My mission is to visit and showcase beautiful places in the world especially offbeat & historical sites away from most touristy places.
This is Varun creator of this channel. I promise to provide info on budget traveling and activities. I also help with tips on travel documents for the Indian diaspora and all worldly citizens all over.
So far I have covered 13 countries India, Singapore, USA, UAE, Puerto Rico, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Greece & Finland. Encompassing 200,083 miles of flying & 32250 miles of driving around the world.
Visited more than 29+ states in the US, and 10+ states in India and want to keep going. Subscribe for more!
Hi can you please help.. When I click the link in the checklist for Renunciation certificate, it’s a giving me msg,‘Session expired, kindly initiate your application from VFS Global website again’.
Hi Varun, can you please assist. When I go to the checklist, I am unable to click on the link for renunciation certificate . When I click the link, it’s giving me a msg ,’Session is expired, kindly initiate your application from VFS Global website again@. Pls help
My passport bears the stamp: "cancelled due to acquiring foreign nationality". But it does not have a date on it. I need to apply for OCI. But per VFS there has to be a date next to the stamp: "cancelled due to acquiring foreign nationality". They are asking me to re apply. This does not make sense as all my other family members did not have a date next to the stamp and they did not have a problem applying for OCI. Please advise.
I have followed the video and filled out the application and sent out. I got an email from VFS Global that "Must be thumbprint only (no signature's)- Please re-upload clearer thumbprint in the Government website and re-submit first page of application and upload pdf of application form". FYI - I submitted the Thumbprint with the my Signature on it . Any clue how to respond to this ?
Getting the thumb print of minor is extremely difficult. I am trying it for my 3 month old daughter and the thumb print is not coming up at all using the regular stamp pad. I wish you had provided some help on it.
Hello Varun, I noticed that the VFS check-list does not have option to enter name, email, passport number, mobile number and signature requirement as shown on your video. Am I missing here another check list?
Curious if you have information on 1: converting my OCI to Indian and 2nd question: Is there any movement in the supreme court for OCI holders who are separated/divorce, can keep their OCI after divorce?
I submitted my renunciation application 3 days ago. Have not heard back from them yet. Can I still go ahead and send in my OCI application as i have my renunciation certificate that i sent in my renunciation application. Or do i have to wait for the renunciation application to be fully completed and closed before starting my OCI application
Hi, Please let me know if we need to add parents marriage certificate under marriage certificate or joint declaration of subsisting of marriage in upload section of online application
Thank you, @OffbeatTravelVK, for creating this helpful video. Please let me know if all documents to be uploaded under part-B need to be self attested by parents
hello, thank you for this video. It was very helpful. I have submitted the online application and have my ARN number. However - I just realized that I entered my father's middle name as 'Arvindbhai" -- but it displays as 'Arvind' on my passport. Is this a minor flaw and can I go ahead with my application? Or should I fill out a new form and get a new ARN. Is this allowed?? to have 2 ARNs?
Hi @OffBeatTravelVK, I am applying for minor OCI. Under the declaration there are 2 sections, are both of them to be signed by parents? Or first needs minor's thumbprint and parents only sign under Application for Minor Child?
Where do we have this checklist for minors on the VFS website? they only had a couple of options when going through prerequisites and that had a different format and did not include the application ID / Passport # etc.
It's ONLY about flying, not about recorting or taking photos, which requires permission (spent hours looking for the details and it's so difficult to apply).
Hello Varun, I got my renunciation certificate in 1 week time. Thank you for this video, it was very helpful in preparing all the documents including the online application.
It's valid for life, it's just that updates need to be made at age 5, then age 20 and age 60 as appearance changes. It says lifelong on my kid's OCI card.
This video is a VFS trap as it does not explain the checkbox on the first page. Please let me know if your passport application returned back just because your forgot to check the checkbox on the first page \. Hey everyone, just a heads-up about a potential issue with the Passport Seva form on the Government of India's website. If you’re newly married and need to update your marital status and spouse’s name, you need to be careful when filling out the form. Here’s what you should do: 1. At the start of the form, make sure you check the "Change in Existing Personal Particulars" box. 2. Then, select the "Spouse Name" option. The term "Change in Personal Particulars" can be a bit unclear, and many RU-vid tutorials skip over important details, which can lead to unnecessary hassles. The form could be improved by making the radio buttons more visible or adding a prompt like "Are you adding your spouse’s name for the first time?" to guide users through the process. These insights come from personal experience and can make a big difference, as opposed to general explanations or content that doesn’t address these specific issues. Make sure to pay attention to these details to avoid your application being returned due to such pitfalls. It’s often the little things that make the difference between a smooth process and a frustrating one.
In the checklist, point no. 5, self attested copy of current passport , Does minor need to sign the copy as part of self attesting or should it be any one of the parent ? Minor is able to sign.
"INDIAN ORIGIN PROOF" US CITIZEN MINOR as he/she born in US by birth, I believe we don't need to upload documents of Indian citizen passport for it, this application is based on applicant documents meaning US CITIZEN MINOR.
Anyone experienced any issue with payment on the VFS global? Error Message: "Our servers have not received a response from your bank or card company, or you have not completed the payment process. If you are getting this message means that response is still awaited, and this may take up to 5 hours . If you don’t get any email notification in 5 hours, then retrieve your application and complete the payment process again" Can anyone share experiences dealing with this?
i have already completed application registration and paid fees, till how many days can i re-upload documents for my oci for India from usa application and send the documents after i have completed application registration and paid fees?
Hi Varun, i have already completed application registration and paid fees, till how many days can i re-upload documents for my oci for India from usa application and send the documents after i have completed application registration and paid fees?
Hi Varun, thank you for the detailed video. I have a question on one of the fields under Applicant's Family Details. My parents' names are spelled differently on my Indian passport than their passports and so, can I know which one you think I should use to fill in the details.
Please help me with this, my daughter (18) acquired US citizenship through parents when she was a minor( so she doesn’t have her own naturalization certificate). Now we are applying for her OCI, as an adult. I can not find the affidavit format that we, both parents, must sign and get notarized, that’s needed to be sent along with our naturalization certificate for our daughter’s new OCI application. Thank you
Hello Sir. Thank you for the video ❤. Just to double check, I am Aus Citizen and my spouse is Indian citizen. Are you applying on the basis of Indian spouse? Yes or No. Please reply. Thank you 🎉
PSA 📣 : In July 2024, if you are mailing your packet in, they capture details for the renunciation certificate as part of the form filling for VFS and send you a printable PDF to your email!🥳 If however ,you are visiting the VFS center by appointment, sucks to be you, as you have to find and print a poorly formatted renunciation certificate off the internet. Save money and effort - mail in!