The Indian Consulate in San Francisco shares the latest guidelines on how to verify whether your OCI card is valid for travel.

The following OCI guidelines have been in force since 2005:

OCI card needs to be re-issued each time a new passport is acquired by the cardholder up to the age of 20 years.

OCI card is required to be re-issued once on acquiring a new passport after completing 50 years of age.

Re-issuance of OCI card is not required each time a passport is issued to a cardholder between 21 and 50 years of age.

  1. This is to inform that Government of India has decided to grant temporary relaxation till 30th June 2020 in the following cases:

In case an OCI card holder below the age of 20 years has not got the OCI card re-issued on change of passport, he/she may travel on the strength of his/her existing OCI card bearing old passport number subject to the condition that along with the new passport, the OCI cardholder carries old passport mentioned in the OCI card.

In case an OCI card holder who has attained the age of 50 years and has got his/her passport renewed subsequently but has not got his/her OCI card re-issued on renewal of his/her passport, he/she may travel on the strength of the existing OCI card along with the old and new passports.

  1. It is, however, advised that OCI cardholders may take steps to comply with the existing OCI guidelines in Para 1 above and renew their OCI cards as required by the rules.