Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)

sichumon · Post by **sichumon** » Fri Dec 24, 2010 10:59 am

ubmitted personaly on 10/12/10
acknowledged 10/12/10
scanned 13/12/10
granted 13/12/10
printed 15/12/10
dispatched : 21/12/10
arrived at london: 24/12/10

14 days !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

krazydude · Post by **krazydude** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:47 pm

I think HCI and the processing departments in India might have gotten their act together in the month of December, coz they really rolled out some quick OCI's

Here is mine, its a bit more than one month

Date Of Acknowledgment 12-NOV-2010
Photo/Signature Scanned On 07-DEC-2010
Registration Status Granted On 07-DEC-2010
Documents Printed On 14-DEC-2010
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on 20-DEC-2010
Documents Received at LONDON On 23-DEC-2010

rg1 · Post by **rg1** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 9:16 pm

Can someone confirm how fussy HCI about photo size?

Can I use same photo which I used for my British Passport? It is slightly smaller than 51x51 mm.

RAJ2007 · Post by **RAJ2007** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:48 pm

rg1,

They will not accept anysize other than 51 x 51. British PP photo is 45 x 35- is not acceptable. If you do not want to waste your time and money, then do 51 x 51 photo. Snappy Snap do it- I think 4 for Â£15. I have personally seen many people been refused at HCI counter.

krazydude · Post by **krazydude** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 10:36 am

I went yesterday to collect my OCI.

Reached HCI London at 10am in the morning and stood in line for 1.5 hrs as the queue was quite long.

Submitted my UK passport and print out of the OCI status page and got a token from the counter outside.

Came back in the afternoon at 3.30 pm and queued up for 30 mins. I was lucky that my token number was announced quickly inside HCI; so was in there for about 15 mins or so. Mind you, there is no order/system of handing out OCI's there and looks more like a mad rush at Boxing Day Sales.

rg1 · Post by **rg1** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:18 pm

Fortunately I went with 51x51 mm photos and glad I did it. I also saw many people were turned away because of wrong photo size!

I didn't have to go to Snappy Snap. A local photo studio did 4 photos for Â£10 only.

raj2529 · Post by **raj2529** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:11 am

Hi Guys

Thanks to everyone for the informative posts. I have two questions...

Question 1)

I am a south indian so I do not have a surname.

Therefore, my Indian passport only has 'given names' which has my name followed by my fathers name.

However in my british passport, my father's name appears as my surname and my name appears under given names.

Will this create an issue during OCI application?

Question 2)

Should the Indian passport be surrendered before the OCI application submission or can it be surrendered on the day of submitting the form in London?

Thanks in advance
Raj

krazydude · Post by **krazydude** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:00 pm

Cannot comment about Ques 1. It should not be a problem coz OCI should basically follow whatever you had on your Indian Passport, although since that is no longer valid, you British Passport does take precedence and that is where things might get a bit complicated.

Best is to ask at the VFS counter when you go to surrender your passport.

Question 2

Process is -

Goto the nearest VFS, surrender your passport, get the surrender certificate, take surrender certificate along with other documents to HCI to apply for OCI. (you can do a postal application too, but you still need surrender certificate for that)

mallikz · Post by **mallikz** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:59 am

krazydude wrote:I think HCI and the processing departments in India might have gotten their act together in the month of December, coz they really rolled out some quick OCI's

Here is mine, its a bit more than one month

Date Of Acknowledgment 12-NOV-2010
Photo/Signature Scanned On 07-DEC-2010
Registration Status Granted On 07-DEC-2010
Documents Printed On 14-DEC-2010
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on 20-DEC-2010
Documents Received at LONDON On 23-DEC-2010

Date of Submission 10-Jan-201
Date Of Acknowledgment 10-Jan-2011
Photo/Signature Scanned On 10-Jan-2011
Registration Status Granted On 11-Jan-2011
Documents Printed On 12-Jan-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on 14-Jan-2011
Documents Received at LONDON On 19-Jan-2011

Total 9 days... So quick

rg1 · Post by **rg1** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:01 pm

My OCI was approved within 14 days!

But collection in HCI London was bit of an experience. There was no proper system, everyone jostle in front of counter, if you are not careful, there is good chance of passports being mixed up with someone else's!

kchakravarthi · Post by **kchakravarthi** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:46 am

Date Of Acknowledgment 04-FEB-2011
Application Status
Photo/Signature Scanned On 07-FEB-2011
Registration Status Granted On 07-FEB-2011
Documents Printing Status PRINTED
Documents Printed On 08-FEB-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on 11-FEB-2011
Documents Received at LONDON On 14-FEB-2011

My OCI is done in 10 days...Looks like the indian high commission is making things better n fast!

kumi · Post by **kumi** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:13 pm

It is time for me to apply for OCI., and spent quite a lot of time on the internet understanding how to apply for it. I have the following doubts, may be very trivial, but, they are bugging me.

