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OCI Card For Infants – How To Apply For An Child’s OCI Card

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Can you get OCI Card for infants? Are newborns eligible for OCI cards? What is the fee for OCI Card? Know all about OCI card or Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card for infants.

Well, India does not accept dual citizenship and in many cases, children born abroad get citizenship of the country they are born in. Even if both parents are Indian, a child with foreign citizenship will need a visa to visit India. Rather than apply for a tourist visa for every visit, these infants and children can apply for an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card.

OCI Card For Infants, Reissuing Of OCI Card, OCI card, OCI card holders

What Is An OCI Card?

An OCI card allows the cardholder to visit India as many times a year as they like. An OCI cardholder can stay in the country indefinitely and can study here as well as work in the country. In many ways, an OCI cardholder has the same status as Indian citizens but they do not have certain rights. This includes:

  • The right to vote
  • The right to apply for government jobs
  • The right to hold public office
  • The right to invest in farmland

When the child grows up, he/she can apply for Indian citizenship to gain these rights.

Read: Renewing OCI Card In India

OCI Card For Infants – Is Your Child Eligible?

To be eligible for an OCI card, the child must be the child or grandchild of a person who meets the below criteria:

  • The person was eligible for Indian citizenship on January 26th, 1950
  • The person became an Indian citizen on January 26th, 1950
  • The person belongs to an area that became a part of India after August 15th, 1947

OCI Card For Infants – How To Apply

Parents can apply for their child’s OCI card as soon as they receive the child’s passport. The process takes anywhere between 3 to 6 weeks. Parents can register for their child’s OCI card online. This is a 2 part process that starts here. Along with the applicant’s details, you will also need to upload a photograph of the applicant and a photo of the child’s thumbprint or signature. As a parent, you cannot sign for your child.

Once you have completed the online registration and paid the processing fees, you will also have to submit a physical application and supporting documents at the VFS India Consular Application Centre.

OCI Card For Infants – Prerequisites For Online Application

Official website: https://ociservices.gov.in/

Before you start filling in the application form, you should have the following at hand:

  • Scanned passport photograph of the applicant
    • Max file size: 500kb
    • Photograph dimension range: 200 x 200 pixels to 1500 x 1500 pixels
    • The photograph must be taken against a plain light background
    • The applicant’s face must take up 80% of the frame
    • The child should be looking straight into the camera
  • Scanned photograph of the applicant’s signature
    • Max file size: 500kb
    • 1:3 Height to width ratio
  • Scanned copy of the child’s current passport
  • Scanned copy of the child’s birth certificate
  • Scanned copy of both parent’s valid visas
  • Proof of Indian origin
    • Copy of parent’s passports
    • Copy of domicile/ nativity certificate issued by a competent authority
    • Evidence of child’s relationship with grandparents if that is the basis for OCI eligibility
  • Proof of address: Parent’s driving license/ utility bill/ valid lease agreement/ mortgage/ income tax returns
  • Copy of the parent’s marriage certificate

OCI Card For Infants – Filling In The Online Registration Form

There are 2 pages to Part A of the online registration form. You will need to enter personal details of the child such as name, gender, place and date of birth and birthmarks, the parent’s name, profession and citizenship and the family’s residential address and contact details. Once you enter the details, you will have a chance to verify the details. Once submitted, you cannot modify this information.

You will then have to upload a copy of the applicant’s photograph and signature.

Part B is a series of Yes and No questions about the citizen’s nationality. Once this has been completed, you can generate a filled registration form for future reference. You will get a Web File Number for the same. You will then need to upload your supporting documents.

OCI Application Fees

A non-refundable application fee of US $25 or its local equivalent is payable when submitting the OCI online application.

Once the application has been submitted, it can be tracked online with the reference number. While the OCI card is valid for the cardholder’s lifetime, it will need to be re-issued when the child gets a new passport on turning 20 years old.

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