Originally Posted by
GUWonder
What I have noticed from conversations with Indian diplomats and current and former Home Ministry personnel is that there has been an increase in choosing short-duration visas by Indian-origin citizens of a variety of OECD countries.
Count me in as one of them. Only tangentially.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
That is being done significantly for reasons related to plans to acquire OCI status. [Why pay more for a five-year or ten-year Indian visa when in a 3-6 months or a year you will be paying for OCI status and thus not have any of the waiver-acquisition hassles related to re-entry within 2 months.]
I'm applying for a five year "entry" visa (which mercifully does not have the 2 month entry restriction) next week at a cost similar to that of an OCI. Specifically because I do not want to apply for an OCI while the Indian Government remains pig headed about the exact status of the document in question.
I do not like what, to me, seems like condescension in the following excerpt re. the OCI taken from the VFS website (and arguably, though not necessarily, directly quoted from MEA)
Based on the recommendation of the High Level committee on Indian Diaspora, the Government of India decided to grant Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) commonly known as ‘dual citizenship’
It is not "dual citizenship". It is a glorified permanent resident visa. Call it as such.
Secondly, every document I've come across maintains that OCI holders for all intents of purposes will be treated as an Indian Citizen. Sounds all fine and dandy; except it also follows with the caveat emptor that an OCI holder can be denied Consular Access form the country of their citizenship. Now, I doubt I'll ever need that assistance and it might seem pompous of me to even consider that as a reason, but it is what it is.
Don't call it a citizenship because it clearly is not.
I can afford to take a stand and pay for a 5 year visa every 5 years, and I'm doing it as long as it remains tenable.
/rant over