Current Events
Dual Citizenship:
Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware!
by Dr. SUJIT K. PANDIT
"I am one of the fortunate ones, out of the teeming billion who populate India - a country progressively riddled with corruption, racism, filth and simple inhumanity - who has been able to leave and make my home in Canada.
"Admittedly, life has not been easy here in Canada. Nor is it a perfect society; it has its fair share of problems and challenges. But it is still a far cry from what I have escaped from; I thank God every day for this blessing.
"Pray, then - now that am I one of those fortunate ones in this world who has been able to become a citizen of this wonderful land - why would I willingly take on dual citizenship and subject myself once again to the whims of the Indian government. I would have to be naive, foolish ... nay, insane!" [A Canadian of Indian origin, Ottawa, Canada.]
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
I am an American citizen. I also carry an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card since 2007.
On Saturday, June 20, 2009 , I arrived at the Kolkata Netaji Subhas Airport in India, from Detroit via Singapore , by Singapore Airlines (SQ 516) at 10:30 P.M.
I presented myself to an Immigration Officer (Mr. Biswas) for immigration clearance. I gave him my American passport and my OCI card. He demanded to see my visa from the Indian consular office. Unfortunately, that visa was attached to my old passport and I did not bring it with me.
I explained to him that I had forgotten to bring my old passport but since I did possess a valid OCI Card, that should automatically mean that I do also possess a permanent (life long) visa for India. As well, there was evidence that I had traveled multiple times to India after I had received my OCI card.
Mr. Biswas detained me for two hours inside the airport and then told me that he was going to allow me to stay in India for 72 hours and asked me to report to the Foreign Relations Regional Officer (FRRO) in the city within 72 hours.
He kept my passport.
During all that time, I had no opportunity either to approach his OC (Officer-in-Charge) although I asked for it, or to contact my relatives who came to the airport to receive me and were waiting outside, having no idea why I was being held back or if I have even arrived.
Forgetting to bring my old passport was my own fault, but my failure to bring it was partly because I knew I had my OCI Card with me and I had thought, as I had been assured by the Inidan authorities, that it meant something. I really believed them when I was assured that I was a citizen of India too.
Why would a citizen need a visa to enter his own country? I thought I had a dual citizenship for both the USA and India. Otherwise, what is the difference between an ordinary foreigner and the OCI Card holder?
The following day was a Sunday. I called a friend in Ann Arbor; he went into my house, got my old passport and sent me the scanned copy of my old passport and a copy of my permanent visa by e-mail.
So, on Monday I went to see Mr. Bibhas Talukdar, the FRRO. He hardly looked at the documents (the scanned visa) that I had with me. He simply demanded that I get my old passport by courier mail within another seven days. He appeared gleeful telling me that it is only out of "pity" that he was allowing me to stay in India for seven more days.
He was totally unimpressed by either my status as a Professor Emeritus of the University of Michigan or my age (70+).
I called my friend in Ann Arbor again who then sent my old passport by FedEx.
Three days later the passport arrived. Since I had to leave Kolkata for a prescheduled visit to Bangalore, my niece took it to Mr. Talukdar. But due to a lack of communication between the FRRO office and the airport immigration department, my passport had not arrived at the city office even after a lapse of 9 days.
My niece had to go to the FRRO's office three times, once waiting until 6 P.M. Still, they did not have my passport. They only promised: "it will come soon".
At last, 12 days after my arrival, my niece got my passport.
From this painful and anxiety-provoking experience, I have learned a few valuable lessons:
1 The loud talk about "Dual Citizenship" for persons of Indian origin living outside India, is just a political hoax.
2 The OCI card simply has no value. It is just a piece of expensive junk. You still need a visa every time you travel to India, whether or not you possess an OCI card. The only difference is that for the high price of getting an OCI card, you purportedly get a "life long" visa. A 10-year visa is much cheaper.
3 When coming to India, always consider yourself a foreigner and bring your visa with you. There will be no exceptions. Your OCI card is not a visa substitute.
4 In fact, you will probably be treated worse than an ordinary foreigner arriving without a valid visa. Because a foreigner, especially a white Caucasian, will at least be treated with courtesy and probably offered a temporary visa if there is no reason to deny it, but not you.
[Sujit K. Pandit, M.D., is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, U.S.A.]
September 6, 2009
Conversation about this article
1: Harinder (Bangalore, India), September 06, 2009, 5:25 AM.
It is jealousy at its best. Nobody kicked a dead dog.
2: Prem (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), September 06, 2009, 2:09 PM.
We should not expect special treatment from Indian authorities because of our origin.
3: Jaskooner Singh (Glasgow, U.K.), September 06, 2009, 4:32 PM.
The chamcha was harassing you for money because he thought he could get away with it. No one is going to check up on it. You have to be very careful with dual citizenship as it means that no Western government will be able to act in your protection if the Indian government messes with you.
4: Meena (Delhi, India), September 08, 2009, 1:07 AM.
Interesting story but it begs the question: why in God's name would anyone want Indian citizenship when they already belong to the greatest nation in the world - U.S.A. (and that includes U.K. and Canada as well)!
5: Harry Singh (Malaysia), September 09, 2009, 1:15 AM.
It not only happens to persons carrying dual citizenship. It happens to anybody living abroad. The last time I spent 7-8 months outside India, I had registered myself at the nearest Indian consular office, as recommended at the back of the Indian passport. All of my documents were perfectly in order. But, when I returned to India, at the New Delhi airport this pumpkin of a Immigration officer messed around with me for no reason. He said he wanted to know if I was involved in terrorist activities. Even when I had a return ticket in my hand, he threatened to prohibit my leaving the country without permission. Hell to his kind!
6: Dr. Ajay Narola (Findlay, Ohio, U.S.A.), September 17, 2009, 11:30 PM.
I feel very bad about your experience, Dr. Pandit. In my opinion, its all about money. I learned many lessons from theis story and will forward this email to all my friends and political authorities whom I know.
7: Gurmit Singh (Sydney, Australia), October 03, 2009, 9:34 PM.
Many thanks for sharing your experience. I have none because I have not visited India for the last (25) years. What is the meaning of the term "NRI" based on any Indian Law, but without confusing with other similar terms?
8: Harshad (India), November 21, 2009, 7:42 PM.
I performed a system check and it says that Indian citizenship is of NO VALUE as internationally it is a third world country belonging only to the rich masses leaving for themselves and future generations slums which can cause a lot of harm to anyone as there is no safety against misfortune which is not so in U.S./ Canada/ U.K./ Australia/ Europe, which believes in humanity first and due to this belief they are highly regarded countries, not just economically.