Earlier this year, we reported that applications for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) along with other visa applications at Indian Embassy in the U.S. were outsourced to “Travisa Outsourcing”.

The earlier procedure required applicants to send their original U.S. passport along with the application for OCI status. This requirement made it difficult for applicants with need for frequent travel to apply for the status as OCI. In June 2011 this requirement has been relaxed. Effectively, original U.S. passport(s) can be submitted at a later stage when the OCI is approved and ready for printing. We trust this change will encourage many Naturalized U.S. Citizens with Indian origin and eligible to apply for their status as an OCI to do so.

This information is available here.