OCI Card 2026: Who Qualifies, the Spouse Two-Year Rule, Fees and the Pakistan/Bangladesh Bar

An Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card is not citizenship and it is not a passport. It is a lifelong, multiple-entry visa created under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). For the estimated millions of people of Indian origin settled abroad, the card is the single document that lets them live, work, study and hold most classes of property in India without a separate visa. Yet the eligibility rules are narrower than most applicants assume, the spouse route carries a strict two-year condition, and one ancestry test disqualifies an applicant outright regardless of every other credential.

This guide sets out who qualifies in 2026, what the card costs, and — because holding an OCI card changes nothing about your tax residency — how the Income-tax Act, 1961 and India's tax treaties actually treat the money you earn, hold and repatriate. If you are weighing your own position, our NRI income-tax calculator models the liability on Indian-source income for a non-resident.

FEMA / DTAA Position

The starting point is a distinction that trips up thousands of applicants: an OCI card confers no change in citizenship. Under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, an OCI cardholder remains a foreign national who is granted specified parities with a Non-Resident Indian. The card does not carry voting rights, does not permit election to a legislature, and does not allow appointment to constitutional posts or most government jobs, per the MHA OCI Cardholder brochure dated 25 April 2017.

For foreign-exchange purposes the card matters because an OCI cardholder is treated on par with an NRI across the financial, economic and educational fields under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). Under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, an OCI cardholder may acquire and hold immovable property in India — a flat, a house, commercial premises — with one carved-out exception: they may not purchase agricultural land, plantation property or a farmhouse. That single FEMA restriction survives the OCI card and applies identically to NRIs.

Critically, the OCI card does not determine how you are taxed. Your liability turns on residential status under section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 — a physical-presence test of 182 days, not the colour of your passport. A US-passport-holding OCI cardholder who spends 300 days in India in a financial year can become a tax resident of India; an Indian passport holder abroad for 330 days is a non-resident. The residential-status glossary entry explains the day-count arithmetic that governs this.

Where you are a tax resident of a country with which India has a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), the treaty allocates taxing rights between the two states. The DTAA glossary entry covers the mechanics; the practical point for OCI cardholders is that the treaty never erases India's right to tax Indian-source income. On capital gains from Indian shares, for instance, the India-US treaty (in force since 12 September 1991) preserves India's domestic taxing right, so long-term gains are taxed in India at 12.5%, never exempt.

Who Qualifies — and the Two Bars

The MHA brochure sets out five positive limbs of eligibility. A foreign national qualifies for an OCI card if they fall into any one of the categories in the table below.

The spouse route is separate and deliberately restrictive. A foreign-origin spouse of an Indian citizen, or of an existing OCI cardholder, may apply only where the marriage has been registered and has subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the application, per the MHA brochure. A marriage of 23 months does not qualify; a registered marriage of exactly 24 continuous months does. There is no discretion to waive the two-year clock.

Then comes the absolute bar. No person qualifies if their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were, at any time, citizens of Pakistan or Bangladesh. This ancestry test overrides every positive limb above: an applicant who satisfies the descent route through one grandparent is still disqualified if another qualifying ancestor held Pakistani or Bangladeshi citizenship. The statutory basis is section 7A(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Two procedural conditions complete the picture. The application is filed online, and the applicant's passport must be valid for at least six months on the date of application, per the MHA brochure.

What the OCI card costs

These are the figures in the MHA OCI brochure. The fee is per applicant, and a minor's application attracts the same schedule. The card does not expire in the way a visa does, but it must be re-issued each time a new passport is obtained up to the age of 20 and once after the age of 50.

Tax Treatment in India

Because OCI status does not alter residential status, an OCI cardholder who is a non-resident is taxed in India only on income that arises or accrues in India, or is received in India, under section 5(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Salary earned in New York, dividends from a US brokerage, a UK rental — none of it enters the Indian net for a non-resident. Indian-source income does.

The tax deducted at source (TDS) regime for non-residents is stricter than for residents, because section 195 requires deduction on almost every payment to a non-resident. The TDS glossary entry covers the mechanism. The headline rates that an OCI-cardholder NRI most often meets are set out below, before any treaty relief.

To these the health and education cess of 4% is added, and a surcharge where income crosses the thresholds. The surcharge slabs are 10% between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore, 15% between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore, and 25% between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore. In the new tax regime the maximum surcharge is capped at 25% — the old 37% top rate does not apply. Separately, the surcharge on capital gains charged under sections 111A, 112 and 112A is capped at 15% however high the income, which materially reduces the burden on a large one-off share or property sale.

One resident-only relief that OCI cardholders should not bank on: the section 87A rebate — raised to Rs 60,000 in the new regime for FY 2025-26 — is available only to resident individuals. A non-resident OCI cardholder cannot claim it, whatever their total income. Rental income specifically can be modelled in our NRI rental-income tax calculator, which applies the 30% standard deduction under section 24(a).

