Indian-Americans have welcomed the Indian government's decision to simplify the process of maintaining Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards, saying more overseas citizens will now opt for this form of residency.
The OCI cardholders will now be required to get their document re-issued only once at the age of 20 instead of multiple times needed to be done currently, the govt said on Thursday.
"This will also encourage more overseas Indians to become OCIs and it will benefit India, through their travel, business and investment in India," Dr Thomas Abraham chairman of the Global organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) told PTI.
Highly popular among overseas Indians, the OCI card provides long term visa-free travel and stay in India and gives the cardholders a host of privileges normally not given to a foreign national. So far India has issued about 37.72 lakh OCI Cards.