OCI Renewal for someone between 21 and 49 years old

[sumdesi 3]

I need some advice from someone experienced with OCI renewal rules.  I am being told about a particular rule by an Indian travel agent which I can't corroborate anywhere on an official Indian immigration website or through general articles / forums online, so I believe the travel agent has most definitely misunderstood the OCI renewal rules.  But I thought I would ask the question in this forum to see if I'm missing something.

 

First a little bit of background on my situation.  I used to be an Indian citizen, but became an US citizen as a minor along with my parents in 2005.  Then in 2007, I received my OCI card when I was less than 20 years old.  Then I renewed my US passport in 2015, by which time I was over 20 years old.  I did not renew my OCI card at this time, and I have already traveled to India since 2015 without any issues.

 

So what I am being told by a travel agent is that in 2019/2020, Indian government stated that people who had received their OCI card when they were a minor (<= 20 years old) need to renew their OCI at least once when they renew their US passport, even if they are older than 20 years old at that time.  Meaning that I should have renewed my OCI in 2015 when my US passport was renewed.

 

However, that doesn't match with the rules I see on official consulate website, as follows:

 

OCI Travel Advisory – Re-issue of OCI Card (On getting a New Passport)

• For an applicant who is 20 years of age or younger, OCI documents must be re-issued each time a new passport is issued.
• For an applicant who is 50 years of age or older, OCI documents must be re-issued once after the issuance of a new passport. If the OCI card is issued for the first time after the age of 50 years, then there is no need for re-issue of OCI.
• For an applicant who is 21 to 49 years of age, there is no need to re-issue OCI documents each time a new passport is issued. However, if the applicant desires, he/she can request that the OCI documents be re-issued so that the OCI documents reflect the correct passport number.
Please view the full requirements for OCI Re-issue for more information at the following link.

 

According to the above (particularly the part in red), if you are currently between the age of 21 and 49, the you do not need to renew your OCI.  It doesn't state anything of when you originally were issued the OCI.  That is why I believe the travel agent has misunderstood when he says that I need to renew my OCI now since I have not renewed it since I originally received it when I was a minor.

 

Any insight and thoughts would be appreciated!

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by sumdesi

[NandV 87]

I'm not sure about the OCI card, but I know for a US passport, the first time that you renew after 21 (regardless if you are 21, 30, 40), you're subject to the <21 rules aka you have to renew in person. After that, you follow the >21 path. It may be the same for OCI. The first time after you turn 21, you may have to renew it again and then after that you do not need to. However, I will leave it for someone else to chime in