On 8 February 2016 at 09:36, Nikhil Mehra <[email protected]> wrote:
> There was a recent drive to convert a PIO card to OCI. I'm assuming your > friend is actually of Indian origin whose has foreign citizenship. Doesn't > matter where he was born. PIO actually has more grounds for cancellation > than an OCI. But assuming your friend acquired PIO status due to his Indian > origin, they would at least have to give some cause because this is > effectively a revocation of his PIO status. > The person is a PIO because she is married an Indian citizen (not indian origin), and the children are in India (with the husband). So effectively banned from her children - there is a very clear human rights angle. She does work for an NGO but its doing nothing controversial like environment / human rights / religion / research / raise funds locally etc... and the NGO itself has never received any adverse notifications or such. The PIO/OCI seem like a glorified visa ...it does not grant any legal privileges like a passport does ? > > In your enquiries with the behemoth that is the Indian bureaucracy, has any > reason been provided? The not giving of a reason is a great reason for > going to court. PIO is a status conferred by legislative/executive fiat. > Can't be snatched away in an arbitrary manner. > > So far nothing official, got a friend's friend type connection to check in the immigration system where it appears as "visa violations", which is strange given that the person has had the PIO for a long time, so the documents are in order. And the the question is why wouldn't they give the reason during the deportation ? They are still trying through official channels ... I guess legal option is when those have been exhausted. One immigration officer who i spoke to remarked very casually : " we do deportations all the time, no one complains, they are just foreigners ... single people.. tourists. bad luck that your friend had children left behind" > As an aside I should mention that a foreign origin person who marries an > Indian is entitled to PIO status as well. But they have to surrender their > PIO card on divorce. Though there isn't total clarity on this, it appears > the same does not apply to OCI. > > On Mon, 8 Feb 2016 8:48 am Suresh Ramasubramanian <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Foreign citizen + PIO so there’s a right of abode and many other rights - > > except the right to vote among a few other things. > > > > Family ties to India as well. > > > > There’s ample scope to file a writ in the local high court. > > > > Agree with Badri that forking out cash to hire the local 800 lb gorilla > > will work. > > > > > On 08-Feb-2016, at 1:12 AM, Badri Natarajan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > >> On 8 Feb 2016, at 01:01, Suresh Ramasubramanian <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > >> > > >> Did your friend work for an ngo or was he a journalist? That's > getting > > very common with this current government and especially given family ties > > in india can be challenged in court. > > >> > > >> Look for the case of priya pillai, a Greenpeace office bearer who was > > prevented from leaving for London and had her passport cancelled - the > > court passed orders for her passport to be restored and her name removed > > from a no fly list > > >> > > > > > > She was, of course, an Indian citizen, which changes the legal position > > quite a bit. They have more discretion to mess with foreign citizens. > > > > > > That said, I agree: get a decent lawyer, go to the local High Court and > > file a writ. It’s the best way of cutting through the bureaucratic > morass. > > No guarantee of eventual success in terms of the guy being allowed back > to > > India, but you’ll cut through the BS at least. > > > > > > One tip: it’s worth forking out the cash for a “name” Senior Advocate > to > > argue your case (which one will depend on which court you file in - your > > lawyer will be able to advise you). They are NOT cheap but absolutely > worth > > every penny in this kind of high-stakes litigation. > > > > > > > > > > > > >
