Overseas Citizen of India Can Be Denied Boarding Pass: Critical Travel Advisory Issued By New York Consulate For All OCIs

By Sheetal Bhalerao Last updated Nov 29, 2019

Overseas Citizen of India Can Be Denied Boarding Pass: Critical Travel Advisory Issued By New York Consulate For All OCIs (Sample OCI Booklet)

With the arrival of December, it also marks the start of Christmas and New Year holidays where most people travel back to their home for celebrating these occasions.

The start of the season also got some reports of some Indian origin travellers using the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) document to board flights to India from the U.S.

The issue is reported with some of the airlines.

How Did This Happen?

According to Sandeep Chakravorty, Consul General of India in New York, some travellers who have not updated their OCI documents after having renewed their passport were denied boarding permission for their flights to India.

He said, “Travellers had reported issues around these rules with Qatar Airways and Air India,”.

According to Mr Chakravorty, the Qatar Airways issue was reported at Boston Logan International Airport and the Air India issue, at JFK airport in New York City. (Reference)

He added “While Indian immigration authorities will accept an OCI card with an old passport number on it for individuals above 20 years of age, airlines flying to India may still cause a problem. So we are advising everyone who hasn’t renewed their OCI card since they got new passports to also carry their old passports with them,”.

What Can Be Done?

As per the news, the New York Consulate also issued a press statement with the rules following these incidents.

1) For every OCI cardholder “who is 20 years of age or younger, the OCI card must be renewed each time a new passport is issued” as per the rules.

2) OCI cards need not be renewed for those between 21 and 49 years of age. And, for an OCI cardholder “who attains the age of 50 years or more”, OCI card must be renewed only once after the issuance of a new passport.

The OCI advisory from the Consulate General of India, New York, can be accessed through this link here