OCI Card/Evisa for india travel

Hello,

heeeeuuuuuuu....
if you've an Indian passport / are an Indian national, you're NOT allowed to enter India with another passport than an Indian one!!!
Same for any other country. Let's say I'm from Japan & I've a Belgian passport too, I can NOT enter Belgium with my Japan's passport, ONLY my Belgian one.

So, you must forget the OCI card, except if you're eligible with one of these conditions: https://ociservices.gov.in/


If you've a Belgian passport, you leave Belgium with your Belgian passport.
You enter India with your Indian passport and you go back in Belgium with your Belgian passport.
Elsewhere in the world, you pick the best passport with visa-free (most of the time the Belgian one)
(of course you'll show both passport to the check-in/luggage, but NOT to the immigration when you enter India)

Thanks Alex for the reply.

I was born in india and meet the requirements for OCI card. But this process takea 3-4 months as per the website. And also i need to surrender my indian passport. I need to travel in march.

Travelling with both belgian/indian passport as you mentioned seems ok to me but i will have belgian ID card. Will it be a problem? And also dual nationality is not allowed in india, i am not sure if this is the right option.

Can i apply for entry visa or evisa and travel with belgian  passport? Does this alai requires surrender of indian passport.

Your inputs would be of great help. Thanks

Of course dual nationality is the correct answer.

If you don't have an Indian passport (which I doubt?), just go to the Indian embassy in Brussels to renew it and travel with it in India! As far as you said, you're still Indian + Belgian!

It's not because India doesn't allow dual nationality that you can't use your Indian passport to travel in India and use your Belgian one to travel back in Belgium. You just need to understand which passport to use at which time!
It just means: no matter what, in India you're Indian. In Belgium you're Belgian.

You don't need a visa or oci card or whatever to go back in your home country.
Just your passport + the covid test/whatever India is requesting to travel there.

Hi Alex,

I received belgian nationality just last week. I have not surrendered my indian passport. It is valid till 2030.  I will be getting belgian passport next week.

i can keep my indian passport for all my future  travels to india without any problem and use belgian passport come back? Thanks

Of course...................

Just keep in mind that:
* in India you're ONLY Indian.
* in Belgium, you're ONLY Belgian.
==> no embassy support anymore from the other country.
Elsewhere in the world, you pick the best passport and you can have both support.

Just make sure to not shout in India that you've 2 passports to avoid problem ==> Low profile.
Just show your Indian + Belgian passport + flight ticket to the police check when leaving India and MAKE SURE your lastname + firstname + fullname are the SAME on both passport.
Show your indian passport when going out of India to have the stamp out if they do. In Belgium/EU, you'll never have your passport stamp when you go out or in + show your belgian passport to proof you're allowed to go in Belgium / no visa required and then only scan your belgian passport in the automatic EU doors when you're coming back in EU)

The only rule you must ABSOLUTELY understand is that you must ALWAYS use the SAME passport to go IN and OUT of a country.
Don't mix them or you'll have immigration problem + overstay + other problems!

Hey,

As an Indian national, you're not allowed to have dual nationality. Its just not allowed as per Indian laws.

The moment you get your declaration of citizenship from the commune here; you need to use that to apply for a surrender certificate at the Indian Embassy. The Embassy uses the DATE from your declaration to consider you NOT to be an Indian citizen anymore. So no, you CANNOT use your Indian passport once you get a foreign nationality.
Using the surrender certificate + Belgian passport; you can apply for OCI.


In practice yes, there's no one stopping you. But you could get entry barred to India.

Fair warning: do NOT try to carry both your passports. A friend of mine ended up getting fined and barred from India for 2 years, because of this. Its illegal according to Indian laws to concurrently have 2 nationalities.

And here's a fun fact: say you do go to India on your Indian passport; you're going to end up with an exit stamp on your Indian passport from Belgium. And Belgian border control will wonder why you dont have residence permit. And when you explain to them that you're a Belgian national; then they're gonna question why you gave the Indian passport in the first place. And if you give your Belgian passport; then they're going to ask you for visa to enter India. You see where this is going.....

And when leaving India, if you show your Belgian passportt; you'd have no entry stamp. And if you show your Indian passport; they're going to ask you for a visa to enter Belgium. And the moment you say you're a Belgian national, they're going to grill you why you're using a passport that isn't valid (Indian). I'm not a lawyer but this kind of falsification can end up in trouble.

I'd be super wary before doing this. You're going to have a mismatch of stamps for entry and exit and you can bet your dime on it that Indian immigration is gonna be a pain in the ass about it. And as you're no longer an Indian national; they have no obligation to let you in.

Just because your passport is valid till 2030 doesn't mean anything if you no longer are a citizen of that country.

IMO, getting an e-visa is the quickest and painless way.

thanks for your message Richeek,

thats my concern too. if i use indian passport to come back to belgium, at the checkin they ask for RP card which i dont have anymore. if i show my belgian card, they will know that i have belgian nationaity. its risky.

For now, can i just go ahead with Evisa with belgian passport but not surrendering Indian passport here. or its mandatory to surrender the indian passport before flying to india.

i am thinking of applying for OCI card once i am back from india as its long process and i need to travel urgently. any idea on this?

do you also have any information about Entry visa and how different is that from Evisa?

thanks

Here's my 2 cents: Get an e-visa, start your OCI application and then go. You dont have to surrender the passport itself. Its considered null since you have another nationality already.

I'd recommend keeping the surrender certificate though. Its proof that you've applied for renounciation. And as said, the Indian embassy will consider you a non-citizen from the date of declaration.

My gf got an e-visa in 2018. It took her 3 days and 80 bucks. Its all online. No idea about the regular visa, sorry. Although why would you want that? Its for 5 yeears whereas OCI is 99 I think.

You are allowed to travel with your indian passport for first three months from the day you receive your belgium  nationality.

You do not have to surrender your indian passport immediately even you got your belgium passport. You have 3 years.

Just make sure you will not use your indian passport after 3 months.

Just for a Fyi, what i know you will not get the visa, untill the surrender is in process

Link
https://eoi.gov.in/eoisearch/MyPrint.php?0834?001/0005

thanks Kdeepak for your reply.

@richeekdey3:

Thanks for the information. Can you share your experience and timeline of Indian Nationality Renunciation followed by applying and acquiring OCI card? That is, if you already went through this process via Indian Embassy in Brussels. Thanks a lot in advance.

@CR3545 I;m undergoing it now. Applied for renunciation on 27 December. Received a paper on 27th Feb. Used that then to cancel my passport. That is now in process.

@richeekdey3 Wauw, it takes some time just for the renunciation step then. I thought you make an application online for renunciation and make an appointment at the embassy to declare in writing and hand over the passport to get your renunciation document in hand then itself. Is that correct? Thanks!