How do I travel to India

[1sppandey]

Hello,

I know there are some posts regarding this issue but I have not been able to gain a clear understanding thus posting this. Hopefully some experienced member who might have gone through it would help..!!

What is the best way to travel to India after getting british passport. OCI takes some time to get and in the mean time if I need to travel to india what should I do..?

1) Is it possible to apply for a indian tourist visa on the british passport and once I get it...then submit OCI application and then travel to india.

2) Someone suggested to me that once I get my british Passport then to surrender my Indian Passport and immediately apply for Indian tourist Visa on my British passport....later when I know I dont have any emergency travel plans to India, I can then apply for OCI.

Pls Advice..and thanks in advance

[ban.s]

Ideally, as soon as you receive your BP, then surrender your Indian passport and apply for OCI

Indian passport surrender will take 1-3 weeks
OCI will take 6-8 weeks

If you need to travel to India and can’t wait for OCI, then AFTER surrender of Indian passport apply for an Indian visa. You can submit an OCI application in parallel.

If you need to travel to India urgently and can’t even wait for passport surrender and visa approval, then travel with your Indian passport. If your travel dates are within 3 months from naturalisation then no problem, else you need to pay a penalty during surrender of your passport.

[1sppandey]

Ideally, as soon as you receive your BP, then surrender your Indian passport and apply for OCI

Indian passport surrender will take 1-3 weeks
OCI will take 6-8 weeks

If you need to travel to India and can’t wait for OCI, then AFTER surrender of Indian passport apply for an Indian visa. You can submit an OCI application in parallel.

If you need to travel to India urgently and can’t even wait for passport surrender and visa approval, then travel with your Indian passport. If your travel dates are within 3 months from naturalisation then no problem, else you need to pay a penalty during surrender of your passport.

Thanks boss
I didnt know that I could apply for Indian Tourist visa and also apply for OCI along with it...I was under the impression that I need to send my British passport along with OCI application as I have seen a friends BP which has a India Visa type of sticker along with OCI..which means I do need to send my BP to Indian HC at some point to enable them to put that sticker on my BP.??

[ban.s]

Tourist visa and OCI are completely separately applications. Moreover, you don't need to submit your BP whilist OCI gets processed.

You need to submit photocopies of passport during OCI application. HCI will verify the original and return back to your immediately (assuming in person application) - after 6-8 weeks - once your OCI is approved and ready for collection, then you need to submit your passport (for U visa stamping) in the morning and collect in the afternoon.

[1sppandey]

Tourist visa and OCI are completely separately applications. Moreover, you don't need to submit your BP whilist OCI gets processed.

You need to submit photocopies of passport during OCI application. HCI will verify the original and return back to your immediately (assuming in person application) - after 6-8 weeks - once your OCI is approved and ready for collection, then you need to submit your passport (for U visa stamping) in the morning and collect in the afternoon.

Okie..!! thanks for that info..you sir are a star...keep up the good work..!!

[Ctzn2013]

Ideally, as soon as you receive your BP, then surrender your Indian passport and apply for OCI

Indian passport surrender will take 1-3 weeks
OCI will take 6-8 weeks

If you need to travel to India and can’t wait for OCI, then AFTER surrender of Indian passport apply for an Indian visa. You can submit an OCI application in parallel.

If you need to travel to India urgently and can’t even wait for passport surrender and visa approval, then travel with your Indian passport. If your travel dates are within 3 months from naturalisation then no problem, else you need to pay a penalty during surrender of your passport.

Has anyone gone through the 'Indian Passport Surrender' process recently? I am planning to surrender mine in the next couple of weeks. Wanted to get a rough idea of timelines. Also OCI application timelines if someone can advise. Thanks!

Update: Just found the right posts on the forum, thanks.

[Mauser1905]

OP:

Ideally the 6-8 weeks mentioned by other member maybe at particular location, if you located elsewhere in the UK other than London area then the timeline vary drastically, e.g. currently in Scotland its 6 months timeline for OCI, so visit visa in advance makes sense in such case.

Good luck.

[rossidavid]

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