Blogs Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you can apply for an OCI or PIO card online. However, you cannot apply for PIO cards since the scheme is discontinued by the Indian government and merged with the OCI card, so you can only apply for the OCI card. To do so, you can use the Indian government OCI services website. Through this, you can fill out the application form, submit the required documents, pay the applicable fee online, and book an appointment with the Indian consulate or embassy for your biometrics data and physical submission of the application.

PIO and OCI cardholders do not have permission to vote in Indian elections, they cannot purchase any plantation property, and hold government jobs. In addition, they need permission to visit restricted and preserved areas. Also, do not participate in Indian elections or hold any constitutional positions.

No, you do not need a visa to enter India if you hold an OCI card. A valid passport and an OCI card is requisite.

Whether an OCI or NRI is better depends completely on your needs and situation.

No, you are not allowed to apply for an OCI while on an e-visa in India. You can't apply for a visa while on a tourist visa, missionary visa, or mountaineering visa.

Yes, you can live permanently in India with an OCI card. It acts like a lifelong visa and the cardholder can visit the country at any time for any duration of stay.

The OCI miscellaneous services in Australia take around 3-6 weeks for re-issuing or applying for a duplicate OCI card, and when applying for a fresh OCI card, it takes around 6-8 weeks.

OCI miscellaneous services cater to the needs of registered OCI cardholders who want to re-issue duplicate OCI documents due to loss/damage or who need to update their information, including passport details, address, occupation, and contact details.

To fill the OCI miscellaneous form, you need to visit the website for OCI services and select the “OCI Miscellaneous Services” option. After that, you have to enter some required details and upload all the documents required as per your applied miscellaneous services and submit it.

The OCI miscellaneous service takes around 35-40 days for processing and recording updates after acknowledging your application. Once your updates are made, you will get an automated email confirming the updates to your OCI records.

The cost to apply for a new OCI card in Australia is AUD 414, while applying for reissuing due to loss or damage costs AUD 151, and reissuing when applying for a new passport or updates in particular costs AUD 38.

The documents required for OCI miscellaneous services are a completed online application form, a recent passport-sized photograph, a copy of your current passport and OCI card, and any other documents based on your situation and specific request, such as a birth certificate to apply for OCI miscellaneous services for minors.

In Toronto, Canada, first, you need to submit your online OCI application on the OCI portal of the Indian Government and then print out the same application form along with the required documents to the BLS International Services Canada Inc. center. With this, on your behalf, Visament can do all these things, you just need to visit the center for biometrics and submit the documents physically.

In the context of an OCI application, the “National Identification Number” is a unique number given to you by your country of citizenship. For example, in Canada, this number is known as the Social Insurance Number. In the OCI application, this number helps in verifying the citizenship and identity of a person.

To upload your signature in your OCI application, first sign on a white blank paper, then scan your handwritten signature and save it as a JPG or JPEG image. After that on the designated section of your OCI application form, upload the image. Make sure that the image is as per the file size requirements and specified dimensions.

The process of applying for OCI application for minors is the same as other OCI services at Visament. First, you need to visit our official site, select the OCI application for minors service, and make the payment. After that as per the document checklist, arrange all the documents and upload them on our site for verification. In the case of minors instead of their signature, you need to upload their thumb impression. Once our experts get the documents they will cross-verify it and then start the OCI application process. Depending on the age of the child our experts will book the appointment as children who are above 7 years old need to go for biometrics. Within the given processing time you will receive your child’s OCI card.

For an OCI application, you generally need two passport-size, color photographs with a light-colored plain background. The photograph should be clear, sharp, and of good quality. In addition, the size of it should be 2 inches x 2 inches or 51mm x 51mm.

To track your OCI application visit the official site of OCI services, then on the homepage look for the “Status Enquiry” option and click on it. After that, as per the asked information, mention the details such as your DOB, ARN, and passport number. Complete the CAPTCHA and click on the “Get Status” option. The current status of your OCI application will appear on the screen. With this, you can also use the application tracking tool of Visament. It is available on our site and provides you with accurate details.

If you submitted your OCI application you cannot correct it online. You need to re-apply for the OCI card as after the submission of the application the option of editing is not available.

Visit the OCI service portal, first complete your OCI application, and after that upload your passport-size colored photograph and signature. Then, as per your OCI application type, upload all the supporting documents in the PDF format. Note that the size of them should be as per the file size requirement.