India suspends all visas until April 15th
Mar 19, 2020, 11:41 pm
#32
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Essentially the "citizen" part is a bit of feel-good window-dressing. Maybe that's lulled some OCI into a false sense of security, and the current situation might shake them out of it.
An Indian colleague long-time resident in UAE is currently in the UK, facing similar confusion getting "home" to Dubai.
Mar 20, 2020, 12:27 am
#33
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I was trying to be nice.
But yes, they are citizens of another country and should look to that country for assistance right now and in almost every other situation when they are stuck in a foreign country. Where they are residing in India they can approach the Indian embassy for help. But not expect to be helped before citizens.
But imagining OCIs are the same as resident citizens, NRIs or green card holders etc. is not is not correct at all. It is a glorified visa. as AJLondon put it.
But yes, they are citizens of another country and should look to that country for assistance right now and in almost every other situation when they are stuck in a foreign country. Where they are residing in India they can approach the Indian embassy for help. But not expect to be helped before citizens.
But imagining OCIs are the same as resident citizens, NRIs or green card holders etc. is not is not correct at all. It is a glorified visa. as AJLondon put it.
Last edited by PiperAtGatesofDawn; Mar 20, 2020 at 3:56 am
Mar 20, 2020, 8:39 am
#34
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It has been I who started saying that OCI is a “de facto glorified visa from India, and the status conferred by OCI is far short of being any kind of long-term permanent residence status upon which an OCI can count upon having and being able to exercise free of the changing administrative whims of the GoI's netas and babus”. For OCIs considering investments or reallocation of assets in India, this move by the Indian government should be a wake up call that OCI status doesn’t make them secure — forget about equal — in India.
May 12, 2020, 9:24 am
#36
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LockDown 4.0 on the way. Guess we will find out in a few days (apparently before May 18) as to what will happen.
This being FT...it will be interesting to know when regular commercial flights will resume (domestic / international)….and what happens to OCIs, Visa holders and so on
This being FT...it will be interesting to know when regular commercial flights will resume (domestic / international)….and what happens to OCIs, Visa holders and so on
May 22, 2020, 12:25 pm
#37
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Some restrictions on OCIs have been lifted. OCI minor children of Indian nationals, OCI university students whose parents are in India, and OCIs married to Indian nationals can now travel to India. This should really help many families who have been stuck outside India because either a parent or a child was an OCI while the rest were Indians. Still doesn't help for OCIs stuck outside India who belong to all-OCI families with residence in India. (But maybe that's a small number of cases.)
https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/site...es/MHA-OIC.gif
https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/site...es/MHA-OIC.gif
May 22, 2020, 1:29 pm
#38
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Hopefully this will at least help people with extremely urgent need to get to India.
I am guessing this group of people will have to fly on repatriation flights offered by Air India (if they want to get to India immediately)…...as regular commercial international flight services have not yet commenced (hoping that will happen soon).
I am guessing this group of people will have to fly on repatriation flights offered by Air India (if they want to get to India immediately)…...as regular commercial international flight services have not yet commenced (hoping that will happen soon).
May 24, 2020, 10:06 am
#39
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Some restrictions on OCIs have been lifted. OCI minor children of Indian nationals, OCI university students whose parents are in India, and OCIs married to Indian nationals can now travel to India. This should really help many families who have been stuck outside India because either a parent or a child was an OCI while the rest were Indians. Still doesn't help for OCIs stuck outside India who belong to all-OCI families with residence in India. (But maybe that's a small number of cases.)
https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/site...es/MHA-OIC.gif
https://english.cdn.zeenews.com/site...es/MHA-OIC.gif
There are lots of OCIs who are semi-retired/retired and have their primary (or even sole) residence in India but have been excluded from returning home to India due to the Indian Government’s “Fire.Ready.Aim.” approach for this too.
The rules for OCIs from the start of this pandemic should have allowed for return/entry of OCIs who have a residence in India or are the immediate family of those with an Indian residence. And yet India is still short on this front.
