VFS rejected application for foreign spouse

[jirai_a_chennai]

I am a current OCI cardholder. I received my OCI card because my father was born an Indian citizen. He later became a US citizen. I was born in USA and have never had Indian citizenship.

My spouse recently applied for an OCI card as a foreign spouse on the basis of my OCI card. We have been married more than 8 years.

VFS rejected the application without sending it to the consulate. They claim that my spouse is not eligible to apply for OCI because I was born in the USA. They additionally wrote "cannot apply on basis of spouse's parents" and "cannot apply on basis of in-laws".

This seems to directly conflict with both the information on the Consulate General of New York's website, which says:

"Q: My spouse is a foreign national of non-Indian origin. I hold an OCI Card. Is my spouse entitled to an OCI Card?

A: Yes, the spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder registered under section 7A and whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application, can apply for an OCI card."

I think VFS made an error and incorrectly assumed my spouse was applying for OCI directly on the basis of my father (even though my application clearly states they are applying as a foreign spouse on the basis of my OCI card).

Can anyone confirm that, given I already have an OCI card, my spouse is also eligible for OCI? Why would VFS reject the application?

[DJT_DJT]

Good luck fighting the battle with VFS on their "idiotic" interpretations of what Indian Consulate website shows. VFS interpretations are confused / confusing at best.

[Jot18]

I am a current OCI cardholder. I received my OCI card because my father was born an Indian citizen. He later became a US citizen. I was born in USA and have never had Indian citizenship.

My spouse recently applied for an OCI card as a foreign spouse on the basis of my OCI card. We have been married more than 8 years.

VFS rejected the application without sending it to the consulate. They claim that my spouse is not eligible to apply for OCI because I was born in the USA. They additionally wrote "cannot apply on basis of spouse's parents" and "cannot apply on basis of in-laws".

This seems to directly conflict with both the information on the Consulate General of New York's website, which says:

"Q: My spouse is a foreign national of non-Indian origin. I hold an OCI Card. Is my spouse entitled to an OCI Card?

A: Yes, the spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder registered under section 7A and whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application, can apply for an OCI card."

I think VFS made an error and incorrectly assumed my spouse was applying for OCI directly on the basis of my father (even though my application clearly states they are applying as a foreign spouse on the basis of my OCI card).

Can anyone confirm that, given I already have an OCI card, my spouse is also eligible for OCI? Why would VFS reject the application?

When you applied did you attach marriage certificate? The other thing I think is that because you derived Indian citizenship from your father. If you were Indian Citizen, they might not have denied it.

[jirai_a_chennai]

I included all required documents, including my apostilled marriage certificate and my current OCI card.

What's more, I had made the same OCI application for my spouse last year and it was rejected due to the marriage certificate not having an apostille! In other words, the first rejection was not on the basis of ineligibility, it was due to lacking a document. This time I provided the document, and the rejection was due to lack of eligibility.

The Indian Citizenship Act is very clear on the matter. It says that a "spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder" are eligible to apply for registration as an OCI cardholder. See https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default...s_23072021.pdf

I filed a complaint with VFS but I doubt that will have any effect.

My plan is to resubmit with a letter of explanation citing the consulate website and the citizenship act, and make it very clear that my spouse is applying on the basis of my OCI card, not my father's former citizenship.

It is frustrating because every time they reject it's another $45 and several weeks wasted.

[arkaa]

Before you re-submit, contact the consulate and get clarification from them. Then attach that email with your re-submission to VFS.
If they were wrong to reject your application in the first place, you could even demand a refund of the fees.

[dvpatel]

Before you re-submit, contact the consulate and get clarification from them. Then attach that email with your re-submission to VFS.
If they were wrong to reject your application in the first place, you could even demand a refund of the fees.

Its normally not the fees that are not refunded. They do refund the OCI fees. They eat the $17 of their fees and the actual loss is the FedEx shipping costs which they charge upfront $30 a pop each round. $15 to send the docs to them and the other $15 for them to reject and return the docs back to us.

By BIL has gone through the ringer for my niece's application. They kept rejecting it for a multitude of reasons. Apostilled birth certificate was the final rejection. A month later, the OCI website now says if you have an Indian or a US Birth certificate, you do not need it apostilled. Between the embassy and VFS, its just a bunch of idiots who have so much power.

[jirai_a_chennai]

Thanks for the suggestions. I sent a query via the CG website's PRAMIT service, if they answer with something useful I will include that in the new application.

Yes, they do refund the OCI fees of $275 (eventually). It's almost as if they train their employees to look for any reason to reject an application so they can earn additional fees.

It will probably be mid-March before I can put together a new application, I will update with news.

[jirai_a_chennai]

UPDATE:

March 28, 2022: I submitted a new Foreign Spouse OCI application for my wife to VFS, including a cover letter citing the relevant portions of the Citizenship Act, Ministry of Home Affairs FAQ on OCI matters, and CGI NY website.

April 1, 2022: I received notice that the application is being rejected as ineligible "as you [wife] are not eligible for OCI card as you or your spouse [me] don't have proof of Indian origin".

I do not understand this at all. I have an OCI card. In order to obtain it I had to provide proof of Indian origin. In this application for my wife I provided my OCI card and the same documents I used to obtain it as requested by VFS, but they are claiming I don't have proof of Indian origin?

This is the third time VFS has rejected my wife's foreign spouse OCI application. At this point it just seems a waste of time and money. I am going to start a separate thread about Entry Visa requirements, as that seems to be the only other option we have for my spouse to join me in India for a period greater than 6 months.

[ST2022]

In my opinion:

VFS is expecting copies of first/last pages of your (Indian citizen) passport to prove India origin proof that was properly surrendered thru renunciation. ( should carry stamp “surrrendered or cancelled on acquiring foreign citizenship”).


last page of the checklist, under ‘Indian origin proof’ :

https://services.vfsglobal.com/one-p...ign-spouse.pdf

[jirai_a_chennai]

I agree, I think VFS incorrectly assumes that only the spouse of a former Indian citizen can apply for OCI.

Yet this directly conflicts with Section 7A of the Citizenship Act (as Liberty48 pointed out here).

I received my OCI under 7A(a)(iv) (child of former Indian citizen), and 7A(d) says that "spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder registered under section 7A" is eligible for OCI. It doesn't distinguish between OCI cardholders who were former citizens, or those who received OCI through ancestry.

My wife's application may be atypical, but I think VFS is just not used to seeing this type of application and so they are rejecting it. (They never cite specific Indian code provisions in rejection).

[Liberty48]

IMO, the VFS form/checklist is wrong. You may query MEA and the consulate. Or try it in India.