1. I am going to apply for me and my 2 year old daughter., can I get one postal order for 330 quid or two separate ones for 165 each ?

2. When they say two sets of application, do they mean for each applicant or each family ? ie, do I need 4 sets or just 2.

I am planning to take the postal route.

modasu · Post by **modasu** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:44 am

I made an OCI application for me and my father in Birmingham, in person, on 25th January.
The thing is, I changed my surname, and my dad has also changed his first name (don't ask!) so the woman at the counter got a little confused and said my father might need an interview. (It's all genuine though and there's reasons for the name changes). I provided the Deed Polls to prove it. Has anyone else been through this?

My status is:

Date Of Acknowledgment 07-FEB-2011
Application Status
Photo/Signature Scanned On 17-FEB-2011
Registration Status UnderProcess
Documents Printing Status NOT PRINTED
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on NOT DISPATCHED
Documents Received at BIRMINGHAM NOT YET

modasu · Post by **modasu** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:47 am

kumi wrote:It is time for me to apply for OCI., and spent quite a lot of time on the internet understanding how to apply for it. I have the following doubts, may be very trivial, but, they are bugging me.

1. I am going to apply for me and my 2 year old daughter., can I get one postal order for 330 quid or two separate ones for 165 each ?

2. When they say two sets of application, do they mean for each applicant or each family ? ie, do I need 4 sets or just 2.

I am planning to take the postal route.

1. If your applying in person at the Consulate, then you can pay by cash. If your doing it by post, I don't see why you can't have one Postal Order for Â£330, as long as you have both applications sent in one SDE.

2. For each applicant, since one is kept in the Consulate and one sent to Delhi.

yatri09 · Post by **yatri09** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:44 pm

Hello, I am applying OCI for my son. I wonder anyone has latest info on how many photos are required pasted in the application form at HCI London. Is it 4 or 2 photos?
thanks

modasu wrote:
kumi wrote:It is time for me to apply for OCI., and spent quite a lot of time on the internet understanding how to apply for it. I have the following doubts, may be very trivial, but, they are bugging me.

1. I am going to apply for me and my 2 year old daughter., can I get one postal order for 330 quid or two separate ones for 165 each ?

2. When they say two sets of application, do they mean for each applicant or each family ? ie, do I need 4 sets or just 2.

I am planning to take the postal route.
1. If your applying in person at the Consulate, then you can pay by cash. If your doing it by post, I don't see why you can't have one Postal Order for Â£330, as long as you have both applications sent in one SDE.

2. For each applicant, since one is kept in the Consulate and one sent to Delhi.

gg234 · Post by **gg234** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:50 am

You have to prepare two sets of OCI forms and you need to paste one photo on each so 2 is enough

yatri09 wrote:Hello, I am applying OCI for my son. I wonder anyone has latest info on how many photos are required pasted in the application form at HCI London. Is it 4 or 2 photos?
thanks

modasu wrote:
kumi wrote:It is time for me to apply for OCI., and spent quite a lot of time on the internet understanding how to apply for it. I have the following doubts, may be very trivial, but, they are bugging me.

1. I am going to apply for me and my 2 year old daughter., can I get one postal order for 330 quid or two separate ones for 165 each ?

2. When they say two sets of application, do they mean for each applicant or each family ? ie, do I need 4 sets or just 2.

I am planning to take the postal route.
1. If your applying in person at the Consulate, then you can pay by cash. If your doing it by post, I don't see why you can't have one Postal Order for Â£330, as long as you have both applications sent in one SDE.

2. For each applicant, since one is kept in the Consulate and one sent to Delhi.

gorajim · Post by **gorajim** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:29 pm

My two pennies:

Ever grateful for the wonderful knowledge, resources and suggestions I received from these forums. I believe there is more talent in these forums than 80% of the immigration agencies put together (another form of Pareto's 80-20!!).

The following are my OCI timelines:

Date of Acknowledgement: 10 Mar 2010 (submitted in person).
Photo/Signature scanned: 11 Mar 2010
Registration Status: Granted: 11 Mar 2010
Documents Printing Status: Not Printed
Documents Dispatched: Not Dispatched
Docs Received at London: Not Yet

I'll update again when I receive the card.

