Switch to desktop mode for a better experience.

UID: PD-20250315-IN-02

Source

Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI

Last Updated

March 19, 2025

Time Range

Till 31 Jan, 2025

Periodicity

Annual

Unit

Absolute Number

Sector

Visa

Next Update

2026

Indicator Summary

An OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card is a special immigration status granted by the Government of India to eligible foreign citizens of Indian origin. Created in 2005 as part of amendments to the Citizenship Act, the OCI scheme serves as a lifelong visa and provides a form of permanent residency status to people of Indian heritage living abroad. While not constituting actual dual citizenship (which India’s constitution prohibits), OCI status offers numerous benefits including visa-free travel to India, rights to work and study without additional permits, the ability to own property (except agricultural land), and parity with resident Indians in matters related to education, economic opportunities, and financial services. The OCI program represents India’s effort to maintain meaningful connections with its global diaspora—estimated at over 32 million people worldwide—by offering them a formal relationship with their ancestral homeland while acknowledging their citizenship in their adopted countries. OCI status is particularly valuable for former Indian citizens who have naturalized elsewhere and for descendants of Indian origin up to the fourth generation.

T&Cs for reusing this data 

All data, visualizations, and code generated by 360 Analytika are fully open access. You are free to use, distribute, and reproduce these materials in any medium, provided proper credit is given to the source and authors. We kindly request that you include a backlink to our website/article, when using these materials.

Citation

Please cite this article using proper attribution to 360 Analytika when referencing or sharing our content.

Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI. (2025). OCI Card Distribution by Indian Missions, Till January 31, 2025 (360 Analytika, Ed.) [Dataset]. https://360analytika.com/oci-card-distribution-by-indian-missions/

Other Data Explorers