Washington, July 2 (IANS) The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO International) has welcomed a relaxation of rules requiring former Indian citizens to produce a surrender certificate of their old passports when seeking Indian visas.
The relaxation incorporates two of the GOPIO demands: elimination of surrender certificate requirement from those who became naturalised citizens more than 10 years ago, and an OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) application need not be accompanied by an original US passport.
The change ‘will not only stop the decline of goodwill in the Indian community for the government of India but can also reduce workload at the consulates’, said Inder Singh, GOPIO International chairman.
‘Now that the work load will be less, Indian missions in western countries and Travisa should finish off all the backlogs soon and make the process of getting an OCI card and entry visa to India easier for the Indian community,’ said Thomas Abraham, former chairman of GOPIO International.
‘This is a welcome action that removes an undue burden on former citizens of India and improves goodwill towards India,’ said Ashook Ramsaran, executive vice president of GOPIO International.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
