Q307. Residency status of OCI holder in India

Question: Dear Sir I am by birth Indian, aged 79. In the year 2006 I got U.S. Green Card and then kept on traveling every year to USA for the last6 years. All these years I have been staying in India within stipulated conditions of required number of days in a financial Year i.e. 182 days or 60 days +at least 365 days in the preceding 4 years. For the period 2011/12 also I am still within stipulated condition. Thus I still continue to be a Resident and not NRI. However on 19th December 2011 I accepted US Citizenship and also got OCI Card on 13 January 2012. Will this alter my existing status of being Resident ?

Thanks With regards A.B.MAHIMKAR

Answer: Your residency status does not change, as this is calculated on the number of days spent in India, as you have mentioned in your email. Whether you are a green card holder or a US citizen with OCI, the determination of whether you are deemed to be a resident or non resident in India, is done using the same criteria of taking into account the number of days spent in India.