Q.795 OCI Renewal Requirement -

Got OCI few weeks before age 50

Question: Hi there, My wife's date of birth is 18 May 1957. She was issued OCI on March 03, 2007. Ii it necessary for her to renew her OCI. Please note that she has travelled to India many times to India and there was no problem. I heard recently that since she was not 50 on March 03, 2007, she has to renew the OCI. Please advise. Thanks for your assistance. I got my OCI after the age of 50. Do I need to renew my OCI? Regards JS Answer: As regards to current rules on renewal of OCI documents my understanding is that: 1. All OCI holders who are 20 years of age or younger, OCI documents must be re-issued every time a new passport is issued to them. For someone in this category who has a passport valid for five years, they must get fresh documents every five years and if a person’s passport is valid for 10 years then they need to get their OCI documents renewed after 10 years. 2. All OCI holders who are between 21 and 49 years of age are not required to apply for renewal of their OCI unless they wish to do so for personal reason’s such as for example damage to their OCI documents etc. 3. All OCI holders after reaching 50 years of age are required to apply for renewal of their OCI and get fresh OCI documents when the passport they hold expires or they need to get a new passport for perhaps a lost passport etc. Once renewed after age 50 OCI is valid for lifetime and no more renewals are required. 4. Those who got their OCI when they had already reached 50 years of age are not required to renew again. After age 50 OCI documents are valid for life. Needless to say rules do not provide any grace period for those who miss out on getting their OCI a few days before reaching age 50. Although it does seem unfair, your wife needs to get her OCI documents renewed. Perhaps when her current passport expires if not sooner. She would not want herself to be in a situation where a vigilant immigration officer in India questions her on not following the rules.