OCI card can be cancelled if jailed for over 2 years, says MHA

NEW DELHI: Overseas citizens of India (OCI) will be liable for cancellation of their OCI card if sentenced to a jail term of not less than two years or named in a chargesheet for an offence punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more, as per the latest changes notified by home ministry in Section 7D of Citizenship Act, 1955.Under the original clause, OCI card could be cancelled only within five years of registration, provided the cardholder was sentenced to jail for a term not less than two years. Besides the five-year time limit being dispensed with, chargesheeting of an OCI cardholder for an offence entailing jail term of 7 years or more has now been added as a ground for cancellation of OCI card.Given the notification was issued by women safety division of home ministry, it is likely aimed at persons of Indian origin wanted for crimes, including forced NRI marriages involving physical abuse and harassment for dowry.