New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Thursday notified an amendment to the Citizenship Act, allowing online application for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. The digital application will be for both inclusion and exclusion.All applications will be submitted electronically through the portal https://ociservices.gov.in. The amended rule also has a provision to include minors as OCIs but “the minor cannot at any time hold the passport of any other country while holding an Indian passport”.According to a gazette notification, “Application for registration as an OCI cardholder under section 7A shall be made electronically on the specified online portal in Form XXVIII.” There will be no need to give duplicate certificate as before.People registered as OCI will be issued OCI card in physical form or electronic e-OCI registration containing the details. The Authority will maintain the record of persons registered as OCI in electronic form.Similarly, the declaration of renunciation of the card (in Form XXXI) will be made electronically on the portal designated to Indian Missions or Posts, or Foreign Regional Registration Officers. The notification said that in case of OCI cards issued in physical form, the original card should be handed over to the authorities, who will issue an acknowledgement. Once the authority cancels the registration of the OCI, the person whose registration has been canceled will deliver the original card.The new rule provides that “if an application for amendment is made by a person aggrieved by an order made by any authority in respect of his application, the application shall be disposed of by an authority not exceeding one rank above the authority specified for disposal of applications for citizenship”.For a minor, the OCI cardholder has to make a declaration where it is specifically mentioned that the child does not hold a passport of any other country even though he/she holds an Indian passport. Whenever an application is submitted, consent must also be provided to share the biometric information to be captured for registration as an OCI cardholder for the purpose of registration under the ‘Fast Track Immigration Programme’.The government also introduced a new rule – “If an application for review is made by a person under section 15A (grant of citizenship by naturalisation), the application for review shall be disposed of by the Central Government after giving a reasonable opportunity of presenting his case to the person affected.”