How to apply for OCI from

India or abroad

Step by step procedure to apply for OCI Registration . . . Regardless of where you are in the world, OCI application is submitted online from the official Indian government website https://ociservices.gov.in/ Once on the OCI website select 1. OCI Registration and Click Proceed 2. Select New OCI Registration if that is what you are doing and Proceed 3. Read any pop-up instructions to applicant as this will help prepare you to complete the application easily 4. Fill in the Captcha numbers/digits and click enter 5. Select Fresh Application if you are filling first time 6. OCI Registration Form will appear on screen. This form can be easily filled. Most of the questions are selections from drop-down menu on the form. 7. For Place of Submission: Select the country you are applying from. 8. Once you select the country a new selection menu for Mission will appear. Select the applicable mission for the country you are applying from. In case of applicants applying from India they should select the appropriate office in India. For instance if applying form Lucknow, India. o Select India for Place of Submission and o Select Lucknow for Mission. 9. Complete the other information and selections on the Form and click Save & Continue 10. Once this is done, you will see a message on the screen saying you have successfully registered Part –A. 11. The next step is to upload your photo and signature. 12. After the photo & image upload you will be directed to Part B of the Form to complete the registration. 13. After submission of online application, a copy of the application form will be printed with an Online Registration Number. 14. After submission of the application and supporting documents online; applicants have to submit the original supporting documents to the Indian Mission/ Post/ FRRO concerned for verification. The time taken to get OCI approved and OCI Card [booklet] issued can be from 30 to 120 days. Actual time depends on how busy the processing office is and whether you have submitted form and documents without any errors. Generally many applicants suffer delay due to submitting photos that are not in the approved format. To view the photo requirement for OCI visit: https://ociservices.gov.in/Photo-Spec-FINAL.pdf Things to consider before applying for OCI • Get all required documents ready • Keep photo/documents with you when applying so you can upload • Current fee for OCI registration from abroad is US$275 or equivalent. Fee of registering for OCI in India is Rupees 15,000/- by way of Demand Draft drawn in favor of “Pay and Accounts Officer (Secretariat), Ministry of Home Affairs” payable at New Delhi. • When filling online form you can save and exit if you are not ready to proceed. This way you can come back to where you left to continue with the application. You should note the reference number of your application as this will be required to return to the form.