People of Indian origin and Indian diaspora having overseas citizens of India (OCI) card are now not required to carry their old, expired passports for travel to India, as required earlier.
About OCI cards
The Overseas Citizens of India or OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin globally which gives them almost all the privileges of an Indian national except for the right to vote, government service and buying agricultural land.
The OCI card gives them a visa free travel to India.
Indian Embassy said:
“The requirement of carrying old passports, along with the OCI card, has been done away with referring to a notification issued by the Centre, addressing one of the major concerns of overseas Indians.
“Henceforth, an OCI cardholder travelling on the strength of an existing OCI card bearing old passport number is not required to carry the old passport. However, carrying the new (current) passport is mandatory,” the embassy said.
Extension on OCI cards re-issue
The Indian government has also decided to grant further extension of time till December 31, 2021, to get the OCI cards re-issued for those below 20 and above 50.
The Indian government has relaxed the second provisions since last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The timeline has been extended multiple times so far.
However, this is for the first time that the guidelines has been relaxed for carrying old passports and the new passports along with the OCI cards for overseas Indians.
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