Change in citizenship

[Indianne]

Hi,

I am Indian citizen (living in India for more than 44 years) born to Indian and Italian parents. I am trying to acquire Italian citizenship (eligible by blood).

I have a few doubts regarding the procedure:

1. What is the difference between OCI and PIO?
2. Should I apply for either of these two (which one?) and acquire this card before I get my Italian passport?
3. Should I get my Italian citizenship (Italian passport) first and then surrender my Indian passport? In this case, how much time will I be given to surrender my Indian passport?
4. Should I apply for OCI/PIO after surrendering my Indian passport?
5. After acquiring my Italian passport, what is the procedure to surrender my Indian passport and what are the documents I need to submit for OCI/PIO card?

If someone could throw some light on these issues, I would appreciate it. I wrote an email about a month back to the person-in-charge at FRRO Chennai. I got nothing till date.

Thanks in advance.

[Mukesh1981]

a few answers

Hi
I am not an expert but will try to give you some help, but in the search for help in my own case I have wandered these forums and learned allot since starting my search.

1. The PIO is being phased-out, I bellive OCI will be the one remaining.
2. Apply for OCI. I bellive that you can not apply for one as long as you are an Indian citizen
3. Yes, I bellive you should wait until you have it. I don’t know how long you have.
4. I think you should try to get a hold of someone at the FRRO office or go to one of the companies that specialize in this, call them and expect to have to wait if you get through. Myself I went and did the “just one question” at visahelpdesk.net they helped me out loads with actually all the questions I had, and no wait time.
5. I don’t know. Sorry.

Good luck with your process. FRRO offices are a bit difficult, but they usually come through in the end.

Mukesh

[Indianne]

Hi
I am not an expert but will try to give you some help, but in the search for help in my own case I have wandered these forums and learned allot since starting my search.

1. The PIO is being phased-out, I bellive OCI will be the one remaining.
2. Apply for OCI. I bellive that you can not apply for one as long as you are an Indian citizen
3. Yes, I. bellive you should wait until you have it. I don’t know how long you have.
4. I think you should try to get a hold of someone at the FRRO office or go to one of the companies that specialize in this, call them and expect to have to wait if you get through. Myself I went and did the “just one question” at visahelpdesk.net they helped me out loads with actually all the questions I had, and no wait time.
5. I don’t know. Sorry

Good luck with your process. FRRO offices are a bit difficult, but they usually come through in the end.

Mukesh

Thanks a million. Now at least I have a vague idea of how to go about it. Thank u for the wishes! I guess I will need loads before I complete the whole process!