THE Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders are now not required to carry their old, expired passports for travel to India, a government notification has said.
The global Indian diaspora has welcomed the move, reported the PTI.
The OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin globally which gives them almost all the privileges of an Indian national except for the right to vote, entering government service and buying agricultural land. The card holders can have a visa free travel to India.
The Indian missions in the US said that in order to ease the travel of OCI card holders, it has been decided that the timeline for re-issuance of these cards has been extended until 31 December, 2021.
"Further, requirement of carrying old and new passports along with the OCI card has been done away. Henceforth, the OCI card holders travelling on the strength of their existing OCI card bearing old passport number are not required to carry their old passport. However, carrying a new passport is mandatory," a statement said.
New York-based social activist Prem Bhandari, who has been taking up the case of OCI card holders for the past several years, welcomed the announcement.
Bhandari said that he had witnessed first-hand the inconvenience caused to members of the Indian diaspora due to certain OCI card rules as they undertook travel to India during the pandemic.
He said some of the passengers were not allowed to board flights to India and were sent back from airports as they were not carrying their old foreign passports, which was required as per government rules.
Under the provisions of the OCI card, which gives the cardholder lifelong visa to India, those below 20 years and above 50 years need to renew their OCI card every time they have their passport renewed.
The Indian government has relaxed the provisions last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The timeline has been extended multiple times. But this is for the first time that the guidelines have been relaxed.
In May last year, the central government had allowed certain categories of OCI card holders, who were stranded abroad, to come to the country.
Bhandari had previously also requested Indian authorities to initiate measures such as granting emergency visas on departure to help Indian-origin families travel to their homeland for health or other emergencies amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
He had suggested that holders of Indian passport/PIO/OCI card be allowed to travel with their US-born minor children, under 14, with any unexpired visa obtained anytime without applying for an emergency visa at consulates.
He also requested to consider either granting emergency visa on departure (E-VoD) or restoring immediate e-Visa process for approval online.
In October 2020, the Indian government had decided to restore, with immediate effect, the validity of all existing visas, except electronic, tourist and medical category visas.
