I recently helped my mom with her OCI renewal when she got a new US passport. As I had some trouble with this application process, I hope this guide brings more clarity to those also struggling.
Note: This guide is meant for those who have questions about updating their OCI upon receiving a new US passport. This is the only process I’ve personally gone through, so I cannot advise on other application types. For example, if you’re a PIO card holder or applying from another country, this guide may not apply to you. You may find some portions of this guide useful, such as getting an OCI photo or signature.
Note: If you’ve done this in the past, you may have noticed that VFS is now providing OCI services instead of CKGS. This is because the Government of India terminated its contract with CKGS, as of October 2020.
Note: These steps follow the step-by-step guide published by VFS. I include these below along with supplementary info.
Step 1: Do I need a new OCI?
If you’re reading this, then you probably already know the answer to this question. But just in case, here are the official guidelines:
- For an applicant who is 20 years of age or younger, OCI documents must be re-issued each time a new passport is issued.
- For an applicant who is 50 years of age or older, OCI documents must be re-issued once after the issuance of a new passport. If the OCI card is issued for the first time after the age of 50 years, then there is no need for re-issue of OCI.
- For an applicant who is 21 to 49 years of age, there is no need to re-issue OCI documents each time a new passport is issued. However, if the applicant desires, he/she can request that the OCI documents be re-issued so that the OCI documents reflect the correct passport number.
If you’re in this category, you need to use OCI Miscellaneous Services.
Note: Interestingly, these rules have been in place since 2005, but rarely if never enforced. The Indian government recently started enforcing these rules though, catching many travelers off-guard. Because of complaints and delayed processing time due to COVID, the Indian government has provided a grace period for applicants to get their new OCI. As of writing this, that is until the end of 2020. This may be extended again.
Note: If you’re still deciding whether to renew your OCI, it doesn’t hurt to. It costs money (~$80) and time (~2–3 hours), but there’s always a risk that the immigration officer makes a fuss over it when you land. And if you renew your OCI, you do not have to carry around your old passport.
Step 2: Fill out the application form on OCI Online Services — Part A
Before accessing the form, use the following table to determine which document copies you need on-hand. For the majority of applicants, I envision you would need the following:
- Copy of current passport (photo page)
- Copy of US visa, if applicable
- Notarized PAF (if applicant is a minor) (There’s another notarized form you need at a later step; jump to Step 5 for more details. You can get these forms notarized together to save time.)
- Copy of OCI card (the OCI booklet)
The next step is to go to the OCI Online Services website (click on OCI Miscellaneous Services) and enter your information there. You can use the VFS guide, but the questions are mostly straightforward. I’ve included additional instructions where it becomes more complicated, namely the signature & image upload.
- Note down the Temporary File Number in the top right corner. The application will timeout every now and then, so make sure to have this number to continue the application. Or else you will have to start a new application.
- Select the checkbox “Change of Passport Particulars”
- For US applicants, use this guide to find the correct “Mission”
- Service reason: Issued new US passport
- After entering these initial details, you will get a File Reference Number — note this number down. You will need this later if you need to re-upload any documents to your file.
Step 2.1: Getting your OCI photo
The next step is submitting your OCI photo (VFS guidelines, but you shouldn’t need this if you follow the below steps). For the entire OCI application process, you ultimately need:
- Digital copy of the 2" x 2" photo to upload to the OCI Online Services website
- Two printouts of the 2" x 2" to send with the physical application (for this, you can printout a 4" x 6" and cut this into 4–6 photos)
Practically, there are several ways to get this photo. If you want the quickest method and don’t mind paying, I recommend Online Passport Photo ($8) (I’ve used this service personally in the past so I can verify it’s legitimate), VisaFoto ($7), or MakePassportPhoto ($3). If I had to do this again, I would probably use MakePassportPhoto. Below is a free, though slightly tedious method:
- Take a high-quality photo of your face and shoulders with your mobile phone on a solid background. Pick a place with sufficient lighting and stand close to the wall to minimize shadows. I recommend you have someone else take the photo instead of a selfie.
- Use Remove.bg to remove the background and replace it with a solid white background. You’ll need to create an account to get one credit for free. Their background removal tool to work very well, so this should be all you need.
- Use MakePassportPhoto to crop this photo to the proper dimensions. Select the Do it Yourself option. For the paper size, select “Individual/single photo”, upload your photo with the white background, and put 490 into the max file size (max is 500kb, but added some buffer to be safe). Go through the steps and download this high-quality photo.
