Hello,
I had a frustrating call with a VFS agent that has opened up more questions for me regarding the document checklist for a new OCI application for myself.
I am an adult US (recently) Naturalized Citizen. Prior to US Naturalization, I was an Indian citizen. I have renounced my Indian citizenship. I have received my Surrender Certificate. I have also received my previous Indian passport back with a canceled (due to foreign nationality) stamp on it. I am married. My spouse has an OCI card but I am applying on my own and not through my spouse. My consulate location is San Francisco.
I have begun my OCI application. I have completed part A and B of form on the Govt. of India website. I am now going to digitally upload my documents on the Govt. of India website.
I am using this OCI checklist created by VFS for Adult US Nationals by Naturalization: https://www.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/...TION-ADULT.pdf
In that checklist I see the requirement of self-attested copy of US passport. I know I have to submit a self-attested copy when I physically mail my application to VFS. But since I'm currently at the step of digitally uploading to the Govt. of India website, my question is:
Do I have to also digitally upload a self-attested copy of my US passport or is just a regular scanned copy of my US passport fine?
I called VFS to ask this. The agent, instead of answering this question, pointed me to the minors category section of the checklist (checklist is linked earlier in my message) despite my repeatedly telling the agent I'm an adult, not a minor, and kept emphasizing that I need to upload my birth certificate (I do have an Indian birth certificate but it seems that requirement only appears in the minors category of the checklist).
So now my second question is:
Do I need to upload my birth certificate too?
Per the VFS checklist, I was planning on digitally uploading the following to the Govt. of India website:
1. Copy of my US passport with copy of my recent Indian Visa
2. Copy of my Indian passport with canceled stamp
3. Copy of my Indian Passport/Citizenship Surrender Certificate
4. Copy of my US Naturalization Certificate
5. Copy of my marriage certificate (since I am married even though I am not applying through my spouse who has an OCI card)
6. Copy of my US driver's license (for address proof)
None of the condition-based supporting documents listed on the VFS checklist apply to me.
In summary, given the unclear answers by the VFS agent and potential misdirection, my final set of questions (including the previous two questions I listed earlier) are:
Q1. Should the copy of my US passport that I plan to digitally upload to the Govt. of India website also be self-attested or can it just be a regular copy?
Q2. Despite not being a minor and despite having a canceled Indian passport and Surrender Certificate, should I upload my Indian birth certificate?
Q3. Should the set of documents I digitally upload to the Govt. of India website exactly match the set of documents I physically mail to the VFS?
Q4. Is there any issue if I digitally upload additional documents which may not be required (e.g. birth certificate) and also include them in my physical application to VFS. If not needed, will they just ignore it?
Q5. On the Govt. of India website, here is a screenshot (from my mobile device) of all the options available to digitally upload documents. If I indeed do have to upload my birth certificate, do I do it as the Indian Origin Proof category? I was planning on uploading my canceled Indian Passport for that category (there is no separate Indian Passport category). Below is the screenshot:
Thank you all so much for reading through all this and additional thanks in advance for your guidance and responses!
I had a frustrating call with a VFS agent that has opened up more questions for me regarding the document checklist for a new OCI application for myself.
I am an adult US (recently) Naturalized Citizen. Prior to US Naturalization, I was an Indian citizen. I have renounced my Indian citizenship. I have received my Surrender Certificate. I have also received my previous Indian passport back with a canceled (due to foreign nationality) stamp on it. I am married. My spouse has an OCI card but I am applying on my own and not through my spouse. My consulate location is San Francisco.
I have begun my OCI application. I have completed part A and B of form on the Govt. of India website. I am now going to digitally upload my documents on the Govt. of India website.
I am using this OCI checklist created by VFS for Adult US Nationals by Naturalization: https://www.vfsglobal.com/one-pager/...TION-ADULT.pdf
In that checklist I see the requirement of self-attested copy of US passport. I know I have to submit a self-attested copy when I physically mail my application to VFS. But since I'm currently at the step of digitally uploading to the Govt. of India website, my question is:
Do I have to also digitally upload a self-attested copy of my US passport or is just a regular scanned copy of my US passport fine?
I called VFS to ask this. The agent, instead of answering this question, pointed me to the minors category section of the checklist (checklist is linked earlier in my message) despite my repeatedly telling the agent I'm an adult, not a minor, and kept emphasizing that I need to upload my birth certificate (I do have an Indian birth certificate but it seems that requirement only appears in the minors category of the checklist).
So now my second question is:
Do I need to upload my birth certificate too?
Per the VFS checklist, I was planning on digitally uploading the following to the Govt. of India website:
1. Copy of my US passport with copy of my recent Indian Visa
2. Copy of my Indian passport with canceled stamp
3. Copy of my Indian Passport/Citizenship Surrender Certificate
4. Copy of my US Naturalization Certificate
5. Copy of my marriage certificate (since I am married even though I am not applying through my spouse who has an OCI card)
6. Copy of my US driver's license (for address proof)
None of the condition-based supporting documents listed on the VFS checklist apply to me.
In summary, given the unclear answers by the VFS agent and potential misdirection, my final set of questions (including the previous two questions I listed earlier) are:
Q1. Should the copy of my US passport that I plan to digitally upload to the Govt. of India website also be self-attested or can it just be a regular copy?
Q2. Despite not being a minor and despite having a canceled Indian passport and Surrender Certificate, should I upload my Indian birth certificate?
Q3. Should the set of documents I digitally upload to the Govt. of India website exactly match the set of documents I physically mail to the VFS?
Q4. Is there any issue if I digitally upload additional documents which may not be required (e.g. birth certificate) and also include them in my physical application to VFS. If not needed, will they just ignore it?
Q5. On the Govt. of India website, here is a screenshot (from my mobile device) of all the options available to digitally upload documents. If I indeed do have to upload my birth certificate, do I do it as the Indian Origin Proof category? I was planning on uploading my canceled Indian Passport for that category (there is no separate Indian Passport category). Below is the screenshot:
Thank you all so much for reading through all this and additional thanks in advance for your guidance and responses!
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