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Indian government has restored suspended OCI benefits for Indian-Americans to enjoy visa free traveling across India.
Uplifted Ban on Visa Free Travel for OCIs
After a long spell of drastic pandemic COVID-19 outbreak, Indian government has lifted the ban on OCI card holding Indian-Americans. They can now enjoy visa free traveling across the country. The related community has been passing through ordeals in getting visa for being suspended Overseas Citizens of India services.
This card has been allowing lifelong visa free ride across this country with some restrictions for the people of this origin. Earlier, this facility was paused on April 11 amidst a nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions to break the chain of highly contagious virus.
The decision came out of blues, which creates chaos all around. The affected NRI diaspora faced off anxiety, which took them to social media like Twitter and Facebook for protesting against this decision. The media channels were flocked with narratives of this community, which is undergoing severe pain and trauma because of ceasing this service.
However, these people do not have a complete relaxation, as a few travel restrictions on those who have OCI cards were lifted. This has been so far applied to some emergency categories, which include those who travel for employment or some minors whose parents are Indian natives.
In the first week of August 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs proclaimed about the restoration of the full travel privileges for overseas citizens of India, who have passport of the USA, the UK, Germany and France. This is done under an “Air Bubble” arrangements (which are also called bilateral air travel arrangements) with all these countries.
The affected community has been waiting for this decision for a long time. This is going to heal them a little bit and minimise their harassment to a great extent. A few of those who have been using the OCI card for past several years recalled that the abruptly banning led to a lot of heartburns among people in Indian diaspora because it was their native country where they could take shelter.
Upon Lifting Ban
The restored service has enabled free traveling for Indian-Americans, which is a great facility to exchange regards between these two countries, according to Alok Kumar- former president of the Federation of Indian Associations of the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
NRIs Reaction
New Jersey-based social activist Deepender Singh was happy to listen to this great news for overseas citizen of india card holder, as the Indian government has seriously thought about the need for relaxation of visa and travel restrictions for more categories of NRIs who want to visit India and their relatives in different states. These are many from the US, the UK, Germany and France.
The ministry has announced that the air bubble scheme is going to be executed in more countries soon. The non-resident community has welcomed this decision, calling it the air bubble opportunities.
Role of Indian Missions
The Indian missions located in the US, the UK, Germany and France will encompass the air bubble arrangement, granting appropriate and quick visa to those who have related documents and have no adverse things corresponding to the arrangement.
It’s a big sigh of relief from the government of India, which has uplifted all travel sanctions on OCI card holders.
