Overseas Citizen of India registration system revamped, fully digitized

New Delhi (TIP): The Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday, April 30, notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026, bringing changes to the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) framework and broader citizenship procedures. Amendments take force immediately.
A major overhaul involves complete digitisation of the OCI registration and cancellation system.
From now on, all applications for OCI card-holdership under Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 must now be filed exclusively through the designated online portal ociservices.gov.in. The earlier requirement of submitting applications in duplicate has been done away with.
In a significant modernisation of the system under amended Rule 33, registered OCI cardholders will now be issued either a physical OCI card or an electronic OCI (e-OCI) registration.
The issuing authority will henceforth maintain all records electronically.
A major new provision inserted into Rule 3 of the Citizenship Rules makes it clear that a minor child holding an Indian passport cannot simultaneously hold the passport of any other country “at any time”. The proviso “at any time” has been added afresh.
Applicants are required to formally acknowledge this condition and a corresponding declaration has been added to the related form.
In another change, the amendments add a new consent clause to the application and allows OCI applicants to share their biometric data for automatic or application-based registration under the Fast-Track Immigration Programme. The aim, officials said, is streamlining future immigration processing.
Amendments also make OCI renunciation process online and says declaration of renunciation of OCI card-holdership under Section 7C must now be filed electronically via the online portal. Where a physical card was issued, the original must still be physically surrendered to the Indian Mission, Post or Foreigners Regional Registration Officer concerned.
The new norms strengthen OCI card cancellation provisions. The revised Rule 35 empowers the Centre to treat an e-OCI registration as cancelled by direction, even without physical card surrender. “If a physical card is not delivered upon notice, the government may similarly direct it to be treated as cancelled,” the rules state.
The amended Rule 42 restructures the appellate process. Citizenship applicants aggrieved by an order may now approach an authority one rank higher than the original deciding authority. For OCI-related grievances, the Centre will designate the revision authority. A new Rule 42A separately provides for review of orders under the newly inserted Section 15A of the Act. The notification signed by Nitesh Kumar Vyas, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, has been made under the principal Citizenship Rules originally notified in February 2009 and last amended in March 2024.