaipur Foot USA Chairman, had said that late last year he had written to the
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, as well as the Civil Aviation
Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola and Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla outlining
some of the hardships faced by Indian-origin families in travelling to India
for emergency reasons and suggesting measures that can be taken to ensure smoother
travel for these families.

Bhandari
had suggested that holders of Indian passport/PIO/OCI card be allowed to travel
with their US-born minor children under the age of 14 with any unexpired visa
obtained anytime without applying for an emergency visa at consulates.

He added
that in case it is difficult to carry out these measures, authorities may
consider either granting Emergency Visa on Departure (E-VoD) or restoring
immediate e-Visa process for approval online.

Last
year, Bhandari had also requested extension of the date of renewal of OCI cards
till December 31, 2020 such that the Non-Resident Indian/Person of Indian
Origin community had enough time to understand the new requirement and renew
their OCI cards.

Bhandari
also expressed hope that the issue of tourist visas will also be resolved soon.
In October last year, the Indian government had decided to restore with
immediate effect the validity of all existing visas, except electronic, tourist
and medical category visas.