Can I apply for OCI when in possession of India e-Visa

[Ducky11]

Hi All,

I surrendered my Indian passport a few days ago after getting a British passport & applied for the online tourist e-visa as soon as I received my surrender certificate (yesterday). My e-visa application was granted today (just received the email). The reason why I haven’t gotten my OCI yet is because I have to travel to India at the end of this month & I felt that I would not have received the OCI on time. Either way, I am quite keen to get the ball rolling for the OCI & get it ASAP, but I was wondering whether I can apply for it now considering that I have an e-visa & I will be traveling to India in less than 3 weeks using that. Will that be an issue?

Also, do I need to submit my BP at any point during the application process? I am asking because I have plenty of overseas travels lined up over the next few months & will need my BP.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
Ducky

[rmukherjee]

I think you can start the OCI application process and do the first trip to VFS. They'll check your documents, your surrendered Indian passport, British Passport and give the passports back. Then they'll send your documents to the High Commission who will send it to Delhi. After 6 weeks (in the best case) you'll get a response from the HC that they've received the docs back from Delhi.

Then you have to go again to VFS with your British passport. This time they will take it. Your passport and OCI booklet will be sent to you by courier (if you pay for that) or post usually within 5-10 days.

[Ducky11]

Thank you so much for replying! Really informative, but I have a few questions regarding the timelines & the actual process as I would like to time it conveniently -

1. Apply online
2. Book appointment at VFS & go for them to check documents

• a) How soon are appointments available? Can I go the very next day or same day as I complete the online application?
  b) What original documents will they keep?
  c) Will they give the British passport there & then during the appointment?

3. Return to VFS so that they can take my BP

• a) Usually how much later is that? An approximation would be fine.
  b) How flexible are they? For example, if they call me & tell me to come but I am travelling for 3 weeks OR have a trip lined up in the near future then will that be a problem? Will they put the application on hold until I return?

Thank you again & apologies for all the questions

[rmukherjee]

Thank you so much for replying! Really informative, but I have a few questions regarding the timelines & the actual process as I would like to time it conveniently -

1. Apply online
2. Book appointment at VFS & go for them to check documents

• a) How soon are appointments available? Can I go the very next day or same day as I complete the online application? I had availability 2 days afterwards. Note that it depends on the rush and they do have many centres in London. For me there was no availability near their Moorgate centre but the Paddington centre had lots of availability.
  b) What original documents will they keep? First VFS Visit: They will keep the original marriage certificate, if it was needed for your case (e.g. you have a child's OCI application as well). Cannot remember if they kept the original birth certificate as well. Crucially they will NOT keep the original UK passport. They will only take a photocopy. Also, as far as I remember - they look at your UK naturalisation certificate original but only take the photocopy. (Others who have been through this more recently please advise if I am remembering wrong) . 2nd visit: you only need to with the UK passport and a printout from the online system showing your paperwork has been returned to the UK. They will keep the British passport during the 2nd visit - usually they return it in a week.
  c) Will they give the British passport there & then during the appointment? During the first visit, yes.

3. Return to VFS so that they can take my BP

• a) Usually how much later is that? An approximation would be fine. Minimum 6-7 weeks if Delhi processes your application quickly and smoothly. But some people have had their application held up.
  b) How flexible are they? For example, if they call me & tell me to come but I am travelling for 3 weeks OR have a trip lined up in the near future then will that be a problem? Will they put the application on hold until I return? My application was returned from Delhi to the UK when I was out of the UK. So I couldn't do my 2nd visit "promptly". I told them this, they told me not to worry - I eventually went almost a month later to hand in my UK passport. One week later got the passport back along with a separate OCI booklet.

Thank you again & apologies for all the questions

[Ducky11]

Thank you so much rmukherjee. This is really informative & helpful!