OCI card renewal question for minor turned adult

[mahycal]

My son is 23 years of age. His OCI card was issued when he was 12 years of age. His US passport was renewed when he turned 17 and it expires in 2025. His OCI card was not re-issued when his US passport was renewed in 2015. According to the latest reissue guidelines, 1)OCI cardholder is required to get the OCI card re-issued only once when a new passport is issued after completing 20 years of age. 2)OCI cardholder is required to upload ONLINE a copy of the new passport and a recent photo each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age. On the online OCI service website (https://ociservices.gov.in/), it does not give an option to upload his photo (because he is over 20 years old). It only has option to update the address. Since he is 23 and his passport has not expired after completing 20 years of age, our understanding is he does not need to get a new OCI card. Please share your thoughts or experience.

Thanks in advance!

[sweetwater]

They could have written this reissue OCI statement in a more clear way, I was bit confused too. I got OCI in 2009, got new US passport at 47yo (in 2018) and i turned 50 this year, my next passport renewal is in 2028....I am also trying to determine if I need to reissue OCI now or when I renew passport in 2028. I was reading about this OCI renewal at https://indianembassyusa.gov.in/pages/NjI, My interpretation is that you dont need to get OCI re-issued when someone turns 20 , but when they get a new passport after they turn 20, they need to get OCI reissued. So if your son got passport at 17, OCI reissue needs to be done when they get new passport in 2025. Also if you look at the website mentioned above, it says (iii)...The uploading of these documents may be done within three months of receipt of the new passport; (This kind of implies that after one turns 20 when they get a new passport, within 3 months they should get OCI renewed ). Please share your thoughts.

[arkaa]

My son is 23 years of age. His OCI card was issued when he was 12 years of age. His US passport was renewed when he turned 17 and it expires in 2025. His OCI card was not re-issued when his US passport was renewed in 2015. According to the latest reissue guidelines, 1)OCI cardholder is required to get the OCI card re-issued only once when a new passport is issued after completing 20 years of age. 2)OCI cardholder is required to upload ONLINE a copy of the new passport and a recent photo each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 years of age. On the online OCI service website (https://ociservices.gov.in/), it does not give an option to upload his photo (because he is over 20 years old). It only has option to update the address. Since he is 23 and his passport has not expired after completing 20 years of age, our understanding is he does not need to get a new OCI card. Please share your thoughts or experience.

Thanks in advance!

I faced this exact situation. My kid's passport was renewed in 2019, but couldn't renew the OCI as we moved between states immediately after. Then the kid went off to college and I couldn't apply (as the kid is major and needs to apply as an individual), so I thought I'd renew it over summer break. Then Covid happened and everything came to a halt. Meanwhile my kid turned 20. With the new rules, I thought I could just update it online, but it won't show the option (it showed for my other kid who is under 20 and I was able to update online successfully).

So, looks like they are going by the kid's birth date for the calculating the cut-off date, instead of the date of the last passport issue. To avoid future hassle, I decided to just apply for a re-issue and be done with it. That way the kid doesn't have to worry about re-issue till they turn 50.

While you are technically correct, you don't want your son to be held up by some clueless immigration officer and then have to explain the rules & technicalities to them. Just get the OCI re-issued so that your son can travel to India without any future issues.

[dvpatel]

I faced this exact situation. My kid's passport was renewed in 2019, but couldn't renew the OCI as we moved between states immediately after. Then the kid went off to college and I couldn't apply (as the kid is major and needs to apply as an individual), so I thought I'd renew it over summer break. Then Covid happened and everything came to a halt. Meanwhile my kid turned 20. With the new rules, I thought I could just update it online, but it won't show the option (it showed for my other kid who is under 20 and I was able to update online successfully).

So, looks like they are going by the kid's birth date for the calculating the cut-off date, instead of the date of the last passport issue. To avoid future hassle, I decided to just apply for a re-issue and be done with it. That way the kid doesn't have to worry about re-issue till they turn 50.

While you are technically correct, you don't want your son to be held up by some clueless immigration officer and then have to explain the rules & technicalities to them. Just get the OCI re-issued so that your son can travel to India without any future issues.

I am in the same boat with a twist. We did get my daughter's new passport after she turned 20. I suppose I have no choice but to do the one time move to her new passport. Does she need to physically sign anything? She is at school but I have her signature image.

[arkaa]

I am in the same boat with a twist. We did get my daughter's new passport after she turned 20. I suppose I have no choice but to do the one time move to her new passport. Does she need to physically sign anything? She is at school but I have her signature image.

I think one document is to be notarized - so she has to be there physically. Or she can get it done where she is and mail it to you.

[dvpatel]

I think one document is to be notarized - so she has to be there physically. Or she can get it done where she is and mail it to you.

Thank you. She is back for Christmas break so I will get the notary done in the next couple weeks while she is here.