Trusted Consular and Document Services for NRIs in the USA

In the USA, a foreign national can apply for an OCI card if they were a citizen of India or are eligible to apply for citizenship of India on or after January 26, 1950, or if they were a child or grandchild of such a person. Also, minor children of Indian citizens and foreign individuals married to a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin for a minimum of two years can also apply for the card.

OCI cardholders cannot hold certain constitutional and political positions, such as serving as the Supreme Court judge, Vice President, or President, vote in Indian elections, acquire any type of plantation and agricultural property, or generally hold government jobs.

To apply for an Indian passport in the USA, you must complete the online application on the official Indian government passport website, specifically the Passport Seva portal. Additionally, you can also use the VFS Global site to fill out the form. Once you fill out the form, you need to submit the physical application, along with the required documents, at an Indian Consular Application Centre in the USA.

The fastest way to receive an Indian passport is to apply for the Takaal Indian passport scheme available on the Passport Seva Portal. However, for this, you need to pay a higher fee and are required to submit additional documents.

Yes, you renew your Indian passport in the USA at an authorized VFS application centre. However, before going for the in-person meeting, you need to fill out the online application form from the Passport Seva Portal and book an appointment.

To get an Indian visa as a US citizen, you need to visit the official Indian visa online portal and select the visa type as per your requirements. After that, fill out the application form, submit the required documents, and pay the applicable fees. You can also apply for the visa using Visament. For this, you just need to visit our site and follow the mentioned steps.

Indian visa approval time varies depending on the visa type. Generally, the Indian e-visa process in 3 to 5 working days, while the traditional visas can take a few days to several weeks. However, this time may vary depending on the individual circumstances, the number of increased visa applications, and the type of visa application.

Yes, an NRI can apply for a PAN card from the USA using the online application process. To do so, you can fill out the form using the Protean eGov Technologies Limited (formerly NSDL) or UTIITSL website.

Yes, you can get a PAN card without an OCI card. In place of an OCI card, you need to submit your bank account statement (generally for the last three months), current or savings account only. You cannot submit the credit card statements.

Depending on the document type, you first need to obtain the central or state-level government attestation. For instance of personal and educational documents, you need to review them from HRD/ Home Department. After that, for the final apostille stamp, you need to submit the document to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) or an authorized company. You need an apostille if you are using your public document, such as a birth, education, or marriage certificate, from one country to another country who have signed the Hague Apostille Convention.

An apostille is done for a wide range of personal, commercial, and educational documents, such as marriage certificates, birth certificates, academic degrees, power of attorney documents, and more.

To get an NRI certificate, first you need to visit the official website of Visament, select the service, and fill out the application form. After that, you need to pay the fees and upload the required documents for expert verification. Then our experts will fill out your application and send you for your approval. Once you approve it, our experts will send it to the Indian consulate or embassy to get the certificate.

An NRI certificate is required in India to access several financial services like investing in Indian assets, opening bank accounts, and claiming the double taxation benefits under the DTAA agreement. This certificate under the NRI quota also helps in securing admission in Indian universities and handling the legal matters.

As per the FEMA guidelines, there are no specific penalties for not declaring the NRI status. However, it is illegal not to close your current savings account or convert your current bank account into a Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) savings account and comply with tax requirements.