OCI for Child With One OCI Parent and One US Citizen Parent

We had to provide quite a few documents for our child's OCI, so I'd prepare everything before starting the online application.

For the child, you'll generally want the valid US passport and birth certificate. The OCI portal says proof of present citizenship includes a copy of the applicant's valid passport, and it also lists evidence of Indian origin and evidence of the relationship where applicable.

For the OCI parent, I'd keep the OCI card, previous Indian passport/citizenship documents and surrender certificate, if applicable. The current OCI FAQ specifically mentions a cancelled/surrendered Indian passport with surrender certificate for people who surrendered an Indian passport in or after 2010.

We also submitted our marriage certificate because it was part of the documentation requested in our case.

As for both parents signing, I would follow the current application instructions and the requirements of the Indian Mission handling the application. Don't rely on another parent's checklist because procedures can differ depending on the case and jurisdiction.

The official portal is the best source for the current requirements. The application itself is submitted online through the OCI website. 

I think the important distinction here is “one parent is an OCI cardholder” versus “one parent is an Indian citizen.”

The current OCI eligibility rules include a minor child of a person covered by the OCI eligibility provisions. So having one parent who is an OCI cardholder can potentially provide the eligibility route, assuming that parent's own OCI eligibility is properly established.

My son was in a similar situation. I was an OCI holder and his mother was a US citizen. We submitted his application based on my Indian-origin documentation.

The birth certificate was particularly important because it established the relationship between the child and me. The official OCI FAQ says that a birth certificate mentioning both parents can be used as evidence of relationship where Indian origin is being claimed through a parent.

I wouldn't worry about the fact that the other parent is American by itself. The bigger issue is whether the OCI parent can establish the required eligibility and Indian-origin connection.

One other thing: if the child is very young, don't use old information from forums about minimum residence periods in India. The current OCI portal specifically says the six-month ordinary-residence provision does not apply to children of Indian nationals or OCI cardholders up to age 12 applying for OCI. 

We applied for our daughter under a very similar situation. I’m an OCI cardholder and my wife is a US citizen. Our daughter was born in the US and had a US passport.

The main thing I found confusing initially was that the child doesn't become an OCI automatically because a parent has an OCI. You still have to make a separate OCI application for the child and establish the eligibility and relationship through the documents.

The current OCI portal specifically lists a minor child of a person who is eligible for OCI among the categories that can qualify. It also says minor children can apply, subject to the eligibility restrictions.

For our application, we had the child's birth certificate showing both parents, the child's US passport, our marriage certificate, and my OCI documentation. We also kept my old Indian citizenship documents and surrender documentation available because my OCI was based on my previous Indian citizenship.

I wouldn't assume that every case requires exactly the same documents, though. The OCI portal says applicants need to provide proof of current citizenship, evidence supporting the Indian-origin basis and evidence of the relationship.

The application is submitted online through the official OCI system. After that, the relevant Mission/Post or submission center can have its own document-verification procedure.