Thanks all.

Jim.

raman999 · Post by **raman999** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:15 pm

Dear all,

I have applied for myself and my son (one year old). OCI status as below.

Application Sent by Post SDE: 07-MAR-2011
Date Of Acknowledgment 09-MAR-2011
Photo/Signature Scanned On 09-MAR-2011
Registration Status Granted On 10-MAR-2011
Documnets Printing Status: Printed
Documents Printed On 11-MAR-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on 17-Mar-2011
Documents Received at LONDON On NOT YET

I will keep post the updates. Thanks for the help.

Regards,
Raman

kumi · Post by **kumi** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:50 pm

Same here, but applied on 22nd Feb 2011, still havent received an acknowledgement from HCI london. It does say on the website that it can take upto 20-30 days for postal applications.

kumi · Post by **kumi** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:22 pm

Right, it so happens, I have been holding onto the wrong reference number and searching for it everyday. I used https://passport.gov.in/oci/OnlineOCIenquiryFileNo.jsp
to get the correct one.. and I have been granted OCI , and it has reached London on 7th march !!!! off I go to london !

modasu · Post by **modasu** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:00 am

My OCI application situation is:

Date Of Acknowledgment 07-FEB-2011
Application Status
Photo/Signature Scanned On 17-FEB-2011
Registration Status Granted On 16-MAR-2011
Documents Printing Status PRINTED
Documents Printed On 18-MAR-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on NOT DISPATCHED
Documents Received at BIRMINGHAM NOT YET

I am planning on just posting an SDE to the consulate in Birmingham with the following:

Print-out of the OCI enquiry form (when it has arrived in Birmingham) and my British passport, and another SDE for them to send it back. I don't see why it should be a problem. Maybe include a cover letter just to explain.

gorajim · Post by **gorajim** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 7:53 pm

My final timelines:

Date of Acknowledgement: 10 Mar 2011 (in person).
Photo/Signature scanned: 11 Mar 2011
Registration Status: Granted: 11 Mar 2011
Documents Printing Status: 15 Mar 2011
Documents Dispatched: 23 Mar 2011
Docs Received at London: 24 Mar 2011
OCI Received: 25 Mar 2011 (in person)

A couple of observations:

1. The Indian High Commission has cleaned up the act with OCIs, these being handed out within weeks, if not days. So that is a positive sign.

2. Unless absolutely impossible, collect the OCI in person - one only has to queue up at the counter in the morning to submit the docs (no need to go into the embassy for this - you submit the passport(s) and OCI status printout(s) at the window itself) and ofcourse collect these at the OCI counter inside at the designated time in the evening (HCI London). The collection is a mess with numbers being called at random - luckily for me, I had to wait just about 10 mins.

Thanks again for all the valuable inputs at every stage. Any queries, don't hesitate to ask me through this forum or a private message. I'll be most happy to reply as best as I can.

All the best to future applicants. Cheers.

Jim.

modasu · Post by **modasu** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:15 pm

gorajim wrote: 1. The Indian High Commission has cleaned up the act with OCIs, these being handed out within weeks, if not days. So that is a positive sign.

With London maybe, but with Birmingham it takes ages (in my experience, as well as looking at others in this forum.

My dad has just got back from India, he had to get a six-month visa because his OCI hadn't been done. It's a shame, I think if we applied in London he could've travelled on his OCI.

Is it possible to apply in London even if you are not from around there? Or do you have to stick to your respective embassies according to where you live?

modasu · Post by **modasu** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:32 pm

Finally, my OCI timeline is as follows: (longer than most others!)

Applied in Person on 25-JAN-2011
Date Of Acknowledgment 07-FEB-2011
Application Status
Photo/Signature Scanned On 17-FEB-2011
Registration Status Granted On 16-MAR-2011
Documents Printing Status PRINTED
Documents Printed On 18-MAR-2011
Documents Dispatched to Concerned Mission/Office on 25-MAR-2011
Documents Received at BIRMINGHAM On 30-MAR-2011

I sent my passports today to Birmingham by Special Delivery. Lets hope they don't take their time in sending the documents back!

santunup · Post by **santunup** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:07 pm

Hi Guys,

Is anyone experiencing delay in OCI printing recently? My application was scanned and acknowledged on 21st March 2011 and Granted on 22nd March. But there has been NO status update since then. It is still showing as NOT PRINTED.
My photo was as per the spec (51 * 51) and I have used the same for Indian VISA last month.

Can anyone share any similar experience recently.

Thanks,
Shan

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