If a British citizen is of Indian origin they may make frequent trips to the country for personal and business purposes. Travel to India usually involves a visa application for each visit, which can be incredibly time consuming. However, people of Indian origin have an alternative option: an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card.

The application is not overly complicated, but the services of a notary public might be needed to successfully complete the process.

What is an OCI card?

India does not allow dual nationality, but an OCI card grants the holder a lifelong freedom to travel to the country whenever they want. It also grants permission to work in India, and removes the need to report to local police if a visit lasts longer than 180 days.

The card can be obtained by people who were once Indian citizens, their spouses, their children and their grandchildren. The spouses and children of Overseas Citizens of India are also eligible.

In the United Kingdom, OCI cards are issued by VSF Global on behalf of the High Commission of India. In order to apply you will need to be able to prove your Indian origin.

Why might I need a notary public?

Eligibility for an OCI has to be proved by Indian passports, birth certificates and ancestral nativity certificates. In some cases, the documentation has been lost or is unavailable to the applicant. This is a particularly common problem when both parents of the OCI applicant have died.

There are numerous other reasons why the original documentation needed for an OCI card might be missing, but the standards of proof required by the Indian High Commission can still be satisfied if you use the services of a notary public.

What will the notary public do?

Notaries can provide notarisation of affidavits for OCI applications, which means they authenticate the applicant’s sworn statement of facts about their origin.

Notaries can also notarise certificates of education and land ownership deeds, which may help prove eligibility.

South London Notaries

We provide notarisation of affidavits for OCI applications and a wide range of other notary services. For more information, please visit our Services page.