OCI vs Student/long-term visa

[preetyza]

Hi,

I and my husband received UK passport last week and proceed for surrendering Indian passport. We are expecting that surrrender certificate would be available in early next week.

We need to go to India in early march (5 weeks from now) and we are going to stay there more than 6 months. That is why we would like to understand which option (visa or OCI) would be better to go with?

I have few questions due to above circumstances:

1) If we apply OCI from the UK and if we don't get success to get OCI card from high commission(UK) in next 4 weeks time then could we collect the OCI card from India?
2) If we go to India on long-term visa then what are the consequences (especially in case of we stay longer than 6 months?)
3) Could we work or study on long-term visa?

Regarding Student visa: My husband is going to start his study in India for a year. In that case I would like to know following about student visa:

1) How student visa works - does high commission provide student visa as per we request OR do they provide the visa based on start and end date of the course only? - is there any extra time included in the visa after course completion?
2) If my husband will take student visa then could he apply for other contries visa from India, in case he needs to travel to other countries e.g., Africa?

Hope it won't be that complicated though there are many quesitons!

Will appreciate your quick response to take right decision.

Thanks in advance,
Preety

[krazydude]

My attempt to ans a few of these

1) If we apply OCI from the UK and if we don't get success to get OCI card from high commission(UK) in next 4 weeks time then could we collect the OCI card from India?

Eventhough HCI is processing OCI's quite quickly nowadays, there are no guarantees that you will get your OCI in 4 weeks. As far as I know, there is no such facility where you submit your application in a particular location in UK (say London) and can collect from any other location in UK (say Birmingham), so I doubt if you could collect it in India, unless if you apply in India (If you want to do that, here are the addresses in India -

http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/oci-adrs.pdf

2) If we go to India on long-term visa then what are the consequences (especially in case of we stay longer than 6 months?)

You might get a stamp on your passport when you return from India which could adversely affect further visas to India.

3) Could we work or study on long-term visa?

Not sure on this one. But I do not see a reason why you would not be allowed to work or study. Again, not sure.

4) How student visa works - does high commission provide student visa as per we request OR do they provide the visa based on start and end date of the course only? - is there any extra time included in the visa after course completion?

Start and end date of course as approved by the educational institution. Extensions might be possible in India but will have to be supported by documentation from the educational institution.

5) If my husband will take student visa then could he apply for other contries visa from India, in case he needs to travel to other countries e.g., Africa?

That is based on the country he wishes to apply to. Some countries may allow it considering you have a student visa, but some may not. You will have to check with the consulate of that country in India before applying.

[preetyza]

Thanks for your time and reply!

I'll appreicate if someone else could also confirm few of the assumtions made here.

Thanks,
Preety

[in-london]

preetyza - Given your situation, the best option for you may be to apply for visitor/student visa now and once you land in India, apply for OCI from there. Do make sure you take all relevant documents with you!

All the best.