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India

Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. Not residence and not citizenship — a lifelong diaspora card for people of Indian origin and their spouses, with no retirement or investment visa as an alternative since India has neither.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 25, 2026

Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card

Lifelong, multiple-entry visa-free travel to India, and the right to live and work there without a separate permit, with parity to Non-Resident Indians in most economic, financial, and educational matters. It does not grant voting rights, government or constitutional posts, or agricultural or plantation land ownership, and it is not an Indian passport or citizenship.

Who qualifies

  • Foreign nationals who were Indian citizens on or after 26 January 1950 (or eligible to have been), or whose territory became part of India after 15 August 1947, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; also minor children of eligible persons, and spouses of Indian citizens or OCI holders after 2 years of continuous marriage. Under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, this is barred for anyone who is, or either of whose parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents is or was, a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh, or another country the government later specifies by gazette notice — an absolute bar that overrides any qualifying Indian ancestral line.
    OCI brochure
  • Documentary proof of the qualifying ancestral or marital link, filed online and submitted through an Indian mission abroad or the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in India.
    Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

1

It could fit.

Not residence and not citizenship — a lifelong diaspora card for people of Indian origin and their spouses, with no retirement or investment visa as an alternative since India has neither.

Every door that fits your family

Not legal advice.

2

What it takes.

Time
A few weeks to a few months once the ancestral or marital documentation is assembled and filed online.
Cost
₹15,000 if applying within India, or about $275 if applying abroad; document-gathering costs (birth and citizenship records) vary by case.
The hard part
Proving the ancestral link — locating and certifying a parent’s, grandparent’s, or great-grandparent’s Indian birth or citizenship record.
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Citizens by 2033.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

  1. 2027
    Permanent residence

    From the start, with nothing to renew.

  2. 2032
    Apply for citizenship

    With a language test.

  3. 2033
    Citizenship
Language
Adequate knowledge of one of the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and so on).
Time away
Living in India for the whole 12 months before applying (the government may allow up to 30 days' breaks), plus at least 11 years in total in the 14 years before that.
Two passports
Usually not: new citizens are asked to give up their other citizenship.
  • A lifelong registration, not a time-limited permit and not citizenship; after five years as a cardholder and twelve months living in India you can register as a citizen, but only by giving up your other passport.
  • India has no permanent residence for foreigners in general; the OCI card is the lifelong status for people of Indian origin and spouses, and it is not citizenship.
  • Section 9 ends Indian citizenship for anyone who voluntarily takes another, so new citizens must give up their old one; the Third Schedule's own renunciation clause is elided in the published text.
  • No official decision time found.
  • How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.
  • This country asks new citizens to give up their other citizenship.
The law behind these dates
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Living there.

Time you must spend there
The program sets no minimum number of days. Renewal still expects it to be your home.
Tax
OCI status alone does not create Indian tax residency; that depends separately on days spent in India each year under Indian income-tax rules.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

5

Start today.

  1. Apply for an OCI card through India’s online OCI services.Open ociservices.gov.in ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • The papers that prove the family tie
6

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

6 steps, from the first paper to the card. You do 1 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
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ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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