Indian Immigration Laws

• India is the second most populous in the world.Taj Mahal image by Jono026 from Fotolia.com
  
  Located in South Asia, India is the world's second most populous country with approximately 1.2 billion citizens as of July, 2010. A number of laws on the books in India govern immigration and assign special status to ethnic Indians who were born abroad and hold passports from other countries.
  
  

Indian Visa

• Citizens of most countries require a visa to visit India. Visas are valid for either 90 days or 180 days and can be obtained from your local Indian embassy or consulate.
  
  

Persons of Indian Origin Card

• A persons of Indian origin card (PIO) is for people of Indian descent who are not actually Indian citizens. Holders of a PIO Card are entitled to 15 years of visa-free travel to India and can gain legal privileges in areas of Indian society (such as investment abilities and educational benefits) not normally open to non-Indians. A person applying for a PIO Card must not be a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh and be no more than four generations removed from an Indian citizen.
  
  

Overseas Citizenship of India

• Overseas citizenship of India (OCI) is a special category of citizenship for dual citizens of another country. Under Indian law, it is illegal for Indian citizens to hold a passport from any other country, thus the OCI provides a form of Indian citizenship to foreign nationals without granting the holder a travel document for India. Holders of OCI must have been eligible for Indian citizenship after 1950, or had a parent or grandparent eligible at that time. The OCI must accompany the holder's other passport while traveling in India.