Originally Posted by
d3vski
Here is an update of the worthlessness of an OCI status.
Despite being registered as an OCI for nearly 10 years, I recently started a new job that requires travelling to India for a very specific reason. I thought that my OCI status, which is regulated under the Citizenship Act of India, would suffice as I have a multi-entry, multi-purpose lifelong entitlement to enter and reside in India.
It turns out that this is not quite so. I now hold a valid OCI registration certificate and a valid visa. Luckily, I also hold 2 passports so that the OCI vignette and the visa are in each.
India - Make your mind up?
Some of this can't be changed unilaterally and/or so easily by the Indian government -- at least so long as India maintains its constitutional ban on Indian citizens willfully holding citizenship of India and an Indian-recognized sovereign state at the same time.
OCI is not actual citizenship of India, and never has been. Every government involved in the PIO and OCI arrangements has been advised of the limits of the OCI status absent a constitutional amendment to address the dual-citizenship restriction.