More PIOs seek OCI cards...

Dual citizenship for 5L PIOs in 4 Years
Scramble for the OCIs even in Finland, Venezuela

Mumbai:
In less than four years since the government first gave Person of Indian Origin (PIOs) a second chance to reconnect with the country of their forefathers, more than half a million foreign nationals have acquired the coveted Overseas Citizenship of India(OCI).
Popularly known as ‘dual citizenship’, OCI was first mooted in December 2005 to woo the rich and influential Indian Diaspora peppered across the world. Recently, the scheme was in news when Noble laureate V S Naipaul, whose ancestors belonged to UP’s Gorakhpur, was given a hard time by overzealous babus in London when he applied for the card. The celebrated author was asked to provide documentation to prove that ancestors indeed lived in India. However, the Naipaul case apart, figures sourced by TOI suggest that the scheme has been a roaring the success- especially among PIOs living in the First World. By the end of this March, the Government issued 5, 73,324 dual citizenship in 91 countries in March this year. Nearly half of these were American citizens followed by the Britishers, Canadians and Australians. The one common bond among them was that at least one of their ancestors had been an Indian.
The primary benefit of having an OCIO status is that the holder gets a life-long visa to visit India and stay as long as he wants. Second, unlike other foreign visitors, he doesn’t need to register with local police on arrival.
But, it’s also minsnomer to assume that OCI grants any real form of “citizenship”. It does not give the PIO a right to vote or contest election in India. He also cannot hold constitutional posts or buy agricultural land in the country.
Though the PIOs have often demanded more from their “dual citizenship”, the idea has caught up among the Indian Diaspora across the world.
There is a stronger presence of registered PIOs in European countries like France, Germany and Switzerland and Kenya in Africa, where Indians had historically migrated. But, in a surprise, OCIs in hundreds have also been registered in countries like China, Venezuela, Finland, Israel and Mexico.
Last, if Naipaul wanted to draw any solace he could do well to know that Indian officials were keeping another 9,285 PIOs waiting. The reasons included people filling up their forms online but forgetting to submit a hard copy at an Indian embassy in their country.
“Or, in some cases, the documents were in complete”, said an official from the ministry of overseas Indian Affairs.


Times of India. 19th July 2010