Opposition to mandatory renunciation of Indian Citizenship and request to consider OCI as a "standalone" document.
Sign Now
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
India
Subject: Opposition to mandatory renunciation of Indian Citizenship and request to consider OCI as a "standalone" document.
Hon. Prime Minister,
We strongly object to the mandatory renunciation of Indian Citizenship when applying for OCI/Indian visa. Indian laws says that one automatically loses Indian citizenship on acquiring foreign citizenship so why does one need to renounce Indian citizenship voluntarily "onceagain" when one has already / automatically lost it on acquisition of foreign citizenship. Also it pains us when signing the renunciation form "voluntarily".
Moreover, we are/will always be Indians despite whatever citizenship we take. Even the native citizens/residents of whatever citizenship we take (Americans / Europeans / Australians etc) always refer to us as "Indians" only despite us taking up their citizenships, so renouncing our "Indianness" really hurts us.
Most of us are having our father/mother/sisters/brothers/relatives/homes and roots in India. The renunciation really pains us & hurts our sentiments that are attached to India. Hence we request to do away with the renunciation part immediately when applying for OCI/Indian visa (as one automatically looses Indian citizenship on acquisition of foreign citizenship). Surrender of passports on acquisition of foreign citizenship is definately acceptable.
We also request to keep the OCI aquisition process very simple i.e. those who have acquired foreign citizenship recently within last 6 months or are yet to obtain foreign citizenship and if they wish to obtain OCI, they should be given a simple option to surrender their "full" Indian passports and be given a OCI booklet/passport i.e Partial citizenship/passport in lieu of payment of necessary fees (without any additional paperwork or "WAIT TIME" and without renouncing Indian citizenship). i.e the current contents of their full Indian passport be transferred to OCI and OCI be issued - simple.
For those who have obtained foreign residence before 6 months from today (or any date to be decided by the governement) and are desirious of obtaining OCI, they should go through the regular route (what it is currently).
Most of us are desirious of investing in India/starting new ventures / business in India but the current OCI does not offer us any mental security as it is a "visa" (as a visa can be cancelled any time). What we need is some security including the right to return to our motherland and the current OCI does not even guarantee that -- as it is "visa".
A simple notification/declaration from the Government of India declaring OCI not as a "visa" but as a "standalone" document with "Limited citizenship / passport" rights can give us the needed security.
By declaring OCI as a "standalone" document and making it compulsary to enter/exit India using OCI (for those possessing OCI) will assure us that OCI is not a "visa" but is a standalone document with limited citizenship / passport rights.
OCI in its current form carries "no weight" as it cannot be used "independently". If a person has a foreign passport and has a visa in it to visit India ("U" visa) then why does one need a seperate OCI booklet/document at all? His/her foreign passport already contain his/her identification etc then one wonders what is the use/purpose of issuing / possessing seperate OCI document / passport if it cannot be used "independently"?. i.e. the whole purpose of issusing / possessing OCI is lost if it cannot be used independently.
Hence we suggest/request to immediately stop the current practice of issuing/pasting "U" stickers in foreign passports as it defeats the entire purpose of issuing / possessing OCI document and a declare OCI as a standalone, independent document with limited citizenship / passport rights. (i.e OCI can only be used as a standalone document to enter/exit India and cannot be used as a "full passport" for international travel)
Also in today's changing world, even countries like Somalia, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka & nearly 90 other countries have recognised the advantages of offering dual citizenship and have recently modified their constitution in the last 10 years to allow dual citizenship. Hence we request that immediate steps should be taken by India also to allow "full" dual citizenship at the earliest.
Hence we hereby request that:
1. Renunciation of Indian citizenship when obtaining OCI/Indian Visa be done away with.
2. The process of issuing/pasting "U" sticker in foreign passport be stopped immediately.
3. OCI be declared/recognised as a independent standalone document with "limited citizenship/passport" rights and make it compulsary to enter/exit India on OCI (for those having OCI).
Jai Hind
If you already have an account please sign in, otherwise register an account for free then sign the petition filling the fields below.
Email and password will be your account data, you will be able to sign other petitions after logging in.
Continue with Google