My wife and I are OCI cardholders living in the USA, and we're traveling to India next week with our 6-year-old son. All three of us have U.S. passports and valid OCI cards. I've been reading about India's digital e-Arrival Card, but I'm finding mixed information about whether a minor child traveling with OCI parents needs a separate submission.
Since our son is only six, I'll obviously be completing any forms on his behalf. My question is whether he needs his own e-Arrival Card linked to his passport, or whether he's covered because he's traveling with us. I also wasn't sure if the same email address can be used for all three applications.
I've checked a few travel forums, and the answers aren't consistent. Some people say every traveler, including infants and children, should have an individual e-Arrival Card, while others mention that families can submit everything together.
Has anyone recently traveled to India with young children who also have OCI cards? How did immigration handle it? Did your child have a separate confirmation, or was one family submission enough?
I know immigration procedures can change, so I'm mainly looking for recent experiences before I complete the paperwork. I'll also verify the latest official instructions before our flight.
We flew from London to Delhi with our 8-year-old twins about three weeks ago. Both children have British passports and OCI cards.
I initially thought children traveling with parents wouldn't need separate e-Arrival Cards, but after reading the instructions more carefully, I decided to submit one for each family member.
The process didn't take very long because most of the travel information was identical. I simply changed the passport details and personal information for each child.
Everything went smoothly during immigration. While no one specifically asked to see the confirmations, I was glad I had them available just in case.
Since these requirements are still relatively new, I'd recommend checking the latest guidance before you travel because procedures may be updated.
We traveled from New Jersey to Bengaluru in May with our 4-year-old daughter. All three of us are OCI cardholders with U.S. passports.
I completed the digital e-Arrival Card for myself, my wife, and our daughter using the same email address. Even though I submitted everything, each traveler had a separate form because each passport has its own details. We received individual confirmations for every submission.
At immigration, the officer looked at our passports and OCI documents individually. They didn't ask any questions about who completed the forms, only that each traveler's details were available in the system.
My advice would be to keep all the confirmation emails together and save screenshots on your phone. It made things easier when we landed.
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Our family traveled from Australia in June with a toddler who also holds an OCI card.
I completed all the forms myself since my daughter is too young to do it. The system didn't require her to submit anything personally, but I did create a separate e-Arrival Card using her passport information.
One thing I noticed is that it's easy to accidentally enter a parent's passport number instead of the child's when you're completing several forms in a row. I double-checked every passport number and date of birth before submitting.
Based on our experience, one parent can complete the applications, but every traveler should have their own individual submission. Of course, official guidance should always take priority if the rules change. Recent advisories indicate that foreign nationals and OCI cardholders can submit the e-Arrival Card online before arriving in India.