Last edited by GUWonder; May 24, 2020 at 10:11 am
May 24, 2020, 11:59 pm
#40
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So far anyone who needed to go to India on urgent matters or could plead their case got a short notice visa from our local CGI according to a guy I talked to recently. The main problem is how to get to India right now. It looks like the ban on international arrivals will be lifted soon, some airlines are already planning on flying to BOM in late June. The arrival quarantine procedures proposed last week are similar to those practiced by China last month: get locked in a govt run facility for 7 days before being allowed to quarantine at home for another 7. Totally impractical, but its a first move. MAybe some babu thought it would be a golden opportunity to fill the rooms at the HCI/Centaur hotel in DEL 
Jun 3, 2020, 9:32 pm
#41
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Several additional categories of travel now allowed to India - businessmen (only if on charter or non-commercial flights?! - perhaps as a proxy indication of how important they are 
), healthcare specialists, and a rather broad-sounding category of "engineering, managerial, and design" visitors along with technicians who are needed to install or maintain equipment. E-visas are still not valid; existing multiple entry visas need to be "revalidated", or a fresh visa has to be applied for.
), healthcare specialists, and a rather broad-sounding category of "engineering, managerial, and design" visitors along with technicians who are needed to install or maintain equipment. E-visas are still not valid; existing multiple entry visas need to be "revalidated", or a fresh visa has to be applied for.
Jun 11, 2020, 7:26 am
#43
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Vande Bharat Phase-3
Hello all, Vande Bharat phase-3 has started (repatriation flights TO India).
The language about Quarantine upon entry in to India is somewhat confusing....for people who may have a connecting flight:
This is the news article:
https://indianexpress.com/article/in...ngers-6453959/
This is the sentence from the article:
"Vande Bharat Mission phase 3: Passengers cannot take connecting flight to their own states on arrival. They can only proceed after completing the mandatory quarantine period at the airport of arrival. They, however, can board a connecting flight on arrival if it is a feeder flight"
What exactly is a feeder flight?
Is it one where the International AI flight continues to a secondary destination after landing in India?
e.g., JFK-DEL-HYD on the same plane.....so HYD pax will complete formalities only in HYD.
In other news - Some OCI's who landed in BOM complained that they were detained for 7 hours by the immigration there....threatening to send them back, etc.
What else is new?
The language about Quarantine upon entry in to India is somewhat confusing....for people who may have a connecting flight:
This is the news article:
https://indianexpress.com/article/in...ngers-6453959/
This is the sentence from the article:
"Vande Bharat Mission phase 3: Passengers cannot take connecting flight to their own states on arrival. They can only proceed after completing the mandatory quarantine period at the airport of arrival. They, however, can board a connecting flight on arrival if it is a feeder flight"
What exactly is a feeder flight?
Is it one where the International AI flight continues to a secondary destination after landing in India?
e.g., JFK-DEL-HYD on the same plane.....so HYD pax will complete formalities only in HYD.
In other news - Some OCI's who landed in BOM complained that they were detained for 7 hours by the immigration there....threatening to send them back, etc.
What else is new?
Jun 11, 2020, 7:39 am
#44
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This whole VB thing is one big farce... the MEA trying to give AI a reason to fly with govt subsidy. The regular flights will restart sometime soon and this so called repatriation (three months after the world went into lockdown) will have been futile as every one returns to their workplace abroad.
Jun 11, 2020, 10:00 am
#45
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,014
This whole VB thing is one big farce... the MEA trying to give AI a reason to fly with govt subsidy. The regular flights will restart sometime soon and this so called repatriation (three months after the world went into lockdown) will have been futile as every one returns to their workplace abroad.
Hopefully this whole VB thing will end soon enough and other airlines start flying.
Noticed the LH offer to fly empty planes in to India and collect any pax wishing to leave India. That news item was not reported very widely (saw your post in another thread). But, wonder if they will allow LH to do that..
Rumors are that MAA will go in to one more extended lockdown (rumor source WhatsApp)
