OCI & PIO: Consular assistance?
 

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this....

more info here:

http://www.immihelp.com/nri/piocard/...trictions.html

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the two cards have been merged to become only the PIO card. The main benefit is that you don't need a visa to visit India.

As for consular assistance I have no idea, but given the way they operate I doubt you will get any added benefits.

Is it worth it? Only if you visit India on a regular basis and if it would save you money over the visa fees. The card will cost about USD 300.

Why on earth would I demand consular assistance from the Indian government if I'm a citizen of another nation?

Duniawala, the other way around. They have been merged to become OCI. The PIO scheme has been discontinued.

The OCI is mainly a glorified LPR visa, but it also allows you to own most types of property and confers a few other minor benefits. If you don't want to live, work, or buy property there, I am not sure it is worth the cost and hassle.

On consular access, what it is referring to is whether a PIO/OCI has consular access to the embassy of their country of citizenship. For example, if you are a Singaporean citizen and you land in jail in India, the Indian authorities are supposed to contact the Singaporean embassy and allow its diplomats to have "consular access" to you, basically to make sure you are being treated as you should be under the applicable conventions. I believe the chart is saying that the Indian authorities do not apply this to an OCI holder; however, I would be surprised if this was the official policy of the Indian government. What would surprise me less is if it was the interpretation of some of the local law enforcement officials.

And to the OPs point: if a citizen of S'pore would be stuck in Yemen, S'pore will have arrangements that their citizens receive consular assistance from another countries embassy/consulate. For example US citizens in Iran can go to the Swiss embassy in Tehran: http://travel.state.gov/content/pass...ntry/iran.html

Precisely.

It also could work detrimentally another way (in an extreme case):

If one were a US citizen and they were evacuating US citizens from India (massive logistical op, which probably would not happen), and if one of the marines/US reps caught a glance of the "Overseas Citizen of India" booklets, chances are that they would be first denied the evac until clarification was provided by their commanding officers/consular/State Department officials - which then could result in losing the "window of opportunity" one might have.

That is one of the major reasons I avoided OCI like the plague, the citizen thing is detrimental.

Sorry about that, you are correct. Should have double checked before posting. The main benefit of the OCI card is long term stay without visa. Good for NRIs taking up a job or doing business in India. OCIs/NRIs still cannot buy agricultural land. They cn only inherit them.

Realistically, probably not. The U.S. recognizes dual citizenship, even when the other country doesn't. If you're a U.S. citizen, you're a U.S. citizen. It's the Indian authorities that don't allow the dual citizenship. Your OCI book doesn't replace your U.S. passport, so they wouldn't even have a reason to see it and, if they did, no one would care. The question might be more whether, in an evac situation in a third country, could an OCI rely on the Indian government to get them out.

The answer would most probably be negative - but in this age of Modi and his (appearing to) catering (cater) to the diaspora, there might be a possibility of it happening - if they had excess capacity/ability to easily assist...

U.S. citizens with OCI status still get US consular assistance in India, and the Indian Home, Law and External Affairs ministries all should be aware that this practice continues unless and until an Indian Supreme Court ruling or Constitutional amendment arises that allows for dual-citizenship by Indian citizens.

I doubt that would be an issue for our US relatives with OCI status.

About whether or not India would evacuate OCIs, it would and has before. India also was evacuation non-OCI US citizens from Yemen rather recently, but that was India and the US being extra friendly with one another.

And the U.S. has evacuated some US LPRs (and some other non-citizen US immigrants) along with US citizens.

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I'm sure you will discover over time that being a citizen of a developed country is far more advantageous in crisis situations. Looking at the S'pore MFA page of travel advisories: http://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/co...l_notices.html

It does seem they have procedures in place to help stranded citizens.