Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, today launched the newly developed Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Portal in New Delhi, marking a significant leap toward modernizing India’s immigration services. The launch event was attended by Union Home Secretary, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Speaking at the occasion, Shri Amit Shah emphasized that under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India is committed to providing world-class immigration services for its OCI cardholders. He stated that the revamped OCI portal reflects the government’s focus on simplifying processes and ensuring ease of access for Indian-origin citizens worldwide.
“With millions of Indian-origin individuals residing across the globe, it is our responsibility to ensure they face no inconvenience while visiting or staying in India,” Shri Shah remarked.
ADVANCED FEATURES FOR OVER 5 MILLION OCI CARDHOLDERS
The new portal is designed to offer enhanced functionality, advanced security, and a seamless user experience for more than 5 million existing OCI cardholders and new applicants. Originally launched under an amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955, in 2005, the OCI scheme allows registration of Persons of Indian Origin, with the exception of those with links to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The previous OCI Services portal, developed in 2013, served over 180 Indian missions and 12 FRROs globally, processing around 2,000 applications daily. However, considering the technological advancements and user feedback over the past decade, the new portal has been launched to address past limitations.
KEY FEATURES OF THE NEW OCI PORTAL
- Simplified user sign-up and registration menu
- Auto-fill of user profile details
- Dashboard for managing completed and pending applications
- Integrated online payment gateway
- Seamless navigation and real-time application status tracking
- Document categorization based on application type
- Editing access at all stages before submission
- Integrated FAQs, reminders, and eligibility displays
- In-built image cropping tool for photo and signature uploads
The revamped portal demonstrates the government’s proactive approach to embracing digital innovation and ensuring the Indian diaspora enjoys efficient and accessible immigration services, for more details and access official portal CLICK HERE