Tax Treatment Abroad

An OCI cardholder is, almost by definition, a tax resident somewhere else — the United States, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Canada, Singapore or Australia. That foreign residence is where worldwide income is usually taxed, and it is where the same Indian-source income can be taxed a second time. The DTAA exists to stop that double hit.

The relief runs through the foreign-tax-credit article of the treaty. Under Article 24 of the India-US DTAA, the United States, as the country of residence, allows a credit for the Indian tax already paid on Indian-source income, so the taxpayer pays the higher of the two rates rather than the sum of both. A US-resident OCI cardholder who pays 12.5% Indian long-term capital-gains tax on Indian shares claims that 12.5% against the US liability on the same gain.

Treaty rates cap what India may withhold at source, but only when the taxpayer produces the paperwork. To access the India-US treaty rate of 15% on interest (against the 30% domestic NRO rate), the cardholder must furnish a Tax Residency Certificate from the US authorities together with Form 10F on the income-tax portal. Without both, the payer deducts at the full domestic rate and the excess must be reclaimed by filing a return. Note the dividend position under Article 10 of the India-US treaty: the 15% rate applies only where the recipient holds at least 10% of the voting stock; portfolio dividends are capped at 25%, matching the domestic rate.

Repatriation Mechanics

Holding an OCI card gives you access to the NRI banking architecture — the NRE, NRO and FCNR accounts — because the card places you on par with an NRI under FEMA. The choice of account decides how freely the money moves out of India.

The NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) account holds Indian-source income — rent, dividends, pension, the proceeds of a property sale. Balances here are repatriable, but only up to USD 1 million per financial year, and only after the bank receives Form 15CA (the remitter's declaration) and Form 15CB (a chartered accountant's certificate that the tax has been paid). The NRO-account glossary entry sets out the documentation trail; our repatriation calculator applies the USD 1 million ceiling to a worked example.

The NRE (Non-Resident External) account, by contrast, holds foreign earnings remitted into India and converted to rupees. Both principal and interest are fully and freely repatriable, with no annual cap, and the interest is exempt from Indian income-tax under section 10(4)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for as long as the account holder remains a non-resident. The FCNR (Foreign Currency Non-Resident) deposit goes one step further, holding the money in foreign currency — US dollars, pounds, euros — so the depositor carries no rupee exchange risk over a term of one to five years, and the maturity proceeds are fully repatriable.

The practical sequence for an OCI cardholder repatriating a property-sale corpus is: route the sale proceeds to the NRO account, ensure the section 195 TDS has been deducted and the return filed, obtain the Form 15CB certificate, file Form 15CA, and remit up to USD 1 million in the financial year. Anything above that ceiling waits for the next financial year or requires prior Reserve Bank of India approval.

FAQ

Does an OCI card make me a tax resident of India?

No. An OCI card is a lifelong visa under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and it has no bearing on tax residency. Residency is decided every year under section 6 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, on a physical-presence test — broadly, 182 days or more in India in the financial year. You can hold an OCI card for decades and remain a non-resident for tax throughout.

My marriage is 20 months old. Can my foreign spouse apply now?

No. The spouse route requires a registered marriage that has subsisted continuously for not less than two years immediately before the application, per the MHA brochure. A 20-month marriage does not qualify; you must wait until the continuous two-year period is complete.

One of my grandparents held a Pakistani passport. Am I still eligible through my other Indian ancestor?

No. The bar in section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 is absolute: no person whose parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were citizens of Pakistan or Bangladesh is eligible, regardless of any qualifying Indian ancestry on the other side.

Can an OCI cardholder buy farmland in India?

No. Under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, an OCI cardholder (like an NRI) may acquire residential and commercial property but may not purchase agricultural land, plantation property or a farmhouse. This FEMA restriction is unaffected by the OCI card.

What is the OCI application fee in 2026?

US$275, or the local-currency equivalent, when submitted through an Indian Mission or Post abroad; Rs 15,000 when submitted within India. These are the figures in the MHA OCI Cardholder brochure, and the fee is charged per applicant.

How much can I repatriate from my NRO account in a year?

Up to USD 1 million per financial year, after Form 15CA and a chartered accountant's Form 15CB certifying that the applicable tax has been paid. NRE and FCNR balances have no such annual cap and are fully repatriable.

Will India tax the capital gain on my Indian shares if I live abroad?

Yes. A DTAA reduces or credits the tax but does not exempt it. India retains the right to tax long-term gains on Indian listed shares at 12.5% under section 112A, and your country of residence gives a foreign-tax credit for that amount under the treaty. Treating the gain as "exempt" because a treaty exists is a common and costly error.