Q.1063 US Citizen Overstays

student visa in India for 7 years

Question: hello sir or madam i have a question and i need your help i came as a student here in india and my visa is valid from june 29, 2005 and my visa expired on june 28, 2010 i am currently living in guntur, andhra pradesh, and i came to study medicine here in india. my frro office here in guntur, is telling me that, i must take an exit visa, and come back to america and apply for an overseas citizenship back to india, and register again here in guntur, where i am staying, telling me that the process takes 2 weeks and an other week for me to come back to india, applying for an overseas citizenship they are saying, that if i don't do this, that i will have problems with the ministry of foreign affairs, or that if i don't do this, that i will be in a risk to be arrested and jailed anytime in guntur and anywhere. or that it will be in the hands of the ministry of foreign affairs whether to keep me in india or allow me to stay. so my question is: is it possible for me to apply for an overseas citizenship here itself? can't i apply for a business visa here in india itself? my parents are from india. i already set up a company here in india, and everything is running quite well. i stopped writing medicine in january 2011. and another private company from new delhi said that i will be banned from india for 5 or 10 years once i go to america, since i've already illegally stayed here for 7 years please tell me sir or madam, what are my options without having to go to america i am hoping that you all respect my honesty i was born and raised in america for 21 years. i would like to start travelling the world again, so i really need your help, dear sir or madam. please reply to me as soon as possible thank you sir or madam. i am eagerly awaiting your reply because this same frro office, s.i. inspector sir ahamed, the same man, said i needed to get an exit from the college certificate last year, but this year he did not ask for it. so this is all strange. i really need your help also, because also, my application did not go through today, on the bureau of immigration website. i really want to stay in india and not have to go back to america, since i am indian (of indian origin) all of this is very confusing sir or madam, and it is very worrying me because i don't want to make a bad step. in fact, i wanted to get my visa renewed in new delhi, but they told me to "come to hyderabad" i am willing to come and meet you sir/madam IMMEDIATELY to solve this issues. no matter what it is, hyderabad people think a lot differently then guntur and vijayawada people. please forgive my bluntness and your website was not working today. and i'm also wanting to know what can i do, if the online application is not working, even after trying it 3 times thank you sir/madam. please forgive me for my long questions. i am in an urgent need to know what to do. because dear sir or madam, i don't know why he keeps bringing up my parents, because i even asked him "what if my parents had died?" then he said "i would have to show them the death certificate" but did not say whether i have to go back to america or not for that in that situation. he at first said that he is confident that i can come back peacefully to india, but then he also said that he can't guarantee me anything, once i asked him more directly about it. so this is all strange dear sir or madam. please help me, i'm eagerly. thank you sir/madam once again. because last year itself, sir ahamed said that i can convert my student visa into a business visa, but it was not mentioned here now, and he has copies of all documents pertaining to my business. so this is all strange sir/madam. Answer: Since you have taken the time to write, I am responding but their is not much I can say to help you. No one can apply for OCI from within India if they are residing in India illegally. India also does not allow change of purpose for most visa types and conversion of student visa to business visa is not possible, unless I am missing something here. In my opinion your options are: 1. Get exit visa and leave India 2. Return to India with a legal visa My advice to you would be to contact the authorities, explain your mistake and try to legalize your status. You will have to pay a fine for overstay of your visa, get an exit visa to leave the country and then apply for India visa in your home country. There is always the possibility that some people you speak to about your predicament may give you other options in an effort to perhaps extract money, however keep in mind that no one can help you circumvent the law.