Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026: online-only OCI, e-OCI registration and a rule on minors' passports

The Ministry of Home Affairs has moved the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) process onto an electronic footing. The Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on 30 April 2026, also change how refusals are revisited and add a passport warning for parents of minors born abroad.

What changed

The rules were published as G.S.R. 323(E) under section 18 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. They amend the Citizenship Rules, 2009 and took effect on publication. The main changes, as set out in the gazette text on the MHA website:

• Online-only applications. Rule 29(1) now requires OCI applications under section 7A to be made electronically in Form XXVIII on the designated portal, ociservices.gov.in. Rule 31 drops the duplicate-copy requirement.
• e-OCI. Under the new rule 33, each registered person gets either a physical OCI card or an electronic e-OCI registration, with particulars in a revised Form XXIX. The issuing authority keeps the register electronically in Form XXX.
• Renunciation and cancellation. Renunciation under section 7C is declared online in Form XXXI, and the person is removed from the register. Anyone holding a physical card must surrender it. Under rule 35, if a card is not surrendered when demanded, the Centre may treat it as cancelled. An e-OCI registration can be cancelled in the records directly.
• Revision and review. The new rule 42 covers revision under section 15. For citizenship orders, the revising authority is one rank above the one that decided the case. For OCI registration orders by missions, posts or FRROs, and for cancellation orders under section 7D, it is an authority the Central Government specifies. A new rule 42A sends review applications under section 15A to the Central Government. Both rules require that the affected person be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard.
• Minors and passports. A proviso added to rule 3 says the applicant must note that the minor child cannot at any time hold another country’s passport while also holding an Indian passport. Form I gains a matching declaration at serial 10A.
• Fast Track Immigration consent. Form XXVIII now asks applicants to choose between two consents. One lets the biometrics captured for OCI be shared when they later apply for the Fast Track Immigration programme. The other lets them be considered for automatic enrolment using the same data.

Who it affects

• New OCI applicants, who must apply online.
• Existing cardholders who want to renounce OCI or who receive a cancellation order.
• Indian-citizen parents registering a child born abroad under rule 3, who must make the new passport declaration.
• Anyone whose application is refused, who now has a defined revision route with a right to be heard.

What it means for you

1. Apply only through ociservices.gov.in. Treat any agent offering a paper filing route with caution.
2. If you hold a physical OCI booklet, keep it. The rules allow both physical and electronic registration.
3. Parents of children who hold an Indian passport should not let the child also hold a foreign passport. If the child has acquired foreign citizenship, take advice on surrendering the Indian passport and applying for OCI instead.
4. If your OCI application is refused or your registration cancelled, read the order for the authority it names, and keep copies of everything you submitted for any revision application.
5. Read the Fast Track Immigration consent paragraph before you choose an option.

Key dates

• 30 April 2026: Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026 notified and in force.
• 18 May 2026: A separate Citizenship (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026 added a passport declaration to Schedule IC for some citizenship applicants. It does not change the OCI procedure described here.