Originally Posted by
GUWonder
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.
Agreed...it is not citizenship par se but the fact that it is regulated under the citizenship act and not the Immigration Act shows that it is a bit more than a visa marketed as citizenship. This is further compounded by the fact that it grants the holder a "certificate of registration" and the right to reside in India shows that it is a haphazard designed provision.
I know India does not care but the UK government that British Overseas Citizens (a particular sub class of citizens) and holders of OCI status are ineligible to register as full British Citizens under provisions to reduce statelessness as it is classed as type of citizenship similar to how BOC status is a type of British Citizenship.
I would go as far to state that the OCI is incompatible with the constitution of India and therefore illegal for the reasons outlined above.