ammu28 wrote:Hello
We recently acquired BC and received our British passports. I have Indian passport and husband Nepal passport. I will have surrender my passport in order to apply OCI. My question is can I apply OCI for my husband. We were married in INDIA.
Is it too late to apply for OCI for travel on 16th April??
Any advice please.
Most of us have submitted the application in-person at VFS for surrender of INDIAN passport.
The process is quite streamlined and stress-free. It took about 3 days and I decided to have 2 trips one for application and one to receive my passport(cancelled) back.
Since you were holding an INDIAN passport before, you are eligible to apply for OCI. As per the new rules dependents of OCI are also eligible for OCI (and married atleast for 2 years). This is not very clear yet (
http://www.ociregistration.com/oci_eligibility.htm).
Please see
http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk/OCI.html#14
16-Apr is too short in my opinion given that the process is outsourced to VFS and things are just picking up at VFS. If you have an urgent requirement to travel I would suggest you to get a travel visa to INDIA.
I had applied in the old style at the consulate. As per the old method, the British passport is submitted to the consulate only at the end of the process for visa stamping. If this is the same case now (someone in the forum who had recently applied would be able to help), then, you can apply for OCI and track the status of OCI from outside UK.
Alternatively, you can go to INDIA and apply for OCI from INDIA itself. This is before the surrender of INDIAn passport. I am not sure what is the process since you would have travelled on INDIAn passport and when you are inside INDIA you have to cancel INDIAn passport to apply for OCI
You are allowed a grace period of 3 months from the date of naturalisation to travel to INDIA on INDIAn passport.