- Use MakePassportPhoto again but instead select the “6 x 4 inch” option. And this time, use the photo you downloaded in Step 3. Don’t make any other adjustments and you should end up with the identical photo, except 6 of them for printing. You’ll need these when submitting the physical application.
- For printing the 4" x 6" photo, I used CVS, selecting the glossy option. It costs about $0.35 (you can use the coupon code NEXT30 to save 30%). You can order it online by uploading the photo and pick-it up in-store the same-day.
- Upload the photo from Step 3 to the online application. Ensure that the file name does not include spaces or symbols, or else the upload will fail.
Step 2.2: Getting your Signature
The next step is to upload your signature. This is the process I followed:
- Download the Microsoft Office Lens app on your mobile phone (available on Android and iPhone).
- Sign a blank piece of paper using a black pen.
- Use Microsoft Office Lens and take a photo of this piece of paper with sufficient whitespace around your signature. Use the Black & White filter to remove the color.
- Transfer the image to your computer (by emailing it or messaging it to yourself) and upload it to Redketchup.io.
- First crop the image so that aspect ratio is 1:3 (for example, 600 pixels tall by 1800 pixels wide). Move the box around to keep your signature inside.
- Under the resize image option, set the height to 250 pixels and width to 750 pixels. Download this photo for use in the application.
- Upload the photo to the online application.
There’s likely a simpler method, but this has worked for me.
After uploading these images on the application, you’ve completed Part A — congrats!
Step 3: Fill out the application form on OCI Online Services — Part B
Note: If you exit the application and need to return, go to OCI Online Services, OCI Miscellaneous Services, enter the CAPTCHA, and then select partially-filled application. Enter the Temporary Application ID from before to access your application.
The next set of questions concerns your citizenship and nationality. Again, you can use the VFS guidelines, but it’s mostly straightforward.
- You can find this information online regarding your family’s previous OCI applications on the OCI status enquiry page. The file reference number is located in the respective OCI booklet.
- The Date of acknowledgment is the Date when applied.
- Place where applied is the Mission (Washington DC, Atlanta, etc.).
For the OCI document upload step, refer to the table in Step 1. High-quality mobile photos of these documents work instead of actual scans. Note that there’s no separate category for the OCI copy, so upload it under the Indian Visa category.
Once this is finished, you will receive a PDF of the Online Application Form. You will need this later when submitting documents to the embassy.
Step 4: Registering with VFS
Use this link to create a new VFS application. Fill out the set of questions (see below). You will have to create a VFS account first before proceeding to payment. The VFS website will take you through this process.
Note: If you’ve already created an account from a previous application, then you need to login and create a new application from there.
Once your account is created, you will need to login and “Create new application”. Fill out these details (I know, you would have just filled out the same details before).
Next, select the courier service. I selected the VFS service since that was the simplest. (I haven’t looked into using my own courier label, though I imagine it would be cheaper.) In total, the charge is USD 76.49.
After payment, you will be asked to download the Application Confirmation Letter. Download this and copy the Reference Number (note, this is different than the reference number from the OCI Online Application). Use this number to get the courier label.
Step 5: Shipping your Application
Now we’re at the last step. Use the appropriate VFS-provided checklists to determine which documents you send. Note that these are specifically for Miscellaneous services.
Here are a few tips:
- You will need to include a filled-out checklist as well with your application.
- Make sure to fill out & sign the Application Form. You do not have to sign the photo.
- You will need to notarize and send the following form: Affidavit in lieu of originals. Write down the list of document copies you are sending with the application (for example, passport, OCI card, etc.).
- Include two 2" x 2" photos. These are the ones that you should have gotten in Step 2.1. Since the online application already has a digital photo, simply paper clip the two hard copies to the application.
Collect all the documents and use the prepaid label to ship them to VFS. After this, your work is now finished. VFS will send updates as and when your application is received, processed, and sent to the embassy.
Additional Support
Hopefully by following this guide, your application will be processed smoothly. If any issues, here’s what I recommend:
- Use this form to submit any questions. You should receive a response in 2–3 business days, hopefully.
- If you have to submit any further documents, they will provide you the address.
- If it’s urgent, you may have to call them. They will charge you $2.48 per minute (a complete scam in my opinion). They say they will not charge you for the time you’re on hold, but when I called them, I was charged. The upside is that they do seem to process the request quicker when you call them.
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