OCI's six-month-stay-in-India requirement is removed
Effective 8 April 2026, eligible foreign nationals can apply for an Overseas Citizenship of India card without completing six months of stay in India.
Effective 8 April 2026, the Bureau of Immigration India has officially removed the requirement that eligible foreign nationals must complete a six-month stay in India before applying for an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card, InvestMates reports.
The rule had been a quiet source of friction for diaspora applicants — particularly for those who had married into Indian families abroad, or were applying from countries where holding India in continuous residency was difficult to coordinate with work and family obligations.
Under the revised framework, eligible applicants — including spouses of OCI cardholders and children of OCI parents — can apply directly through the e-OCI portal without the in-country waiting period. The change works in tandem with the digital OCI system, which from May 2026 has moved the entire application and renewal process online, InvestMates notes.
For diaspora families who have spent years navigating the OCI process from abroad, the change reduces friction at a single, often-decisive choke point. It is the quiet kind of policy update that does not generate headlines but materially shortens the path for tens of thousands of applicants.
Source: InvestMates.
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