If you are living in India, then probably you have heard of the term OCI card for a lot of times already. Basically, the answer to ‘What is an OCI Card’ is that it is an identity card for those who was born in the country of India but have migrated out to another country or those whose ancestors were belonged to India.
I shall probably start with a brief history of the OCI Card. You should also pay attention to something called the PIO, and this is highly related to the OCI Card. Before 2011, the External Affairs Ministry of India is actually running a separate scheme for the Persons of Indian Origin, which is defined as people up to four generations who are actually from India. However, in 2015, the PIO scheme is merged with the OCI scheme, and all people with the PIO status is converted to having the OCI status.
Also, a holder of the OCI is actually different from a NRI, which stands for non-resident Indian. A NRI holds an Indian passport while living in another country, and he needs to be living for at least six months in another country other than India to be considered as a NRI. Actually, NRI is not that useful when compared to the categorization of OCI since NRI is only needed for calculating income tax.
Next, the key question is what rights and responsibility does a OCI card holder enjoy? After all, the person holding an OCI card does not live in India anymore, but he has still some ties with the Indians. This is the dilemma that many of us will have, since migrating to another country is a very common thing. For example, a lot of people migrate to other Asia countries from India. This may due to a lot of reasons like marriage, work, or that one may just want to start a new life in another country.
It does not necessarily follow that one does not like the country he is currently residing in, and therefore he wants to move away. This is just not always the case. Therefore, the OCI serves to strike the balance between these two conflicting factors by allowing them to keep certain benefits. For example, OCI holders can trvel to India without needing to obtain a visa first, and they they enjoy the rights of residency in the country, and they can participate in the business as well as educational activities of the country.
However, on the other hand, a OCI holder is not regarded as a complete Indian citizen, and therefore they do not enjoy the right to vote as well as the right to run for any constitutional offices. They also do not have the right to purchase any land for farming use unless such land is inherited from the parents.
I hope the information above can answer your question of ‘What is an OCI Card’, and you now know the history of this card as well as the right and responsibility of the card holder.
