CONSIDERRING RETURNING TO INDIA FOR RETIRED LIFE – OCI STATUS MAY BE YOUR BEST CHOICE Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law, Dallas If you are considering returning to India to lead a retired life, OCI status in India would be a much better option for you if you and your spouse are U. S citizens. There are so many advantages in obtaining the OCI status including increased interest rates for deposits in Indian banks including nationalized banks. Both State Bank of India and its subsidiary banks and other nationalized banks offer interest rates up to 9% for NRE deposits. You can open an NRE deposit with any bank in India if you are an OCI status holder. The good thing is that the deposits are repatriable and both the deposits and interest are
not subject to Indian income tax. The only thing you need to do is file a report with the IRS every year before June 30th informing about your foreign account with deposits over $10,000. You income outside United States are also exempt from U. S taxes up to $80,000 per year. In short, an OCI card holder has all benefits like an Indian citizen except couple of things like 1) OCI card holder cannot contest in both State and Central elections, 2) OCI cardholder cannot vote in State or Central elections, 2) OCI card holder cannot obtain government jobs, 3) OCI car holder cannot own large agricultural plantations.
The OCI Scheme provides for registration as Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) of all persons of Indian origin who were citizens of India on 26th January, 1950 or thereafter or were eligible to become citizens of India on 26th January, 1950, except, who is or had been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or such other country as the Government of India may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify. OCI status should not to be misconstrued as ‘Dual Citizenship’. Neither India nor U. S. A do not recognize dual citizenship status for its citizens. OCI status does not confer political rights, which means they are not allowed to run for elections both in State or Central and not even allowed to vote in any elections. The registered Overseas Citizens of India shall not be entitled to the rights conferred on a citizen of India under article 16 of the Constitution with regard to equality of opportunity in matters of public employment, which means they are not allowed to apply for jobs both in State and Central governments. Once the OCI status is granted, the OCI documents consist of OCI Registration Booklet and a Universal 'U' visa sticker on your U. S. passport. It is mandatory for registered OCIs to carry their passports containing 'U' visa and the OCI registration Booklet for entry into/exit from India. Please note that OCI registration booklet and visa are to be reissued each time a new passport is issued to the applicant till he/she attains the age of 20 years and also once after completion of 50 years of age of the OCI cardholder. For an applicant who is 21 49 years of age, there is no need to reissue
OCI registration certificate and visa each time a new passport is issued. Please note that while such an OCI cardholder can request that OCI registration certificate and visa be reissued so that OCI documents reflect their current passport number, it is also sufficient if the cardholder carries his OCI registration certificate, old passport carrying the 'U' visa and the current valid Passport while travelling to India. A registered Overseas Citizen of India is granted multiple entry, multipurpose, lifelong visa for visiting India and he/she is exempted from registration with Foreign Regional Registration Officer or Foreign Registration Officer for any length of stay in India, and is entitled to general ‘parity with Non-Resident Indians in respect of all facilities available to them in economic, financial and educational fields except in matters relating to the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties’. Specific benefits/parity is notified by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs from time to time. The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has issued notifications granting registered OCIs further benefits as under: 1. Parity with Non-Resident Indians in the matter of inter-country adoption of Indian children; 2. Parity with resident Indian nationals in matters of tariffs in domestic air fares; 3. Parity with domestic Indian visitors in respect of entry fee for visiting national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India;
4. Parity with non-resident Indians in respect of: ◦ Entry fees for visiting the national monuments, historical sites and museums in India; ◦Practicing the following professions in India, in pursuance of the provisions contained in the relevant Acts, namely; ◾Doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists; ◾Advocates;
◾Architects; and ◾Chartered Accountants; and 5. Entitlement to appear for the All India Pre-Medical Test or such other tests to make them eligible for admission in pursuance of the provisions contained in the relevant Acts. If any person, seeking to apply for OCI registration or OCI Miscellaneous service, had ever held an Indian Passport, he/she must also simultaneously apply for/or submit a copy either of the following :-
1. Surrender of Indian citizenship certificate, or 2. Deemed Surrender of Indian citizenship certificate, or 3. Renunciation Declaration of Indian citizenship For detailed information in this regard, please visit Renunciation of Indian Citizenship and for other details at the Indian Embassy web site at https://passport.gov.in/oci/ The OCI card and all other visa services have been outsourced to BLS International Ltd., by the government of India since July 1, 2013. They have offices in selected cities in United States, who will help you to apply for OCI card at a very nominal fee. For detailed guidelines on submitting the application, required documentation, fee etc., please go to the following link: http://www.blsindia-usa.com/ Please also visit http://www.cgihouston.org for more updated information. They have both phone numbers and e-mail address which will be answered promptly according to their web site.
Disclaimer: Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law, with more than 36 (about 21 years in U. S. Immigration Laws) years of experience as an Attorney, mainly practices in U. S. immigration law and is located in Dallas, Texas. He does not claim authorship for above referenced information since it is obtained from several sources including USCIS web site, AILA and other internet based legal sources, and published for the benefit of the general public. Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law or the publisher is not responsible or liable for anything stated above, since it is generalized information about the subject matter collected from various legal sources. For individual cases and specific questions you are advised to consult any attorney of your choice or contact your State Bar Organizations or local Bar Associations or American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA) for finding an attorney or for any legal help. You can visit our website at: www.indiaimmigrationusa.com or www.indiaimmigrationusa.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/groups/usattorney for information about U. S. immigration law related matters. Lal Varghese, Attorney at Law can be reached at (972) 788-0777 or at his e-mail: attylal@aol.com if you have any questions.